Madhhab

A madhhab (Arabic: مذهب‎ maḏhab, "way to act"; pl. مذاهب maḏāhib) is a school of thought within fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni madhhabs are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali and the Twelver Shi'i madhhab is Ja'fari.

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Islam . Madhhab
What is the origin of the various Madhhabs and how many of them are there in Islam?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 4 anni fa

All Muslims are supposed to follow the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) in every matter of religion and they had no sects during his life despite having different degrees of faith and obedience to him as well having hypocrites (Munafiqeen) living amongst them. After the demise of the Prophet, Ahlul Bayt were the only authority mentioned by the Prophet to follow with Quran. (Saheeh Muslim and Saheeh Al-Tirmithi and many other books of Hadeeth).

Rulers who were against Ahlul Bayt tried to divert Muslim public away from Ahlul Bayt by creating religious leaderships away from Ahlul Bayt and directing the public towards those so called leaders who were been supported by anti Ahlul Bayt governments like Bani Omayyah and Bani Abbas etc. Many sects were created and promoted by such governments. Sunni sects were so many including Hanafi, Shafi'ee, Maliki, Hanbali, Awza'ee, Sufyan Al-Thawri, Sufyan  bin 'Oyaynah etc. 

These sects were formed long back after the demise of the Prophet (SAWA) during the second and third century after Hijra. None of their leaders (Imams) met the Prophet (SAWA) while the Ahlul Bayt (AS) lived with Prophet and took their knowledge from him.

Sunni books and prominent Sunni scholars like Ibn Hazm and Ibn Jareer Al-Tabari and many others wrote details of the support for different Sunni sects from different governments which caused the spread of those sects in different areas.

Ahlul Bayt (AS) and their followers suffered a lot from tyrant rulers for long centuries, yet they remained steady in following the original Islam of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).

Wassalam.
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100997

Madhhab . Sunni-Shi'a . Somalia
As a Somali brought up in the Shafi'i madhhab it is my understanding that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was neither a Shia nor a Sunni. If that was the case, why do I have to identify as one or the other?
Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 5 anni fa

The main problem today is that we have to choose how to understand and live Islam. While some matters are essentially trivial (such as whether to hold the hands up or down when praying), there are some significant differences between Sunni and Shi'i theology, and worldviews, sometimes on basic questions such as free will and predestination. There are also differences of opinion about communal religious practice, such as whether it is acceptable/desrirable to recite du'a as a group or pray taraweeh prayers together. 

Sunnis and Shi'is also have markedly different hadith collections. Yes there are some similarities but there are also some significant differences in approach. So there are differences in the sources used to understand the faith.

So, because Islam has branched off into different understandings, it is necessary for a Muslim to adopt some understanding, ideally the one that sh/he thinks is the truest. While it is possible to respect everyone, it isn't possible to agree with everyone about everything; at some point you have to either make up your mind on some issues. 

However I think it is better to focus on trying to find out what is true and do what Allah and the Prophet would intend, rather than to focus on matters of identity. There is usually some truth to be found everywhere. 

From a Shi'i perspective, the concept of being one of the followers of 'Ali (Shi'at 'Ali) does trace back to the utterances and time of the Prophet, so it was not a new idea that came later. 
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