Sources: Sahih Bukhari; Sahih Muslim; Abu Dawud; Tirmidhi; the four madhabs (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali); Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah.

Sunni Islam (~87% of Muslims worldwide) takes its name from the Sunnah — the practice and example of Muhammad as preserved in hadith collections. The fundamental Sunni position on the succession crisis: the community (umma) legitimately chose Abu Bakr as the first Caliph after Muhammad’s death; the first four Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali — the Rashidun, “rightly-guided”) are all legitimate. Key Sunni theological commitments: (1) Kalam Allah — the Quran is the eternal, uncreated speech of God (the Ashari position that prevailed over the Mutazilite “created Quran”); (2) The six articles of faith — God, angels, scriptures, prophets, the Day of Judgment, and divine decree (qadar); (3) The four legal schools (madhabs) — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali — all considered valid interpretations; (4) The authority of the hadith — the Prophet’s sayings and actions (authenticated through isnad chains) supplement the Quran as legal and theological sources. Sunni Islam’s diversity is enormous: the mystical Sufi tradition, the rationalist Mutazilite and Ashari kalam tradition, the traditionalist Hanbali school (ancestor of Wahhabism), and modern movements (Muslim Brotherhood, Deobandi, Barelvi) all operate within the Sunni framework.