A few questions

[Aadamno1]

salamulaikum

I am a relatively new sunni muslim, I have found it difficult to ask people about islam because some people have told me, to be careful whom i ask about islam as there are different thinkings and people follow different sections of islam, so my questions are

1. how do I know who to ask?

2. what are wahibis and shias, and why do they differ to sunnis?

Thankyou for taking your time to read this and maybe even answering part or all of the questions.

Allah hafiz

[ponderingstar]

Dear brother/sister,

Welcome.

Why not search for the answers yourself? You obviously have access to the internet aswell as being literate. You can look in the Quran and Hadith and online and in many books. I think you can ask whomever you wish to ask but when hearing answers you should use caution.

I can give you my opinions but they come from just me and my own understanding which is neither vast nor sophisticated. However do not trust all those you speak to who claim thier ways are far more GODLY or enlightened. Hear what people have to say, assess what you think is right by what the quran teaches and by what your God given mind tells you. I don't think you need to tread as carefully as you have been lead to believe.

as for the differences between sunni and shia i think it best for a shia to describe since i think most sunnis get a little confused, i personally think their differences stem from political issues that have now been transformed into part of their religion.
Wahabbis are sunnis as i understand it but are quite orthodox. The saudi royal family are wahabbi hence they fund many mosques and schools (madrassas) to be built around the world. which is kinda good and kinda bad. Usama bin laden is also reportedly a wahabbi... again i think it best for you to ask some wahabbis to step up to the plate and define themselves.

again i post this warning which tells you i am not very knowledgable in these matters and you will fnd many others on the board, far more able to answer your questions:up:

good luck

[GenN]

Assalamu alaykum brother.

May Allah reward you in search for knowledge and keep you guided and make you of those whom he loves.

You have asked questions, to which if answers are given here, on a discussion forum with many different people having differnt views (some slightly different, some more major issues), and so if one person answers, it will no doubt stir up into a debate.

Some of the info given by poindering star is quite good mashAllah. You will indeed have to investigate for yourself further.

However i would like to give you a couple of pointers in your investigations which i find very useful when i carry out my own investigations:

1. Every muslim follows Quran and sunnah, however some of the Quran and sunnah can be interpreted in different ways. So, today we have many many differnt types of scholars interpreting the texts in differnt ways, some coming out with things that perhaps were unheard of before the 20th century. So my own view on this is that you trust and refer to scholars only from BEFORE 1600AD, and refer to their interpretations of Quran and sunnah. So whetehr it be in prayer or aqeedah make sure t refer to the older scholars than modern ones.

2. I like to always stick to what the MAJORITY of the scholars have held. For there is pretty much consensus that the majority will not be led astray and there are many hadith to this extent. And this is also common sense as Allah has infomred us that he will safeguard the deen, and what better way than making the majority of the scholars agree on an issue. So for example today you may here many views on issues such as visiting graves, how to pray etc but if you look towards PRE 1600AD you will find 95% + of the ummah agreed on one method or atleast the principle.

3. Once you know which scholars today hold the same views as the majority of the ummah from the time of the prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) you will know which scholars to trust and to turn to for guidance in this time and age.

4. look for signs from the hadith (e.g there is a hadith that goes alog the lines of "whoever conquers constantinople, him and his army is blessed" (It was the ottoman caliph Muhammed al Fatiha who conquered constatinople in around the 1400s AD)), so find out who Muhammed al fatiah is, whcih school of thought he follwed etd, ac some one who is blessed can surely not be on an incorrect path.

May Allah keep you guided.

was salaam.