Sunni Islam is practiced by the majority (90 percent) of Muslims, with large communities in western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China, and Southeast Asia. The word "Sunni" derives from the Arabic word...

see:...

Islam: Sunnism FOUNDED: 632 C.E.RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 15 percent Overview Sunnism is the largest branch of Islam, representing more than 80 percent of all Muslims. The word itself derives from the Arabic sunnah, which means an,...

Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Sunnism or as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of the example (of Muhammad) and the community) which implies that...

The Heirs of the Prophet Muhammed: And the Roots of the Sunni-Shia Schism by Barnaby Rogerson Little, Brown, hb, pp415, 17.99 [pounds sterling] It hasn't been much of a century for the image of Islam. The attacks on New York, Madrid and...

Byline: Dan Murphy Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor To the outsider, the differences between the Sunni and Shiite Islamic sects are hard to recognize. The five pillars of Islam - daily prayer; fasting during Ramadan; alms giving; the pilgrimage...

One of Sunni Islam's highest authorities stepped into the fray Friday over Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's health by condemning rumormongers as immoral, in another attempt to squash speculation that the long-serving leader is ailing.Grand Sheik Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's pre-eminent institution and...

Iraq's top Shiite cleric called Saturday for Muslim unity and an end to sectarian conflict, his first public statement in months on the worsening security crisis.In statement issued by his office, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani noted that differences between Sunnis and Shiites have existed for...