Link to my drawing (rotate counter-clockwise): https://imgur.com/fZlCHXB

In Week 5 we read about the different communities of interpretation within Islam. This was explained in detail in the reading Diversity in Islam: Communities of Interpretation by F. Daftary. To explain briefly, in Islam there are two major “sects”: Sunni and Shia. Daftary refers to them as “communities of interpretation” rather than “sects” because they agree with each other fundamentally on the message of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad  (i.e. salat, zakat, shahada, etc.), but their differences arise in different interpretations of the same scripture (Quran) and hadith (Prophet Muhammad’s sayings). The division between the Sunnis and Shias occurred after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD when the Muslims were deciding who should be the first caliph (or successor to the Prophet). Sunnis believed that Abu Bakr should be the first caliph as he was one of Prophet Muhammad’s closest companions and was a older than the other companions being considered. On the other hand, the Shias believed that the future caliphs should only be people from Ahl al-Bayt (“Family of the House”), meaning that they must be related by blood to the Prophet. For this reason, they believed Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, should be the first caliph and not Abu-Bakr. In fact, the term Shia is short for “Shiat Ali” which translates to “followers of Ali”.

Over time, there were more divisions within the Sunni and Shia traditions, which are commonly referred to as “schools of thought”. There were also other sects in the late 7th century, such as the Khawarij (which initially supported Ali then rejected him), but these sects have disappeared over time. In addition, there are the Sufis who focus on the mystical side of Islam (Sunnis and Shias can also be Sufis). For this creative assignment I chose to focus primarily on the division between Sunnis and Shias and the different schools of thought within them since almost the entire Muslim population will fall into one of these two groups.

I decided to depict the different communities of interpretation in a “Treasure Map” in which the treasure is God/Paradise. Starting from the top of the page we see that there is only one path. This symbolizes the idea that prior to the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD, all Muslims were on the same “path” in terms of their beliefs/rituals/practices since they would simply follow the guidance of the Prophet. But as we follow this single path, we soon notice that the path diverges into two separate paths. This divergence symbolizes the split between the Sunnis and Shias which as explained above, was due to the disagreements regarding who the first Caliph (or “successor”) should be to the Prophet Muhammad.

Now if we follow the path on the left, the Sunni path, we see that this path eventually diverges into four more different paths which are meant to symbolize the four different Sunni schools of thought (Shafi, Maliki, Hanafi, Hanbali). In addition, on the right path, the Shia path, we also notice that it diverges into three paths which represent the three different schools of thought within the Shia tradition (Zaidi, Ismaili, Ithna Ashari).

At this point when we follow each of the different paths through the forest, we notice that they all converge again into one path which leads to the treasure. This is supposed to symbolize the idea that although each of these different divisions or sects of Islam disagree on certain theological or historical beliefs, they are all still a part of Islam and hence will still lead the believer or follower to God/Paradise regardless of the path taken.

Thanks for reading!

 

Best,

Aly