IOverview
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. The name comes from Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamāʿa, the people of the sunna, meaning the example, words and deeds of Muhammad, and of the community. A 2009 Pew Research Center estimate put Sunnis at roughly 87 to 90 percent of the world's Muslims.
There is no pope in Sunni Islam and no supreme council that settles doctrine for every believer. Religious authority rests with scholars, known collectively as the ulama, with the great teaching institutions and with four schools of law. Readers in Vietnam meet this branch most directly through the Cham Muslims of An Giang and Ho Chi Minh City.
This page describes Sunni Islam as one branch within Islam. The word Sunni does not mean more orthodox than other branches, and the library does not rank them.
IIHistory
When Muhammad died in 632, a group of his close companions met and chose Abu Bakr as caliph, the successor who would lead the community. The view that this office falls to a worthy person chosen by the community later became the defining mark of Sunni Islam. Sunnis call the first four caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, al-Rāshidūn, the rightly guided.
The label Sunni itself came much later. Only in the 9th and 10th centuries, once the major Hadith collections were complete and the schools of law and theology had settled, did Sunni Islam take on the shape it has today.
- 632Abu Bakr chosen as caliphThe start of the era of the first four caliphs, which lasted until 661.
- 8th and 9th centuriesThe four schools of law formAround Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
- 9th centuryThe great Hadith collectionsAl-Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim (d. 875) compiled the two Sahih collections, the most highly regarded of the six canonical books.
- 10th centuryTwo schools of theologyAl-Ash'ari (d. c. 935) and al-Maturidi (d. c. 944) founded the theological systems most Sunnis follow.
- 1924The caliphate abolishedThe Turkish parliament abolished the last Ottoman caliphate.
IIIBeliefs and Distinctives
At its foundation, Sunni Islam shares with every Muslim branch belief in the oneness of God, tawhid, in the Qur'an and in Muhammad as the final prophet. What sets it apart lies in three areas.
- Leadership. The leader of the community is chosen, not designated in advance by lineage.
- Sources of law. Alongside the Qur'an, Sunnis accept six Hadith collections, led by those of al-Bukhari and Muslim, as well as scholarly consensus, ijma, and reasoning by analogy, qiyas.
- The Companions. Sunnis honour the whole generation who lived alongside Muhammad, the Sahaba, as trustworthy transmitters of the faith.
As commonly set out in Sunni teaching, faith has six articles: belief in God, in the angels, in the revealed scriptures, in the prophets, in the Day of Judgement and in divine decree, qadar.
| School | Founder | Where it prevails | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanafi | Abu Hanifa, d. c. 767 | Turkey, Central Asia, South Asia, the Balkans | Gives wide room to juristic reasoning |
| Maliki | Malik ibn Anas, d. c. 795 | North and West Africa | Treats the practice of the people of Medina as evidence |
| Shafi'i | al-Shafi'i, d. c. 820 | East Africa, Yemen, Southeast Asia | Systematised the method of legal reasoning |
| Hanbali | Ahmad ibn Hanbal, d. c. 855 | The Arabian Peninsula | Stays close to the texts and is cautious about reasoning |
IVPractice, Ritual and Daily Life
Sunni religious life turns on the five pillars: the declaration of faith, prayer five times a day, obligatory almsgiving or zakat, fasting in Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime for those able to make it. At midday on Friday men gather at the mosque for congregational prayer and the khutba sermon. The two great festivals are Eid al-Fitr at the end of the fast and Eid al-Adha during the pilgrimage season.
Details of practice, such as the position of the hands in prayer or how zakat is calculated, vary slightly between the four schools. The prayer leader, the imam with a small i, holds a role in the community rather than a sacred rank. Sufism also lives within Sunni Islam, and how warmly it is received varies by region and by scholarly circle.
VOrganisation and Distribution
No single body speaks for all Sunnis. Many states run a religious authority, such as Turkey's Diyanet, set up in 1924, or the office of Grand Mufti in many Arab countries. Great institutions such as al-Azhar in Cairo carry wide influence but no binding power. A legal opinion, a fatwa, weighs only as much as the standing of the scholar who issues it.
In a report released on 9 June 2025, Pew Research Center counted about 2.0 billion Muslims worldwide in 2020, with Indonesia the largest Muslim population at about 240 million. That report does not break out Sunnis separately. The figure of 87 to 90 percent is Pew's own 2009 estimate, since very few countries ask about branch in their census.
VIIn Vietnam
Most organised Muslims in Vietnam are Sunnis of the Shafi'i school, namely the Cham Muslims. According to Vietnam's Government Committee for Religious Affairs, Cham Muslims settled around Chau Doc in An Giang from about 1840. In Saigon, traders of Malay, Indonesian and Indian origin built mosques from the late 18th and 19th centuries. In Hanoi, the Al-Noor mosque at 12 Hang Luoc Street was funded by Indian Muslim merchants, begun in 1885 and opened in 1890, according to the newspaper Hanoi Moi on 8 June 2025.
The Committee put the number of followers of Islam proper in Vietnam at about 32,000 across 14 provinces and cities in 2021. Official figures cited by VietNamNet on 20 July 2025 give more than 37,000 as of June 2025. The recognised organisations, and the history and life of the community, are covered in detail on the Cham Islam page.
VIISymbol of the Branch
No symbol of its own is recorded with a source for this branch, so the library uses the common symbol of the path.
VIIISub-branches
- Hanafi
- Maliki
- Shafi'i
- Hanbali
IXOther Branches of Islam
Sunni Islamأهل السنة والجماعة Ahl al-Sunna wa al-JamāʿaThe largest branch.Uses the common symbol of the path
Twelver Shia Islamاثنا عشرية Ithnā ʿAshariyya, also Imāmiyya or JaʿfariyyaThe largest Shia branch.Zaydi Shia Islamالزيدية al-ZaydiyyaA Shia branch named after Zayd ibn Ali (d.Uses the common symbol of the path
Ismaili Shia Islamالإسماعيلية al-IsmāʿīliyyaSeparated in 765 by recognising Isma'il, son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, as successor.Ibadi Islamالإباضية al-IbāḍiyyaA third branch, neither Sunni nor Shia.Uses the common symbol of the path
Sufismتصوف TaṣawwufNot a third branch beside Sunni and Shia but an inner, devotional dimension present in both.
Cham IslamIslam, termed Hoi giao Islam in official documentsCham Muslims in Vietnam following Sunni Islam of the Shafi'i school.Cham BaniBani, Awal. Termed Hoi giao Bani in official documentsA distinct form among the Cham of former Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, rooted in Islam and blended with Cham tradition.Uses the common symbol of the pathXSources
The library cross-checks the sources below. Where they disagree, the page gives both.
?Quick Questions
How do Sunnis differ from Shias?
Both believe in one God, the same Qur'an and the same five pillars. The main differences concern who should have led the community after 632, which Hadith collections are accepted, and some commemorative rites. Sunnis hold that the leader is chosen by the community, while Shias hold that leadership belonged to Ali and his descendants.
Are the four Sunni schools of law separate sects?
No. They are four traditions of legal method that recognise one another. A Muslim may follow one school at home and another after moving elsewhere and remain Sunni throughout.
Which branch do Muslims in Vietnam follow?
Cham Muslims follow Sunni Islam of the Shafi'i school, like most Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Cham Bani community has its own distinct form, described on a separate page of the library.
Does Sunni Islam have a head?
There is no single head. Since the caliphate was abolished in 1924, authority has rested with scholars, major teaching institutions and national religious bodies.