Vertical Division In Islam

Throughout history, most major religions have encountered splits into some forms of tangents, many due to social, political, or authoritarian unrest. Christianity was divided during the Protestant Reformation, and Judaism has split into various levels of practitioners who each favor a different level of historical development of their faith. Like its fellow Abrahamic faiths, Islam is not a “monolithic” (Smith, 259) religion; it too has been divided. But unlike Christianity and Judaism, who have split moreso over miniscule differences in their beliefs, Islam has diverged on account of how their faith should be worshipped and how their traditions should be practiced. Also unique to Islam is how it split; rather than dividing off into tangents, …show more content…
Then, the “vertical division” (Smith, 258) within Islam occurred when the Sufis, a group of Muslims who focused deeply on the core truths of their faith, sought to become connected with God within their lifetime through mystical practices. While the conflict between Sunnis and Shi’ites is more of an internal dispute, the two unite with regards to Sufism, as they see Sufis and their methods of worship as heretic and blasphemous. In Huston Smith’s book, The World’s Religions, Orthodox Islam (Sunni, Shi’ite) is referred to as an exoteric form of the religions, while Sufism is labeled as esoteric. Though the differences between Sufism and Sunni/Shi'ite Islam are vast in their practices and interpretations, distinguishing the two from one another as esoteric and exoteric forms of Islam allows them to have a similar foundational basis, so that they can both be considered as acceptable practices of …show more content…
Sufis desire to become close with God and achieve and enlightened form of consciousness within their current lifetime, and devote much of their life contemplating God. More traditional Muslims, however, view their lifetimes as means of proving themselves that they are worthy of spiritual reunification in the afterlife. Classifying the orthodox and non-traditional forms of Islam as exoteric and esoteric is helpful in distinguishing the purpose of each, while maintaining a common ground that allows Sufism to remain a part of Islam. Those who have a “genuine vocation for a Sufi path” are protected by the esoteric characterization to practice their faith without interfering with the “unambiguous principles” of traditional Islam. The exoteric and esoteric characterizations serve as describers, rather than dividers, that protect both forms from misinterpretation and uninformed