Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements

Muhammad Afzal Upal, PhD (Computer Science, University of Alberta, 1999), is Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Platteville, USA, and researches cognitive science of religion. He is author of Moderate Fundamentalists: Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in the Lens of Cognitive Science of Religion (De Gruyter Open, 2017). Carole M. Cusack, PhD (Studies in Religion, University of Sydney, 1996), is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia, and researches contemporary religious trends and new religious movements. She is author of Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith (Ashgate, 2010). Contributors are: Fathie A. Abdat, Kaarina Aitamurto, Meerim Aitkulova, Victoria Arakelova, Jon Armajani, Shaul Bartal, Jonah Blank, Steven J. Childs, Edward E. Curtis iv, Carole M. Cusack, Farhad Daftary, Marta Dominguez Diaz, William Rory Dickson, Mohammad Fazlhashemi, Ron Geaves, Antoon Geels, Najam Haider, Benson Ohihon Igboin, Hisanori Kato, Rickard Lagervall, Milad Milani, Eva Nisa, Lillith Osborn, Susan J. Palmer, Zacharias P. Pieri, Emin Poljarevic, Faried F. Saenong, Yvette Talhamy, Caroline Tee, David Thurfjell, Hussam S. Timani, Muhammad Afzal Upal, and Joas Wagemakers.

Notes on Contributors





Introduction: Islamic Sects and Movements


 Carole M. Cusack and M. Afzal Upal





Part 1: Sunnī Traditions


Introduction to Part 1





1 Sectarianism in Sunnī Islam


 Ronald Geaves





2 Tablīghī Jamāʿat


 Zacharias Pieri





3 The Muslim Brotherhood


 Rickard Lagervall





4 The Gülen Movement: Between Turkey and International Exile


 Caroline Tee





5 The Islam Nusantara Movement in Indonesia


 Hisanori Kato





6 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU): A Grassroots Movement Advocating Moderate Islam


 Faried F. Saenong





7 Women and Islamic Movements


 Eva Nisa





Part 2: Shīʿa Traditions


Introduction to Part 2





8 Imāmiyya Shīʿa (The Twelvers)


 Mohammad Fazlhashemi





9 Zaydism


 Najam Haider





10 The Ismāʿīlīs and Their Traditions


 Farhad Daftary





11 The Dāʾūdī Bohras (Mustaʿlī Ismāʿīlī Shīʿa)


Using Modernity to Institutionalise a Fāṭimid Tradition


 Jonah Blank





12 The Alevīs and ʿAlawīs


 Yvette Talhamy





13 The Heyʾati Movement


Charismatic Preachers, Politics and Youth Culture


 David Thurfjell





Part 3: Fundamentalisms and Extremists


Introduction to Part 3





14 The Citadel of Salafism


 Joas Wagemakers





15 The Taliban


 Jon Armajani





16 Ḥamās: The Islamic Resistance Movement


 Shaul Bartal





17 Hizb ut-Tahrir: Dreaming of Caliphate


 Meerim Aitkulova





18 Ungoverned or Alternatively Governed Spaces in North-Eastern Nigeria


A Critical Exploration of Boko Haram’s Ideological Motif


 Benson O. Igboin





19 From Identity to Militancy: The Shīʿa of Hezbollah


 Steven Childs





20 The Faizrakhmanisty: The Islamic Sect as a Social Problem in Russia


 Kaarina Aitamurto





21 Theology of Violence-oriented Takfirism as a Political Theory: The Case of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)


 Emin Poljarevic





Part 4: Ṣūfism and Its Influences


Introduction to Part 4





22 Ṣūfism


 Marta Dominguez Diaz





23 Javād Nūrbakhsh and the Niʿmatullāhī ‘Khaniqahi’ Order


 Milad Milani





24 Subud: An Indonesian Interpretation of Ṣūfism


 Antoon Geels





25 René Guénon and Traditionalism


 William Rory Dickson





26 Ṣūfism and the Gurdjieff ‘Work’: A Contested Relationship


 Carole M. Cusack





Part 5: In Between and on the Fringes of Islam


Introduction to Part 5





27 The Cultural Genetics of the Aḥmadiyya Muslim Jamāʿat


 M. Afzal Upal





28 The Nation of Islam


 Edward E. Curtis IV





29 The Moorish Science Temple of America


 Fathie Ali Abdat





30 The Ansaaru Allah Community


 Susan J. Palmer





31 The Druze


 Hussam S. Timani





32 Yezidism


 Victoria Arakelova





33 The Bahāʾī Faith


 Lil Osborn





Index