In addition, there are different branches like the Wahhabis and the Salafis, etc. Even within a single school of thought, there are different religious leaders who offer different religious rulings (fatwas) and different people follow different rules.
So, yes, they are very much a pretty diverse group. References :
No more than christianity (we have catholic, methodist, baptist….etc…etc…etc)
Islam has Sunni, Shiite, Sufi (and probably others I am not aware of)
Like any religion there are different degrees of interest and adherence to the religion. You can pick two Catholics. One from NY City and one from a small town in the Midwest US. One tithes 20% of his pay to the church and attends mass every Sunday and the other hasn’t been to church in 10 years. Both are catholic. Perhaps it’s the community, perhaps the friends or parental upbringing or maybe it’s education influences. References :
Just as in Christianity there are different groups of Muslims that have basically the same beliefs but with minor differences.In Iran they are a majority of Shiite Muslims and they have Allatolahs, (who in their opinion must rule the country) in Iraq and Afghanistan they are a Sunni and have very different ideas. References :
Of the 1.4-1.5 Billion Muslims around the Globe over 1.2 Billion are Sunni Muslims. The remaining are those who created there own sects and such. So your question is up to probability. References :
yes,ISLAM which means to submit one’s will to THE WILL OF THE THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, ALLAH( in arabic)by following the understanding through the QURAN AND THE HADEETH is ONE AND UNIFIED RELIGION IN PRACTISE.although there are some deviant people who have created secterianism in the name of ISLAM but ALLAH has revealed in the HOLY QURAN that the religion for humanity IS ONLY ONE RELIGION and that is ISLAM(SUBMISSION OF one’s will to THE WILL OF THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD) and not to break it into sects and groups.presently there are sects in the ISLAMIC SOCIETIES but the unifying forces which integrate the different sects in the different parts of the world wherever ISLAM is followed are THE QURAN(REVEALATIONS BY ALLAH TO humanity) and the SUNNAH(METHOD)AS RECORDED IN THE HADITHS (SAYINGS OF GUIDANCE) of THE LAST PROPHET MUHAMMED(peace be upon him)and because of these two unifying and integrating forces in ISLAM we can say that the religion of ISLAM is ONE.
also THE ISLAMIC RELIGION teaches that all the prophets and the messengers who came right from adam(the first man who was also the first prophet of GOD and peace be upon him)upto the last prophet of GOD,PROPHET MUHAMMED(peace be upon him) were all THE muslims as they had all submitted their wills to THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD in obedience which is the DEFINITION OF ISLAM. References :
however, some Muslims do not commit to all Islam legislation.
u can find two Muslims in the same HOUSE one wearing Hijab and the other is not (b/c) it is a free choice.
but if u ask the one that does not wear Hijab, " Do u believe that Hijab is Allah’s command or Quran legislation?"
she must answer yes.
All Muslims believe and agree in all practices, but differ in how they commit to them
and of course, they differ in cultural things that Islam does not forbid.
I shall give u an example…
It is allowed for a man who proposed to a girl to set with her in her parent’s house in private.
however, some cultures, ike in Yemen wont allow that. not saying it is Haram (Islamic-ally forbidden), but nit culturally liked.
here in Jordan, u can find some parents who allow it, other do not based on their.
when u ask both of them will say that it is allowed in Islam.
u can Imagine things in the world in Venn’s diagram where a box holds all things in life, a small circle includes the haram things, a circle that contain the haram circle and culturally forbidden circle is there.
u may find a bigger circle containing the two and thones’s system of life.
Firstly, Islam as sects/denominations like Christianity and Judaism does. There is the mainstream Orthodox religion and then there are offshoot sects. As for what you mentioned, that is not a matter of different interpretations of the Quran or what not but rather the level of religiousness one is.There is only one Quran which has been unchanged for over 1400 years, since the day it was compiled. It is memorized by Millions of Muslims everyday. Anyways, the different friends you described most likely follow the same Quran and Islam. But their level of religiousness or how much practicing they are varies person to person. I’ve even seen difference even in the same family, where one sister wears hijabs and is religious and other wears western style clothing and is bit more secular. Every muslim is not qualified to interpret the law, only scholars with knowledge are qualified to do that.
February 23rd, 2010 | 
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It depends on which sect. if they were the same then they would have the similar beliefs.
References :
Im muslim
Nope, they are divided into:
Shiites
Sunnis
Druze
Alawis
Sufis
Ahmadiyya
and several other more obscure sects.
EDIT:
Re your addition, yes within the Sunnis there are also several divisions. For starters, there are different schools of thought that interpret Islamic law differently. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni#Sunni_schools_of_law_.28Madhhab.29 for a very brief intro.
In addition, there are different branches like the Wahhabis and the Salafis, etc. Even within a single school of thought, there are different religious leaders who offer different religious rulings (fatwas) and different people follow different rules.
So, yes, they are very much a pretty diverse group.
References :
No more than christianity (we have catholic, methodist, baptist….etc…etc…etc)
Islam has Sunni, Shiite, Sufi (and probably others I am not aware of)
Like any religion there are different degrees of interest and adherence to the religion. You can pick two Catholics. One from NY City and one from a small town in the Midwest US. One tithes 20% of his pay to the church and attends mass every Sunday and the other hasn’t been to church in 10 years. Both are catholic. Perhaps it’s the community, perhaps the friends or parental upbringing or maybe it’s education influences.
References :
No.
Some muslims are a lot more strict about certain things than others.
I asked a question about Muslim women and the niqab (the covering over the face)…I got different answers from Muslims.
Here’s the link…
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApT3.bClba5R3TxaNly1rHXty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081024173352AAgqXVv
References :
Just as in Christianity there are different groups of Muslims that have basically the same beliefs but with minor differences.In Iran they are a majority of Shiite Muslims and they have Allatolahs, (who in their opinion must rule the country) in Iraq and Afghanistan they are a Sunni and have very different ideas.
References :
Of the 1.4-1.5 Billion Muslims around the Globe over 1.2 Billion are Sunni Muslims. The remaining are those who created there own sects and such. So your question is up to probability.
References :
yes,ISLAM which means to submit one’s will to THE WILL OF THE THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, ALLAH( in arabic)by following the understanding through the QURAN AND THE HADEETH is ONE AND UNIFIED RELIGION IN PRACTISE.although there are some deviant people who have created secterianism in the name of ISLAM but ALLAH has revealed in the HOLY QURAN that the religion for humanity IS ONLY ONE RELIGION and that is ISLAM(SUBMISSION OF one’s will to THE WILL OF THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD) and not to break it into sects and groups.presently there are sects in the ISLAMIC SOCIETIES but the unifying forces which integrate the different sects in the different parts of the world wherever ISLAM is followed are THE QURAN(REVEALATIONS BY ALLAH TO humanity) and the SUNNAH(METHOD)AS RECORDED IN THE HADITHS (SAYINGS OF GUIDANCE) of THE LAST PROPHET MUHAMMED(peace be upon him)and because of these two unifying and integrating forces in ISLAM we can say that the religion of ISLAM is ONE.
also THE ISLAMIC RELIGION teaches that all the prophets and the messengers who came right from adam(the first man who was also the first prophet of GOD and peace be upon him)upto the last prophet of GOD,PROPHET MUHAMMED(peace be upon him) were all THE muslims as they had all submitted their wills to THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD in obedience which is the DEFINITION OF ISLAM.
References :
Islam as a believe is the same..
however, some Muslims do not commit to all Islam legislation.
u can find two Muslims in the same HOUSE one wearing Hijab and the other is not (b/c) it is a free choice.
but if u ask the one that does not wear Hijab, " Do u believe that Hijab is Allah’s command or Quran legislation?"
she must answer yes.
All Muslims believe and agree in all practices, but differ in how they commit to them
and of course, they differ in cultural things that Islam does not forbid.
I shall give u an example…
It is allowed for a man who proposed to a girl to set with her in her parent’s house in private.
however, some cultures, ike in Yemen wont allow that. not saying it is Haram (Islamic-ally forbidden), but nit culturally liked.
here in Jordan, u can find some parents who allow it, other do not based on their.
when u ask both of them will say that it is allowed in Islam.
u can Imagine things in the world in Venn’s diagram where a box holds all things in life, a small circle includes the haram things, a circle that contain the haram circle and culturally forbidden circle is there.
u may find a bigger circle containing the two and thones’s system of life.
these r all forbidden things.
References :
Firstly, Islam as sects/denominations like Christianity and Judaism does. There is the mainstream Orthodox religion and then there are offshoot sects. As for what you mentioned, that is not a matter of different interpretations of the Quran or what not but rather the level of religiousness one is.There is only one Quran which has been unchanged for over 1400 years, since the day it was compiled. It is memorized by Millions of Muslims everyday. Anyways, the different friends you described most likely follow the same Quran and Islam. But their level of religiousness or how much practicing they are varies person to person. I’ve even seen difference even in the same family, where one sister wears hijabs and is religious and other wears western style clothing and is bit more secular. Every muslim is not qualified to interpret the law, only scholars with knowledge are qualified to do that.
References :
http://www.islamworld.net
http://www.islamicboard.com
The real islam is just muslim, no sect is allowed in islam,
References :