This book offers a comparative study of the emergence, development and
present-day manifestations of Islamic sects and religious-political movements.
After chapters on the concept of the sect and on the political, social, cultural and
intellectual causes of sectarian formation, it examines the early conflicts,
Kharijism, Murjiʾism, Muʿtazilism and Shiism. Shiʿi traditions (Zaydism,
Ismailism and Imamism) are considered alongside Sunni formations such as Ahl
al-Sunna, Ahl al-Hadith, Ashʿarism and Maturidism. The chapters on Salafism,
the Druze, Nusayrism, Yazidism, Alevism-Bektashism, Babism and the Baha’i
faith, and the Ahmadiyya distinguish communities’ self-designations from
external classifications. Contemporary Islamic currents are treated in three
chapters: global reformist, traditionalist and modernist trends; political Islamism
and jihadist movements; and contemporary currents and communities in
Turkey. The final chapter examines how religious difference turns into
sectarianism and draws together the patterns observed throughout the book. The
chapters are written with a seven-dimensional analytical framework in view:
historical context, leading figures, central doctrines, internal differentiation,
contested questions, historical development and present-day reflections.
Primary-source excerpts, information boxes, timelines, maps, comparative
tables, assessment questions and further-reading lists support learning. Rather
than treating sects as fixed and homogeneous entities, the book presents them as
interpretive communities transformed by history and seeks to distinguish
evidence from interpretation without reproducing polemical labels.
Keywords: Islamic sectarian history; Shiism; Ahl al-Sunna; Muʿtazilism;
Salafism; contemporary religious movements; sectarian identity; religion and
politics; religious diversity; source criticism.