Right after the martyrdom of third caliph of Islam, Ameer ul Mo’mineen Hazrat Usman Ibn Affan (May Allah be pleased with him), Muslims were divided on political front. Islamic state was divided into two separate governments. One government with capital in Madinah (now part of Saudi Arabia) and the other government with capital in Kufa (Iraq).
One group identified themselves as Ahle Sunnat and the other group identified themselves as Ahle Tash’ee. In other words, Sunni and Shi’a. Over the past hundreds of years, Sunni and Shi’a have been further divided into sub-denominations.
Sunni groups have been subdivided into subgroups due to the ethnic, organizational,
geographical and language differences and traditions. Such sub-groups are
Ahle Sunnat ul Jamaat
Hanafi (Maturidi) Maliki Shafe’ee Hanbali
Among Sunnis; Hanafi, Maliki, Shafe’ee and Hanbali are considered as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama’at. The basic difference among the four groups of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama’at is the FIQH (Jurisprudence of Islam). Otherwise, these four groups have unanimity in beliefs, traditions and the status of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), his SAHABAH (companions), his Aal (progeny) and the Aulia Allah (The very righteous people among Muslims) in Islam. Most of the Ahle Sunnah Wal Jama’ah follow the tradition of SUFIS (mysticism of Islam). Brelvi school of thought is also considered as Ahle Sunnat wal Jama’at. They follow the Hanafi FIQH.
Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama’at believes that
The other Wrong sects such as Wahabis, Salafis (Ahle Hadith), Parvezees, Deobandis, etc.. do not believe or practice the above traditions of Ahle Sunnah.
Assalam o Alikum