Murjia Sects

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious the Merciful

Murji’a or “delayers”, “postponers”, “deferrers” are heretical groups which were among the original four deviant sects that broke away from the Jama’a of the Muslims, the other three being the Khawarij, the Rawafid and the Qadariya. The Murji’a themselves were split into several subsects. In this entry I shall give a brief outline of them:

 

1. Yunusiya: Followers of Yunus b. Awn al-Numairi. They believe that a Believer enters Paradise on account of his sincerity and love (of God) alone, not on account of his deeds and his obedience.

 

2. Ubaidiya: Followers of Ubaid al-Mukta’ib. They believe that when a person dies a monotheist no sin that he has committed or evil that he has done will harm him.

 

3. Ghassaniya: Followers of Ghassan al-Kufi. They believe that faith increases but does not decrease.

 

4. Thaubaniya: Followers of Abu Thauban. They believe that whatever reason manifests as not obligatory is not part of faith.

 

5. Taumaniya: Followers of Abu Mu’adh al-Taumani. They believe that the word faith refers to the qualities of knowledge, belief, love, sincerity, and acceptance of what has been revealed through the Prophet (peace be upon him & his family). “To make obeisance to the sun, moon and idols is not unbelief in itself, but a sign of unbelief”.

 

6. Salihiya: Followers of Salih b. Umar al-Salihi. They believe that prayer is not worship of God, and that there is not worship of God except faith in Him. Faith consists in the knowledge of God; it is an undivided quality which does not increase or decrease. Similarly, “unbelief is an undivided quality which does not increase or decrease”.