Islam
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leaders to succeed him, those leaders had to be elected. Sunnis recognize four major legal
traditions, or madhhabs: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. All four accept the validity of the
others and a Muslim might choose any one that he or she finds agreeable, but other Islamic
sects are believed to have departed from the majority by introducing innovations (bidah).
There are also several orthodox theological or philosophical traditions within Sunnism. For
example, the recent Salafi movement sees itself as restorationist and claims to derive its
teachings from the original sources of Islam.
Shi'a
The Shi'a, who constitute the secondlargest branch of Islam, believe in the political and
religious leadership of infallible Imams from the progeny of Ali ibn Abi Talib. They believe that
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