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Demographic of Islamic schools and branches
Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or ʿaqīdah. Within Islamic groups themselves there may be differences, such as different orders within Sufism, and within Sunnī Islam different schools of theology and jurisprudence. Groups in Islam may be numerous , or relatively small in size. Differences between the groups may not be well known to Muslims outside of scholarly circles, or may have induced enough passion to have resulted in political and religious violence. There are informal movements driven by ideas as well as organized groups with a governing body. Some of the Islamic sects and groups regard certain others as deviant or not truly Muslim. Some Islamic sects and groups date back to the early history of Islam between the 7th and 9th centuries CE , whereas others have arisen much more recently or even in the 20th century. Still others were influential in their time but are not longer in existence.