Who's who in Islam

There are 1 billion Muslims worldwide. The main sects are Sunnis and Shiites. The Sunni-Shiite division came about after the death in AD632 of the prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam.

Sunnis

* The majority of Muslims worldwide. Sunnis believe Islam's first four caliphs, or supreme religious leaders, were the rightful successors of Muhammad but have chosen subsequent leaders based on the political realities of the times.

Shiites

* Fewer than 15 per cent of Muslims around the world. Shiites claim the true leaders of Islam were descendants of Ali, the fourth caliph and Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law.

* Shiites venerate Ali and his son Hussein - the prophet's grandson, whose death at the hands of Sunnis in a seventh century battle in what is now Iraq is still remembered in emotional annual rituals.

* Shiites believe their religious leaders - imams - are sinless by nature and their authority is infallible. They have a more organised and hierarchical clerical system than Sunnis.

Wahhabis

* An austere form of Sunni Islam called Wahhabism arose in Saudi Arabia at the start of the 19th century. It still flourishes there, while making some inroads with Muslims elsewhere. Its teachings are based on a literal translation of the Koran. Wahhabism rejects mysticism and any veneration of saints or their tombs.

Sufis

* A mystical form of Islam that is more liberal than the more demanding Sunni Wahhabism. Appeals to Shiites because of its veneration of members of the Prophet Muhammad's family. Followers try to get closer to the divine through dance, music and other physical rituals. Sufism is an umbrella term for the mystical and ascetic movements within Islam. At the last Census, there were 195 Sufis in New Zealand.

Ismailis

* The Ismaili Muslim community has a following of 12 million to 15 million worldwide. Its leader is the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary imam. The sect is looked down upon by some hardline Sunni clerics and its followers were persecuted during the rule of the hardline Taleban in Afghanistan until 2001.

Ahmadiyya

* Ahmadiyya Islam was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Punjab, India. Ahmad claimed to be the appearance of the promised Messiah, as well as an incarnation of the Hindu God Krishna. Ghulam Ahmad taught that Jesus feigned the crucifixion and resurrection.

Druze

* The Druze are widely regarded as not "truly" Muslim. They diverged from mainstream Islam in the 11th century when some Ismailis started to believe that God became manifest in the personality of a prophet or imam. They live mostly in Lebanon and Syria.

Bektashis

* Bektashis belong to a sect derived from a mystic Shia order that flourished in Turkey under the Ottomans. They are allowed alcohol and do not require women to wear a veil.

Alawites

* Alawites are a Muslim tribe to which Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs. It is a religious and secretive sect rooted in Islam. Alawites have ruled Syria through violence and intimidation for more than three decades. In Morocco, the Alawite dynasty has ruled since 1665.