Islamic Schools of Thought: The Complete Tree
Every major school, creed and movement in Islam, where and when it began, who carried it forward, and where it stands today. Browse it as a family tree or a timeline.
New to the Qur'an? Start with The Qur'an: What It Is, How It Came Down, and How It Was Kept, then read Muhammad ﷺ: A Life. All articles: Deen: Start Here.
Deen · Reference · Schools of thought
Every major school of law, creed, Shia branch, Sufi order and modern movement in one tree: when and where each began, who founded it, the people who carried it through the centuries, where it split, and where it is followed today.
Open any entry to see its chain of key figures, its turning points and the sources behind them. Dates are CE, with AH where it helps. Where historians disagree, the entry says "c." and the detail explains why. Some groups on this tree regard others on it as outside Islam; they are listed here because they are part of the history, not as a verdict on anyone's faith.
Bars run from each group's beginning to its end, or to today. Faded bars are extinct or absorbed. Tap a bar to open that entry in the tree.
Built from the sources listed in each entry (Encyclopaedia Iranica, Britannica, the Institute of Ismaili Studies, academic works and official sites for living leaders), checked in September 2026. Living leaders are given as at that date. If you spot an error, tell me and I will correct it.
Related reading: The Qur'an: What It Is, How It Came Down, and How It Was Kept · Muhammad ﷺ: A Life · The People Around Muhammad ﷺ: Companions, Wives and Family · Sufism: Origins, Orders and Critiques · Belief in God, the Prophets and the Unseen · Salafism: Origins, Beliefs and the Arguments Around It · Following a Madhhab: Taqlīd, Ijtihād and Mixing Schools · Sunni and Shia · The Hadith Collections: A Complete Tree · The People Behind the Hadith: Narrators, Chains and How They Were Judged
