Sunni Muslim
6
3.2
- noun
- /ˈsʌni ˈmʊzlɪm/
:
musulmán sunita
- Saudi Arabia is considered a leading Sunni Muslim nation, heavily influencing the Islamic practices in the region.
- Sunni Muslims (52 percent)
In a bad sign for the British, both Shia and Sunni Muslims were in revolt alongside each other, a rare occurrence between the rival groups.
- In a bad sign for the British, both Shia and Sunni Muslims were in revolt alongside each other, a rare occurrence between the rival groups.
- That seems to be their position, Sunni Muslims in so far as they, their view is that Jews and Christians are not totally wrong.
Examples
-
Shiites differ from Sunni Muslims primarily in their understanding of how leadership should be identified in the Muslim community.
Academic text (2005) -
If U.S. policymakers support the Iraqi Shi'a, they risk alienating Sunni Muslims worldwide.
Academic text (2007) -
The two officers are Sunni Muslims.
Academic text (1998) -
We were defending Sunni Muslims in Bosnia.
Academic text (2017) -
The Kurds are a largely Sunni Muslim, Indo-European-speaking people.
Academic text (2004) -
The Kingdom of Bahrain is officially Sunni Muslim (the religion of the royal family).
Blog text (7) -
Nevertheless, the government does reach out to the majority Sunni Muslim population by avoiding contention in the domestic arena and stressing foreign policy issues.
Academic text (1991) -
Most but not all of the Kurds are Sunni Muslims, and they speak a multiplicity of dialects that are not always mutually comprehensible.
Academic text (2000) -
The quota sample included relatively equal proportions of Sunni Muslims (52 percent) and Shi'i Muslims (48 percent).
Academic text (2001) -
Few readers, similarly, will be surprised to learn that the second quote came from a Sunni Muslim cleric in Baghdad, Imam Mouaid al-Ubaidi.
Academic text (2003)
Synonyms
45
5.3
A Muslim who follows the largest branch of Islam and accepts the first four leaders after Muhammad
1
8.9
A Muslim who accepts the first four leaders after the prophet Muhammad as the rightful successors
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'Sunni' denotes the Sunni branch/adherent and 'Muslim' denotes a person practicing Islam, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer this refers to a Muslim who follows the Sunni branch. This subtype/compound noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows ordinary noun modification, making it immediately understandable to B1 learners familiar with the two words.
Etymology
Sunni Muslim comes from the Arabic word Sunna, which means the Prophet's 'tradition' or 'way'. So Sunni Muslims are people who follow those traditions and the early community leaders, and the name now refers to the largest branch of Islam.