Sunni

sun (with a flattened ‘uh’ sound) -ee

Explanation

The major group of Muslims who believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor to follow him as leader of the Muslims and that the Qur’an and the sayings (hadith) of the Prophet form the basis of Islamic law.

Context

The majority of Muslims today (over 85%) belong to the Sunni group; they believe that their leaders should be chosen by merit, not birth or family inheritance. The first Sunni successors of the Prophet Muhammad were Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.