Afghanistans Religion
The official religion in Afghanistan is Islam, which is practiced by over 99% of its citizens. Sunni Islam makes up 80-89% of the total population while the remaining 10-19% are Shi'as and about 1% or less practice other religions.
There are about 50,000 Hindus and Sikhs, who are said to have been first brought to Afghanistan by the British during the Anglo-Afghan Wars in the 19th century. Only a little bit of people study other religions.
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, and Sunni Muslims are referred to as Ahlus Sunnah wa Al-Jama‘ah or Ahlus Sunnah for short. Sunni Islam may be referred to as Orthodox Islam. The word "Sunni" comes from the term Sunnah, which refers to the words and actions or example of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Sunnis consider Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim to be authentic hadiths.
The Sunni branch of Islam has four legal schools of thought or madh'hab, which are all accepted among one another. The Sunni branch accepts the first four caliphs as rightful successors of Muhammad and accepts hadiths narrated by the companions.