Islam · macro
Sunni Islam
Absolute and undivided oneness, a transcendent God who is nonetheless nearer than the jugular vein, and a revealed text taken as dictated rather than authored. People are born sound and forgetful rather than fallen, which places C3 far from the Christian position despite everything the two share.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- E1 Exclusivityone true pathFurther toward "one true path" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixedFurther toward "revealed and fixed" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and bindingFurther toward "literal and binding" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional actFurther toward "an intentional act" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 1.00 | 0.02 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | a personal being one can addressQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.92 | 0.05 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | strictly oneQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | leaning wholly beyond the worldQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.28 | 0.10 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | revealed and fixedQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.08 | 0.07 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | literal and bindingQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.10 | 0.08 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | leaning clergy and tradition decideQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.32 | 0.15 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.98 | 0.02 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | one life, then judgmentQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | between fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally soundQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.58 | 0.12 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insightQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.45 | 0.15 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | essential and prescribedQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.03 | 0.03 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be disciplinedQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.28 | 0.12 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | one true pathQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.10 | 0.10 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | an intentional actQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | between a people, inherited and an individual choiceQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.42 | 0.15 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredQur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh | 0.38 | 0.13 |
Further reading
- Qur’an 112 (al-Ikhlas) and 2:255 (Ayat al-Kursi) — Tawhid stated as compactly as it ever is — the A1–A3 row in eight lines.
- Al-Ghazali, The Revival of the Religious Sciences, book I — Knowledge, law and practice held together, which is what D2 is measuring.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.