Djamila said:
Very true!
I use the term sect too liberally, I suppose. "School of jurisprudence" is harder to remember and doesn't really convey the level of difference between, for example, a Turkish Hanafi Muslim and a Saudi Wahhabi Muslim.
But in scholarly, official, etc. terms - you're right.
The Champ is going to rest this one out. There is an incredible amount of confusion in your last post, so I'm going to do my best to clear it all up, InshaAllah. Anyway---
First of all, nationality has nothing to do with any of the sort of differences you're trying to highlight in this thread. Second,
there is no such thing as a Wahhabbi. I would like this point to be the most clear. The so-called "Wahhabbis" are what knowledgeable people would call Muslims, and they adhere to the Holy Qur'an, the Sunnah [Prophetic Tradition], and the Prophet's (SAWS) Companions of the first three generations. Mohammad Ibn AbdulWahab was simply a righteous man who came at a time when shirk was rampant among the lands, and what he did was set peopele straight by calling them to
Tawhid and aboloshing all forms of bid'aa.
Those who followed Sheikh Ibn AbdulWahab unfortunately came to be known as "Wahhabbis," and (again) unfortunately, they are the ones who are often seen as "extremists" and are commonly linked to such terrorists as Osama Bin Laden (who, by the way, hates the so-called "Wahhabbis"). On to the next point. The Hanafi "school" (I use quotation marks because they really aren't a school, but that is for another time) is simply one of the four main jurisprudence "schools" of Islam, and nothing else. Al-Hanafi, along with the other three, never disagreed on those things that contradicted the Qur'an and the Sunnah, but they did happen to have differing opinions on common matters of jurisprudence.
I hope what I have said is clear. If not, then InshaAllah the Champ will do his best to instill further clarity.