Ismaili Khojas/ Khoja
Khoja’s are basically Hindus converted to Mohammedanism and taught Shiah of Ismaili faith. As a rule Khojas have no mosque or Masjid. The Jamat Khana is their prayer house where they recite gnan (Knowledge) which is a free composition in verse of some parts of Koran and Hindu Mythology.
Their accepted scripture is “Dashavatar” conversion of Khojas to the Shiah Imami Ismaili sect is not a case of individual conversions but a mass or community conversion.
The Agha Khan is the spiritual head of the Ismaili Khojas and he was once regarded as having the sole right of determining who shall or shall not remain a member of the community but this right has been curtailed later by an act.

Athna Asharias/ Ithna Ashariyyah/Shia Sub-sects
The Shias are mainly divided into three main sub-sects, namely, the Athna-Asharias or ithna ashariyya, the Ismailyas and the Zaidyas. Most of the Shias are Athna-Asharias so the resumption is that a Shia is governed by the Athna-Asharia exposition of the law.
Ithna Ashariyyah are also known as The Twelver because they believe on 12 Imams. They also believe that Imam Mahdi will be none other than the returned Twelfh Iman. 85 percent of Shias are Athna Asharia are majority lives in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain.

Types of Sunnah
The Sunnah means the actions and precepts of Holy Prophet (SAW). Sunnah is the second source of Islamic Law. Literal meaning of Sunnah is ‘a clear and well trodden path”. It denotes the practice of Muhammad (PBUH) that he taught and practically instituted as teacher of Shariah.
Followings are the types of Sunnah

• Sunnat-ul-Qual: all words, counsels or precepts of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
• Sunnat-ul-Fieel: his action, works and daily practices
• Sunnat-ul-Taqrir: his silence implying a tacit approbation on his part of any individual act committed by his disciples

Status of previous marriage of non-Muslim women when non-Muslim Women married with Muslim
Requirement of “Fiqah” is that if a married non-Muslis woman embraces Islam she must inform her husband of the conversion. The husband either embraces Islam within the period of Iddat, in which case the marriage continues, or he remains a non-Muslim even after expiry of Iddat Period, in which case the marriage would stand dissolved. The Iddat is imposed in order to provide opportunity to the non-Muslim husband to consider whether he wishes to embrace Islam and also as a matter of public policy in order to ascertain whether the woman is pregnant by earlier husband so as to avoid confusion of parentage.
Quranic View about marriage of non-Muslim women with Muslim
In Surat Baqra it is stated that by conversion to Islam, a non-Muslim lady’s earlier marriage with a non-Muslim man is dissolved an on account of her subsequent marriage with a Muslim, she is not guilty of any offence.

Types of Hadith/ Types of Hadis
A Hadith is saying or an act or approval or disapproval of Holy Prophet (PBUH). It is very important source of Islamic law and Islamic Jurisprudence. All the Hadis collectively can further be classified into three categories from the point of view of their inter se priority. The order of their priority is as follows;
1-Ahadis-i-Mutwater
There are those traditions which have received universal publicity and acceptance in each one of the three periods namely, the period of the ‘Companions who were more righteous and had often shared the counsel of the Holy Prophet, the period of the successors of the “Companions” known as Tabieen and the period of their  successors known as Tabi Tabieen.
2-Ahadis-i-Mashhura
There are those traditions which though known publicly by a great majority of people, do not possess the character of universal fame. They carry conviction of genuineness but are reported by a limited number of Companions and thereafter in the two successive periods aforesaid.
3-Ahadis-I-Wahid
There are those traditions which depend on isolated individuals

Change of Sect in Islam

Can a Muslim of one sect change to another Sect?
A Muhammadan male of female who has attained the age of puberty, may renounce the doctrines of the sect or sub-sect to which he or she belongs and adopt the tenets of the other sects or any other sub-sect, and he or she will thenceforth be subject to the law of the new sect of subs-sect.
It is important to be a Muslim and there is not restriction on changing of sect in Islam. One must fulfill the original requirements to be a Muslim while remaining in any sect. There are some sects which not fulfill the requirement of Muslim and conversion to such sect made one apostle hence the essential point in this question to retain the basic requirements of Muslim.
In your previous article we have discussed the Definition of Muslim, you can read it by clicking on the given link.

Ghusl is an Arabic word which means full ablution in Islam. Ghusl or bathing becomes necessary for any adult Muslim after having sexual intercourse, any sexual discharge or completion of menstrual cycle, giving birth or death by natural causes. Followings are some selected Hadis from Sahi Bukhari which put light on the method and importance of Ghusl in Islam.

Narrated `Aisha: Whenever the Prophet took a bath after Janaba he started by washing his hands and then performed ablution like that for the prayer. After that he would put his fingers in water and move the roots of his hair with them, and then pour three handfuls of water over his head and then pour water all over his body.
1.249:
Narrated Maimuna: (the wife of the Prophet) Allah’s Apostle performed ablution like that for the prayer but did not wash his feet. He washed off the discharge from his private parts and then poured water over his body. He withdrew his feet from that place (the place where he took the bath) and then washed them. And that was his way of taking the bath of Janaba.
1.250:
Narrated `Aisha:
The Prophet and I used to take a bath from a single pot called ‘Faraq’.
1.251:
Narrated Abu Salama: `Aisha’s brother and I went to `Aisha and he asked her about the bath of the Prophet. She brought a pot containing about a Sa` of water and took a bath and poured it over her head and at what time there was a screen between her and us.
1.252:
Narrated Abu Ja`far: While I and my father were with Jabir bin `Abdullah, some People asked him about taking a bath He replied, “A Sa` of water is sufficient for you.” A man said, “A Sa` is not sufficient for me.” Jabir said, “A Sa was sufficient for one who had more hair than you and was better than you (meaning the Prophet).” And then Jabir (put on) his garment and led the prayer.
1.253:
Narrated Ibn `Abbas: The Prophet and Maimuna used to take a bath from a single pot.
1.254:
Narrated Jubair bin Mut`im: Allah’s Apostle said, “As for me, I pour water three times on my head.” And he pointed with both his hands.
1.255:
Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah: The Prophet used to pour water three times on his head.
1.256:
Narrated Abu Ja`far: Jabir bin `Abdullah said to me, “Your cousin (Hasan bin Muhammad bin Al−Hanafiya) came to me and asked about the bath of Janaba. I replied, ‘The Prophet uses to take three handfuls of water, pour them on his head and then pour more water over his body.’ Al−Hasan said to me, ‘I am a hairy man.’ I replied, ‘The Prophet had more hair than you’. ”
1.257:
Narrated Maimuna: I placed water for the bath of the Prophet. He washed his hands twice or thrice and then poured water on his left hand and washed his private parts. He rubbed his hands over the earth (and cleaned them), rinsed his mouth, washed his nose by putting water in it and blowing it out, washed his face and both forearms and then poured water over his body. Then he withdrew from that place and washed his feet.

Narrated Maimuna:
I placed water for the bath of Allah’s Apostle and he poured water over his hands and washed them twice or thrice; then he poured water with his right hand over his left and washed his private parts (with his left hand). He rubbed his hand over the earth and rinsed his mouth and washed his nose by putting water in it and blowing it out. After that he washed his face, both fore arms and head thrice and then poured water over his body. He withdrew from that place and washed his feet.
1.266:
Narrated Maimuna bint Al−Harith: I placed water for the bath of Allah’s Apostle and put a screen. He poured water over his hands, and washed them once or twice. (The sub−narrator added that he did not remember if she had said thrice or not). Then he poured water with his right hand over his left one and washed his private parts. He rubbed his hand over the earth or the wall and washed it. He rinsed his mouth and washed his nose by putting water in it and blowing it out. He washed his face, forearms and head. He poured water over his body and then withdrew from that place and washed his feet. I presented him a piece of cloth (towel) and he pointed with his hand (that he does not want it) and did not take it.
1.267:
Narrated Muhammad bin Al−Muntathir: on the authority of his father that he had asked `Aisha (about the Hadith of Ibn `Umar). She said, “May Allah be Merciful to Abu `Abdur−Rahman. I used to put scent on Allah’s Apostle and he used to go round his wives, and in the morning he assumed the Ihram, and the fragrance of scent was still coming out from his body.”

Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was a religious scholar and conservative reformer whose teachings were elaborated by his followers into the doctrines of Wahhabism. Ibn Abd alWahhab was born in the small town of Uyayna located in the Najd territory of north central Arabia. He came from a family of Hanbali scholars and received his early education from his father, who served as judge (qadi) and taught hadith and law at the local mosque schools. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab left Uyayna at an early age, and probably journeyed first to Mecca for the pilgrimage and then continued to Medina, where he remained for a longer period. Here he was influenced by the lectures of Shaykh Abdallah b. Ibrahim al-Najdi on the neo Hanbali doctrines of Ibn Taymiyya.
From Medina, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab traveled to Basra, where he apparently remained for some time, and then to Isfahan. In Basra he was introduced directly to an array of mystical (Sufi) practices and to Shiite beliefs and rituals. This encounter undoubtedly reinforced his earlier beliefs that Islam had been corrupted by the infusion of extraneous and heretical influences. The beginning of his reformist activism may be traced to the time when he left Basra around 1739 to return to the Najd.
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab rejoined his family in Huraymila, where his father had recently relocated. Here he composed the small treatise entitled Kitab al-tawhid (Book of unity), in which he most clearly outlines his religio-political mission. He castigates not only the doctrines and practices of Sufism and Shiism, but also more widespread popular customs common to Sunnis as well, such as performing pilgrimages to the graves of pious personages and beseeching the deceased for intercession with God. More generally, following a line of argument developed much earlier by Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab challenged the authority of the religious scholars (ulema), not only of his own time, but also the majority of those in preceding generations. These scholars had injected unlawful innovations (bida) into Islam, he argued. In order to restore the strict monotheism (tawhid) of true Islam, it was necessary to strip the pristine Islam of human additions and speculations and implement the laws contained in the Quran as interpreted by the Prophet and his immediate companions. Thus, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab called for the reopening of ijtihad (independent legal judgment) by qualified persons to reform Islam, but the end to which his ijtihad led was a conservative, literal reading of certain parts of the Quran.
Aspects of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s teachings, including asceticism, simplicity of faith, and emphasis on an egalitarian community, quickly drew followers to his cause. But his condemnation of the alleged moral laxity of society, his challenge to the ulema, and to the political authority that supported them estranged him from his townspeople and, some claim, even from his own family. In 1740, he returned to his native village of Uyayna, where the local ruler (amir) Uthman b. Bishr adopted his teachings and began to act on some of them, such as destroying tombs in the area. When this activity caused a popular backlash, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab moved on to Diriyya, a small town in the Najd near presentday Riyadh. Here he forged an alliance with the amir Muhammad b. Saud (d. 1765), who pledged military support on behalf of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s religious vocation. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab spent the remainder of his life in Diriyya, teaching in the local mosque, counseling first Muhammad b. Saud and then his son Abd al-Aziz (d. 1801), and spreading his teachings through followers in the Najd and Iraq.

Akbar the Great (1542–1605)
Jalal al-Din Akbar was born in 1542 as his father Humayun fled India before the forces of the Afghan warlord Sher Shah Sur. After thirteen years of exile, his father returned to rule India, but died in a fall in a matter of months. Akbar came to the throne at the age thirteen in 1555. He ruled until his own death in 1605.
Akbar’s reputation as the true founder of the Mogul empire rests partly on his own reign of fifty years and partly on the writings of Abu ’l-Fazl, a loyal companion who was Akbar’s ardent supporter. Abu ’l-Fazl’s Ain-i Akbari and Akbarnamah presented the image of Akbar as a political genius. Abu ’l-Fazl saw Akbar as the “perfect man” (insan-I kamil) of Sufi lore: a master of both the temporal and spiritual realms. He, therefore, inflated Akbar’s reputation whenever possible.
In practical terms, Akbar adopted some of the administrative practices of the defeated Sher Shah. As the influence of his grandfather and father’s aging courtiers declined, Akbar was free to recruit a new corps of advisors, like Abu ’l-Fazl. These advisors depended on his patronage for their own status. During Akbar’s reign, India saw an influx of silver bullion as European traders began massive purchases of Indian cloth. Because of the cash nexus created by increased commerce, Akbar was able to manage a system in which officials received salaries either directly from the imperial treasury or through assignments of the government’s revenue allotment from the capitol of the province for specific districts.
The central authority gained an unprecedented degree of control over state officials. Akbar’s reputation was further enhanced as the British came to rule India. They saw him as a model for their own style of rule: religiously neutral, but strict in his assertion of central power.

Ayatollah Meaning & Definition
The term ayatollah (Ar. ayatollah), literally “Sign of God,” refers to high-ranking scholars within the Twelver Shiite tradition. The term emerged in the early modern period (late 19th century) to describe the elite of the Shiite scholarly community. In modern works, many early Shiite scholars were anachronistically given the rank of ayatollah. Ayatollahs are nearly always experts in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), and are normally required to have written extensively in this area.
The requirements for qualification as an ayatollah are not entirely clear in traditional descriptions of the Shiite hierarchy, though the rank of ijtihad and associated qualifications of learning are often mentioned. Ijtihad is a condition, though not everyone who has attained it will be called “ayatollah.” The vagueness is due to absence of rigid ranks in the Shiite hierarchy. Before and since the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1979), the term “grand ayatollah” was used for the “sources of imitation.” Since the revolution, there has been a tremendous increase in the use of the term for the Iranian clerical elite.
Ayatollahs are found at the apex of the scholarly structure, having studied in traditional seminaries (madrasas) and having passed through a number of intermediate ranks (among which is Hojjat al-Islam). A scholar seems to be granted the rank of ayatollah through general agreement among the scholars. A person might be referred to as ayatollah by one writer and, when no one disputes the appellation, most scholars subsequently refer to him as ayatollah. An ayatollah, theoretically, holds this rank until he dies, though in recent times, ayatollahs (such as ayatollahs Shari atmadari and Muntazeri in Iran) have lost their status after serious disputes with supposedly higher-ranking Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.