<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><mads xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mads/" xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mads/
mads.xsd"><authority><topic authority="http://AATesaurus.cultura.gencat.cat/aat/getty_en">Sunni</topic></authority><related type="other"><topic>Shi&apos;a</topic></related><related type="broader"><topic>Islam</topic></related><variant type="other"><topic>Sunni Islam</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>Sunnis</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>Sunnism</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>Sunnite</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>Sunnites</topic></variant> <note xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[ Refers to the branch of Islam generally considered the more mainstream and traditionalist Islamic sect, constituting the majority of adherents to Islam. It is founded on the recognition of a theocratic state as an earthly, temporal dominion for Allah and it is characterized by religious leadership determined by and based on contemporary political realities and by the proper exercise of religious order through election rather than through lineage. Sunni doctrine often includes customs and rituals not based in the Qur'an but that evolved through historical development. ]]></note></mads>