أهل السنّة والجماعة
Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jamāʿa
Group
The community that stands united behind the Sunnah of the Prophet, the name by which the Sunni majority of Muslims know themselves.
What it means
The phrase means “the people of the Sunnah and the congregation”. It names the mainstream community of Muslims who hold to the practice of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and keep to the unity of the body of believers. The word Sunnī is its usual short form. In law this community includes the four Sunni schools, and in creed it includes the theological schools of al-Ashʿarī and al-Māturīdī. The two halves of the name express its two commitments: loyalty to the example of the Prophet and loyalty to the community that carries it.
Often misunderstood as
Shortened to “Sunni”, it is sometimes taken as the name of a sect, while the Arabic phrase stresses fidelity to the Prophet’s practice and to the unity of the community.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 64, listed as AHL AL SUNNAH WAL JAMĀ‘AH. The definition is restated here.