Ibadi

For other uses, see Ibadi (disambiguation).

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The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya (Arabic: الاباضية al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a form of Islam distinct from the Sunni and Shī'ah denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman and Zanzibar. Ibāḑīs can also be found in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and East Africa. The Tartib al-Musnad and Jami Sahih are the main hadith collection for Ibadis.

Believed to be an off-shoot of one of the earliest schools, the Khawārij, it is said to have been founded 60 years after the death of the Prophet Muḥammad. Historians as well as majority of Muslims believe that the denomination is a reformed Islamic sect, formally known as the Khawārij or Khārijites. However, Ibāḑīs continue to deny any but a passing relation to the Khārijites (Khawārij), and point out that they merely developed out of the same precursor group; and whilst they may hold some beliefs in common, they and the Khārijites were never one and the same.

Origin

The school derives its name from 'Abdullāh ibn Ibāḑ al-Tamīmī. However, the true founder was Jābir ibn Zayd al-'Azdī from Nizwah, Oman.

Views

Ibāḑī communities are generally regarded as conservative, for example Ibādīya rejects the practice of qunūt or supplications while standing in prayer.

Their views assimilate that of the Khārijites, in which they believe that the attitude of a true believer to others is expressed in three religious obligations:

• walāyah: friendship and unity with the practicing true believers, and with the Ibadi Imams.
• barā'ah: dissociation (but not hostility) towards unbelievers and sinners, and those destined for Hell.
• wuqūf: reservation towards those whose status is unclear.

Doctrinal differences with Sunnī Islam

Ibāḑīs also have several doctrinal differences with Sunnī Islam, chief among them:

• Muslims will not see God on the Day of Judgment. This is derived from the Qur'an where Mūsā (Moses) is told upon asking to see God, "You shall not see Me." This is contrary to the mainstream Sunnī belief that Muslims will see God with their eyes on the day of Judgment. This matches the beliefs of Shiah Muslims. The Imam Ali said in Nahj al-Balāghah: "Eyes cannot see Him, but He can be seen by the realities of faith".

• Whosoever enters Hell-fire, will remain therein forever. This is contrary to the Sunnī belief that those Muslims who enter Hell-fire will live therein for a fixed amount of time, to purify them of their sins, after which they will enter Paradise. Sunnīs also believe, however, that unbelievers in "One God" (Tawḥīd-Allah, meaning the oneness of God, without association of others with God) will be in Hell-fire forever. (This may be compared to the belief of some Christian groups in purgatory.)

• The Qur'an was created by God at a certain point in time. The Sunnī community holds that the Qur'an is the Speech of Allah, as exemplified by the suffering of Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal during the miḥnah. Much of the Shi'ah community also holds that the Qur'an was created, one of many theological beliefs that they share with the Mu'tazilah.

Views on Islamic history and caliphate

Ibāḑīs agree with Sunnīs in approving of Abū Bakr and 'Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, whom they regard as the two rightly-guided Caliphs. They regard 'Uthmān ibn 'Affān as having introduced bid'ah "innovation" into Islam, and approve of the revolt which overthrew him. They also approve of the first part of 'Alī's caliphate, and, like Shī'as, disapprove of 'Ā'ishah's rebellion against him and also disapprove of Mu'āwīyah's revolt. However, they regard Alī's acceptance of arbitration at the Battle of Ṣiffīn against Mu'āwīyah's rebels as un-Islamic and as rendering him unfit for the Imamate, and they condemn 'Alī for killing the Muslims of an-Nahr in the Naharwān.

In their belief, the fifth legitimate Caliph was Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi. All Caliphs from Mu'āwīyah onwards are regarded as tyrants except 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Azīz, on whom opinions differ. However, various later Ibāḑī leaders are recognized as true imams, including 'Abdullāh ibn Yaḥyā al-Kindī of South Arabia and the imams of the Rustamid dynasty in North Africa.

View of hadith

Ibāḑīs accept as authentic far fewer hadīth than do Sunnīs, and some hadith accepted by Ibāḑīs are rejected by Sunnīs. Ibāḑī jurisprudence, naturally, is based only on the ḥadīth accepted by Ibāḑīs. Several of Ibāḑīsm's founding figures – in particular Jābir ibn Zayd – were noted for their ḥadīth research, and Jābir ibn Zayd is accepted as a reliable narrator by Sunnī scholars as well as by Ibāḑī ones.

The principal ḥadith collection accepted by Ibāḑīs is Musnad al-Rabī' ibn Ḥabīb, as rearranged by Abū Ya'qūb Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm al-Warijlanī. Ibāḑī jurists use the rules set by Abū Ya'qūb al-Warijlanī to determine the reliability of a ḥadīth. These are largely similar to those used by Sunnīs.

Ibāḑī jurists, however, criticize some of the companions of Prophet Muhammad, believing that some were corrupted after the reign of the first two caliphs. Still, they accept hadith narrating the words of the companions as a third basis for legal rulings, alongside the Qur'an and ḥadith relating words of Prophet Muhammad.

Demographics

Ibadi majority countries are coloured in blue.

Ibāḑī Muslims make up a majority (roughly 75%) of the population in Oman. They are also found in the Nafūsah Mountains in Libya, M'zab in Algeria, East Africa (particularly Zanzibar) and Djerba Island in Tunisia. The early medieval Rustamid dynasty in Algeria was Ibāḑī, and refugees from its capital Tahert founded the North African Ibāḑīs communities which exist today in the M'zāb Valley.

External links

• Ibadi Islam: an introduction
• A Concise History of al-Ibadiyyah
• Ibn-Ibad and the Ibadi School of Islamic Law