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 Sunni and Shia. It is the dominant sect in Oman and Zanzibar; Ibāḍī are also found in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and East Africa. The Tartib al-Musnad and Jami Sahih are the main hadith collections for Ibadis.

The Ibāḍī movement is said to have been founded 60 years after the death of Muḥammad. Historians and a majority of Muslims believe that the denomination is a reformed sect of the Khawārij or Khārijite movement.^{[citation needed]} However, Ibāḍīs deny anything more than a passing relation to the Khawārij and point out that they merely developed out of the same precursor group.

Origin

The school derives its name from ʿAbdu l-Lāh ibn Ibāḍ of the Banu Tamim. However, the true founder was Jābir ibn Zayd of Nizwa, Oman.

Views

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

Their views assimilate those of the Khārijites, in 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, sinners, and those destined for Hell.
• wuqūf: reservation towards those whose status is unclear.

Doctrinal differences with Sunnī Islam

Ibāḍīs 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 is told upon asking to see God, "You shall not see Me." (The mainstream Sunnī belief is that Muslims will see God with their eyes on the Day of Judgment.) This matches the beliefs of the Shīʿa; Ali said in Nahj al-Balāghah, "Eyes cannot see Him, but He can be seen by the realities of faith".

• Whosoever enters Hellfire will remain therein forever. (This is contrary to the Sunnī belief that Muslims who enter Hellfire will live therein for a fixed amount of time to purify them of their sins, after which they will enter Paradise.)

• The Quran was created by God at a certain point in time. (The Sunnī community holds the Quran is the word of God, as exemplified by the suffering of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal during the miḥnah.)

Views on Islamic history and caliphate

Ibāḍīs agree with Sunnīs regarding Abū Bakr and 'Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb as rightly-guided Caliphs. They regard 'Uthmān ibn 'Affān as wrongly introducing bid'ah ("innovation") to Islam, and approve of the revolt which overthrew him. They approve of the first part of 'Alī's caliphate, and (like Shī'a) disapprove of 'Ā'ishah's rebellion and Mu'āwīyah's revolt. However, they regard Alī's acceptance of arbitration at the Battle of Ṣiffīn as rendering him unfit for leadership, and condemn him for killing the Muslims of an-Nahr in the Naharwān.

In their belief the next legitimate Caliph was Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi, and all Caliphs from Mu'āwīyah onwards are tyrants except 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Azīz, on whom opinions differ. Numerous Ibāḍī leadersTemplate:By definition? or by non-Ibāḍī? 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

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

The principal ḥadith collection accepted by Ibāḍīs is Musnad al-Rabī' ibn Ḥabīb, as transmitted by Abū Ya'qūb Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm al-Warijlanī. Ibāḍī 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.

Ibāḍī jurists criticize some of the Companions, believing them 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 itself and ḥadith citing Muhammad.

Demographics

Ibadi majority countries are coloured in blue.

Ibāḍī Muslims make up a majority (roughly 75%) of the population in Oman. The early medieval Rustamid dynasty in Algeria was Ibāḍī, and refugees from its capital Tiaret founded the North African Ibāḍīs communities which exist today in M'zab. The Mozabites, a Berber ethnic group in M'zab, are Ibadis. Ibadis are also found in East Africa (particularly Zanzibar), the Nafūsah Mountains of Libya, and Djerba Island in Tunisia.

Notable Ibadis

• Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman and its dependencies
• Sulaiman al-Barouni, wali of Tripolitania
• Nouri Abusahmain, president of the General National Congress

External links

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