Ibadi
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Al-Ibadhiyah (Arabic الاباضية) is a form of Islam distinct from the Shi'ite and Sunni sects. It is the dominant form of Islam in only one Muslim country, Oman. One of the earliest schools, it was founded less than 50 years after the death of the prophet Muhammad.
The school derives its name from Abdullah Ibn Ibadh al-Tamimi. However followers of this sect claim its true founder was Jabir bin Zaid Al-'Azdi from Nizwa in Oman.
Ibadhi Muslims are generally regarded as conservative, but moderate. Ibadhism, for example, rejects the practice of Qunut where enemies are cursed during prayers. Sunni Muslims traditionally regard Ibadhism as a Kharijite group; Ibadhis reject this designation. Ibadhis regard other Muslims not as kafirs, or unbelievers, (as most Kharijite groups did) but as "kuffar an-ni`ma", those who deny God's grace. They believe that the attitude of a true believer to others is expressed in three religious obligations:
- walayah: friendship and unity with the practicing true believers, and with the Ibadhi Imams.
- baraah: dissociation and hostility towards unbelievers and sinners, and those destined for Hell.
- wuquf: reservation towards those whose status is unclear.
Ibadis agree with Sunnis in approving of Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab, whom they regard as the two rightly guided caliphs. They regard Uthman ibn Affan as having introduced blameworthy innovations (bid'ah) into Islam, and approve of the revolt which overthrew him. They also approve of the first part of Ali's caliphate, and, like Shias, disapprove of Aisha's rebellion against him and of Muawiya's revolt. However, they regard Ali's acceptance of arbitration at the Battle of Siffin, against Muawiya's rebels, as un-Islamic and as rendering him unfit for the Imamate, and they condemn Ali for killing the early Kharijites of al-Nahr in the Battle of Nahrawan. In their belief, the fifth legitimate Caliph was Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi. All Caliphs from Muawiya onwards are regarded as tyrants, except Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, on whom opinions differ. However, various later Ibadhi leaders are recognized as true Imams, including Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Kindi of South Arabia and the imams of the Rustamid dynasty in North Africa.
Ibadhi Muslims are also found in East Africa (especially Zanzibar), Libya (in Jabal Nafusa), Algeria (in the Mzab), and Djerba Island in Tunisia. The early medieval Rustamid dynasty in Algeria was Ibadhi, and refugees from its capital Tahert founded the North African Ibadhi communities which exist today.
External links
- Ibadi Islam: an introduction
- A Concise History of Al-Ibadhiyah
- An overview of Ibadhism
- Ibn Ibad and the Ibadi School of Islamic Law
