Ibadi
Encyclopedia
The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya (Arabic: الاباضية al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a form of Islam
distinct from the Sunni and Shia denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman
and Zanzibar
. Ibadis can also be found in parts of Algeria
, Tunisia
, as well as Libya
.
Believed to be an off-shoot of one of the earliest schools, Khawarij, it is said to have been founded less than 50 years after the death of the prophet Muhammad
. Historians as well as mainstream Muslims believe that the denomination is a reformed Islamic sect, formally known as the Khawarij
or Kharijites. However, Ibadis continue to deny any relation to the Kharijites (Khawarij).
or supplications while standing in prayer.
Their views assimilate that of the Ibadin, in which they believe that the attitude of a true believer to others is expressed in three religious obligations:
The only noticeable difference between the Ibadi and traditional Kharijites is that the Ibadi have abandoned labelling other Muslims as Kafir
, although they still dissociate themselves from the Non-Muslims.
and Umar ibn al-Khattab, whom they regard as the two rightly-guided Caliph
s. They regard Uthman ibn Affan as having introduced bid'ah
"innovations" into Islam, and approve of the revolt which overthrew him. They also approve of the first part of Ali
's caliphate, and, like Shi'as, disapprove of Aisha
's rebellion against him and also disapprove 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 Muslims of an-Nahr in the Battle of Nahrawan
.
In their belief, the fifth legitimate Caliph
was Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi. All Caliph
s from Muawiya onwards are regarded as tyrants except Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, on whom opinions differ. However, various later Ibadi leaders are recognized as true imam
s, including Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Kindi of South Arabia and the imams of the Rustamid
dynasty in North Africa.
The principal hadith collection accepted by Ibadis is al-Jami'i al-Sahih, also called Musnad al-Rabii ibn Habib, as rearranged by Abu Ya'qub Yusuf b. Ibrahim al-Warijlani. Ibadi jurists use the rules set by Abu Ya'qub al-Warijlani to determine the reliability of a hadith. These are largely similar to those used by Sunnis.
Ibadi jurists, however, criticize some of Muhammad's companions
, 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 hadith relating Muhammad's words.
. They are also found in the Nafusa Mountains in Libya
, M'zab
, Aures in Algeria
, Zanzibar
islands of Pemba Island and Unguja
and Djerba Island
in Tunisia
. The early medieval Rustamid
dynasty in Algeria
was Ibadi, and refugees from its capital Tahert
founded the North African Ibadi communities which exist today in the Mozabite Valley
.
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
distinct from the Sunni and Shia denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
and Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
. Ibadis can also be found in parts of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, as well as Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
.
Believed to be an off-shoot of one of the earliest schools, Khawarij, it is said to have been founded less than 50 years after the death of the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. Historians as well as mainstream Muslims believe that the denomination is a reformed Islamic sect, formally known as the Khawarij
Kharijites
Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the authority of the final Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, then later rejected his leadership...
or Kharijites. However, Ibadis continue to deny any relation to the Kharijites (Khawarij).
Origin
The school derives its name from Abdullah ibn Ibadh at-Tamīmī. Followers of this sect, however, claim its true founder was Jabir ibn Zaid al-'Azdi from Nizwa, Oman.Views
Ibadi communities are generally regarded as conservative, for example Ibadiyya rejects the practice of qunutQunut
Al Qunut literally means "being obedient" or "the act of standing" in Arabic. The word is usually used in reference to special supplications made in certain prayers while in the standing posture. For example, it is sunnah to supplicate with qunut in the witr prayer during the entire year...
or supplications while standing in prayer.
Their views assimilate that of the Ibadin, 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.
The only noticeable difference between the Ibadi and traditional Kharijites is that the Ibadi have abandoned labelling other Muslims as Kafir
Kafir
Kafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
, although they still dissociate themselves from the Non-Muslims.
Doctrinal differences with Sunni Islam
Ibadis also have several doctrinal differences with orthodox Sunni Islam, chief among them:- Muslims will not see God on the Day of Judgment. This is derived from the Qur'an where Musa (Moses)MosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
is told upon asking to see God, "You shall not see me." This is contrary to the mainstream Sunni belief that Muslims will see God with their eyes on the day of Judgment. This matches the beliefs of Shia Muslims. The Imam Ali said in Nahj al-Balagha: "Eyes cannot see Him, but he can be seen by the realities of faith".
- The Qur'an was created by God at a certain point in time. The Sunni community holds that the Qur'an is the speech of Allah, as exemplified by the suffering of Imam Ahmad ibn HanbalAhmad ibn HanbalAhmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani was an important Muslim scholar and theologian. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh...
during the MihnaMihnaThe Mihna refers to a test instituted by the Abassid Caliph al-Ma'mun in 218 AH/833 AD, in which religious scholars were required to answer whether or not the Qu'ran was a created text. Those who answered in the affirmative were retained; those who answered in the negative were dismissed...
. Much of the Shi'a community also holds that the Qur'an was created, one of many theological beliefs that they share with the Mu'tazilahMu'tazili' is an Islamic school of speculative theology that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad, both in present-day Iraq, during the 8th–10th centuries. The adherents of the Mu'tazili school are best known for their having asserted that, because of the perfect unity and eternal nature of God,...
.
Views on Islamic history and caliphate
Ibadis agree with Sunnis in approving of Abu BakrAbu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
and Umar ibn al-Khattab, whom they regard as the two rightly-guided Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
s. They regard Uthman ibn Affan as having introduced bid'ah
Bid'ah
Bid‘ah is any type of innovation in Islam. It linguistically means "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy". In contrast to the English term "innovation", in Arabic, the word bid'ah generally carries a negative connotation...
"innovations" into Islam, and approve of the revolt which overthrew him. They also approve of the first part of Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
's caliphate, and, like Shi'as, disapprove of Aisha
Aisha
Aisha bint Abu Bakr also transcribed as was Muhammad's favorite wife...
's rebellion against him and also disapprove of Muawiya's revolt. However, they regard Ali's acceptance of arbitration at the Battle of Siffin
Battle of Siffin
The Battle of Siffin occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria...
against Muawiya's rebels as un-Islamic and as rendering him unfit for the Imamate, and they condemn Ali for killing the Muslims of an-Nahr in the Battle of Nahrawan
Battle of Nahrawan
The Battle of Nahrawan was a battle between Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Kharijites.After the unsatisfactory conclusion to the Battle of Siffin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib returned with his army back to Kufa on the 13th of Safar 37 A.H...
.
In their belief, the fifth legitimate Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
was Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi. All Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
s from Muawiya onwards are regarded as tyrants except Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, on whom opinions differ. However, various later Ibadi leaders are recognized as true imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
s, including Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Kindi of South Arabia and the imams of the Rustamid
Rustamid
The Rustamid dynasty of Ibāḍī Kharijite imām that ruled the central Maghreb as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from their capital Tahert in present Algeria until the Ismailite Fatimid Caliphs destroyed it. The dynasty had a Persian origin...
dynasty in North Africa.
View of hadith
Ibadis accept as authentic far fewer hadith than do Sunnis, and some hadith accepted by Ibadis are rejected by Sunnis. Ibadi jurisprudence, naturally, is based only on the hadith accepted by Ibadis. Several of Ibadism's founding figures – in particular Jabir ibn Zayd – were noted for their hadith research, and Jabir ibn Zayd is accepted as a reliable narrator by Sunni scholars as well as by Ibadi ones.The principal hadith collection accepted by Ibadis is al-Jami'i al-Sahih, also called Musnad al-Rabii ibn Habib, as rearranged by Abu Ya'qub Yusuf b. Ibrahim al-Warijlani. Ibadi jurists use the rules set by Abu Ya'qub al-Warijlani to determine the reliability of a hadith. These are largely similar to those used by Sunnis.
Ibadi jurists, however, criticize some of Muhammad's companions
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
, 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 hadith relating Muhammad's words.
Demographics
Ibadi Muslims make up a majority (roughly 75%) of the population in OmanOman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
. They are also found in the Nafusa Mountains in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, M'zab
M'zab
The M'zab or Mzab, , is a region of the northern Sahara, in the Ghardaïa wilaya, an administrative division similar to a province, of Algeria...
, Aures in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
islands of Pemba Island and Unguja
Unguja
Unguja as mentioned in The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is the largest and most populated island of Zanzibar, in Tanzania.-Geography:...
and Djerba Island
Djerba
Djerba , also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is, at 514 km², the largest island of North Africa, located in the Gulf of Gabes, off the coast of Tunisia.-Description:...
in Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
. The early medieval Rustamid
Rustamid
The Rustamid dynasty of Ibāḍī Kharijite imām that ruled the central Maghreb as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from their capital Tahert in present Algeria until the Ismailite Fatimid Caliphs destroyed it. The dynasty had a Persian origin...
dynasty in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
was Ibadi, and refugees from its capital Tahert
Tahert
Tiaret is a large town in the central Algeria, that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Wilaya de Tiaret' province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of Algiers in the western region of the central highlands, in the Tell Atlas, and about from the Mediterranean coast...
founded the North African Ibadi communities which exist today in the Mozabite Valley
M'zab
The M'zab or Mzab, , is a region of the northern Sahara, in the Ghardaïa wilaya, an administrative division similar to a province, of Algeria...
.