Ibadi

The Ibadi movement or Ibadiyya (Arabic: الاباضية al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a form of Islam distinct from the Shi'a and Sunni denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in only one Muslim country, Oman. There are also Ibadis in Algeria as well as Libya. Believed to be one of the earliest schools, it is said to have founded less than 50 years after the death of the prophet Muhammad. The denomination developed out of the seventh-century Islamic sect known as the Khawarij or Kharijites. Nonetheless, Ibadis see themselves as quite different from the Khawarij.

Origin

The school derives its name from ˤAbdullāh ibn-Ibāḍ at-Tamīmī. Followers of this sect, however, claim its true founder was Jabir ibn Zaid al-'Azdi from Nizwa, Oman.

Views

Ibāḍī communities are generally regarded as conservative. Ibāḍiyyah rejects the practice of qunūt or supplications while standing in prayer. Sunni Muslims traditionally regard the Ibāḍiyyah as a Kharijite group; Ibāḍīs reject this designation. Ibāḍīs regard other Muslims not as kuffar "unbelievers" (as most Kharijite groups did), but as kuffar an-niˤma "those who deny God's grace", though nowadays this attitude has highly relaxed. 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 and hostility towards unbelievers and sinners, and those destined for Hell.
• wuqūf: reservation towards those whose status is unclear.

Unlike the Kharijites, Ibāḍī have abandoned the practice of not associating with mainstream Muslims.

Doctrinal differences with Sunni Islam

Ibadis also have several doctrinal differences with orthodox Sunni Islam, chief among them:

• Muslims will not see Allah on the Day of Judgement. This is derived from the Qur'an where the Prophet Ibrahim is told upon asking to see Allah, "You shall not see me." This is contrary to the mainstream Sunni belief that indeed Muslims will see Allah with their eyes on the day of Judgment -- (without our specifying how and in a manner Allah knows best). This matches the beliefs of Shia Muslims. Imam Ali (AS) "Eyes can not see Him, but he can be seen by the realities of FAITH" Nahj al-Balaghah.

• Whosoever enters the Hellfire, will live therein forever. This is contrary to the Sunni belief that those Muslims who enter the Hellfire will live therein for a fixed amount of time, to purify them of their shortcomings, after which they will enter Paradise. Sunnis also believe that unbelievers will remain in Hell forever.

• The Qur'an was created by Allah at a certain point in time. The Sunni community holds vigorously that the Qur'an is uncreated, as exemplified by the suffering of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal during the mihna. Much of the Shi'a community also holds that the Qur'an is created, one of many theological beliefs that they share with the Mu'tazilah.

Views on Islamic history and caliphate

Ibāḍīs agree with Sunnis in approving of Abū Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab, whom they regard as the two rightly-guided Caliphs. They regard Uthman ibn Affan as having introduced bidˤa "innovations" into Islām, and approve of the revolt which overthrew him. They also approve of the first part of ˤAlī's caliphate, and, like Shi'as, disapprove of ˤĀ'isha's rebellion against him and also disapprove of Muˤāwiyya's revolt. However, they regard ˤAlī's acceptance of arbitration at the Battle of Siffin against Muˤāwiyya's rebels as un-Islamic and as rendering him unfit for the Imamate, and they condemn ˤAlī for killing the early Kharijites of an-Nahr in the Battle of Nahrawan.

In their belief, the fifth legitimate Caliph was Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi. All Caliphs from Muˤāwiyya onwards are regarded as tyrants except Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, on whom opinions differ. However, various later Ibāḍī leaders are recognized as true imāms, including Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Kindi of South Arabia and the imāms of the Rustamid dynasty in North Africa.

Demographics

Ibāḍī Muslims make up a majority (roughly 75%) of the population in Oman[1]. They are also found in Jabal Nafusa in Libya, Mzab in Algeria, East Africa (particularly Zanzibar) and Djerba Island in Tunisia. The early medieval Rustamid dynasty in Algeria was Ibāḍī, and refugees from its capital Tahert founded the North African Ibāḍī communities which exist today.

External links

• Ibāḍī Islam: an introduction
• A Concise History of al-Ibāḍiyyah
• An overview of Ibāḍism
• Ibn-Ibāḍ and the Ibāḍī School of Islamic Law