Ibadi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al-Ibāḍiyyah (Arabic الاباضية) 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. One of the earliest schools, it was founded less than 50 years after the death of Muhammad.
The school derives its name from ˤAbdullāh ibn-Ibāḍ at-Tamīmī. However, followers of this sect claim its true founder was Jabir ibn Zaid al-'Azdi from Nizwa, Oman.
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". 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 Ibadhi Imams.
- barāh: dissociation and hostility towards unbelievers and sinners, and those destined for Hell.
- wuqūf: reservation towards those whose status is unclear.
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 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.
Ibadis also have several doctrinal differences with orthodox Sunni Islam, chief among them:
1) 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 Judgement.
2) Whomsoever 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.
3) The Qur'an is Created. The Sunni community holds vigorously that the Qur'an is uncreated, as exemplified by the suffering of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Much of the Shi'a community also holds that the Qur'an is created, being the philosophical descendants of the Mu'tazila.
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.
Ibāḍī 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 Ibāḍī, and refugees from its capital Tahert founded the North African Ibāḍī communities which exist today.
