Ibadi

The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya, also known as the Ibadis (Arabic: الاباضية‎, al-Ibāḍiyyah), is a school of Islam dominant in Oman and Zanzibar. It is also found in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and East Africa. The movement is said to have been founded 20 years after the death of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, predating both the Sunni and Shia denominations. Historians and a majority of Muslims believe that the denomination is a reformed sect of the Khawarij movement; Ibāḍīs, however, deny anything more than a passing relation to the Khawarij and point out that they merely developed out of the same precursor group.

Although their strict adherence to the sharia in public and private matters has been described as puritanical, the character of their denomination is considered to be one of both moderation and tolerance toward other views and religions.

History

The school derives its name from ʿAbdu l-Lāh ibn Ibāḍ of the Banu Tamim. Ibn Ibad was responsible for breaking off from the wider Kharijite movement roughly around the time that Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the fifth Umayyad ruler, took power. However, the true founder was Jābir ibn Zayd of Nizwa, Oman. Initially, Ibadi theology developed in Basra, Iraq. The Ibadis opposed the rule of the third caliph in Islam, Uthman ibn Affan, but unlike the more extreme Kharijites the Ibadis rejected the murder of Uthman as well as the Kharijite belief that all Muslims holding differing viewpoints were infidels. The Ibadis were among the more moderate groups opposed to the fourth caliph, Ali, and wanted to return Islam to its form prior to the conflict between Ali and Muawiyah I.