THE BIRTH OF THE IBADHITE MOVEMENT AND ITS CONTEXT From the very first century of the Hegira, the name of Ibadhism has been associated with Oman. So it is appropriate to set out briefly the context in which the Ibadhite movement and doctrine unfolded. Non-Ibadhite historians have often played their refusal to give their backing to the caliph Ali, their ‘exit’ from ‘Islamic legitimacy’. To clarify the long drawn out nature of this process, we must turn to the writings left by the Ibadi ulama’ on this – for them – all-important point. The framework of events is well known: during the year AH 38/AD 658 and following the battle of Siffin (AH 37) which had seen him opposing Muawiya the wali of al-Cham (Syria), the fourth legitimate caliph, Ali, the last of the Rashidites, accepted the arbitration that was to put an end to the bloody wars and give a ruling on the legitimacy of the caliphs. It was then that a group of Muslims, allied until then to Ali, refused to follow him. This was not to mark a protest against his legitimacy as caliph, but in protest against his having accepted a proposal of arbitration with Muawiya. This group, to use its own words, denied that human arbitration should be preferred to that of the book of God. Hence the name by which the group was known: al-Muhakimah, ‘the party of the arbitrators’, but their opponents called them ‘kharijites’ (‘leavers’, ‘secessionists’) and that name stuck. The kharijites included first class scholars and fuqaha’ (legal experts), amongst them a number of companions of the Messenger himself and his circle.They had all previously given allegiance to Ali for the caliphate and supported him. They had even followed him into the wars against his adversary Muawiya and had only denied Ali’s legitimacy as caliph after he had renounced it himself by accepting arbitration. And on that supremely important point we must bring in the writings of the Omani Ibadhite historians, still largely unknown but often contemporaries of the facts. According notably to al-Qalhati, there was then an exchange of correspondence (to which we shall return) between Ali and the kharijites. Ali admitted that on this occasion he had fallen into a trap by accepting the famous arbitration. He begged the kharijites to return to him and form an alliance against Muawiya. But the kharijites refused; while reaffirming his legitimacy, they still held Ali responsible for the error of accepting arbitration. However, Caliph Ali was unwisely advised to fight them and have done with hem. Al-Qalhati ends his account by asserting that after fighting the kharijites and dispersing them, Ali regretted what he had done. If we adopt this version of the facts, it becomes difficult to lay the whole responsibility for secession on the kharijites. For if they had really rejected ‘Islamic legitimacy’ out of hand, would Ali have asked them for an alliance to uphold the law and that same Islamic legitimacy? The testimony of the Ibadhite historians, which moreover has only recently come to light, provides vital clarification of this decisive stage perhaps the most decisive in Islamic history and must be taken into account by anyone with the slightest claim to objectivity. The first leader of the Ibadhite movement sheikh Abu Bilal Mirdas bin Udayya Al-Tamiimi, one of the survivors of the battle of Nahrawan, regrouped the faithful shortly after it in the Basra region. He it was who organised the movement and instilled in it its ‘vocation’, whence the name of ahl al-da`wa (people with a vocation), used by the faithful to designate themselves. Several people of note joined him; amongst them Abd Allah bin Ibad (hence Ibadis) and Abu al-Sha`tha Jaber bin Zayd al-’Azdi al-Umani, who took up the torch. The fact that he belonged to the al-’Azd tribes helped greatly in spreading the movement in Oman, where he received the active support of the family of al-Muhallab. Jaber bin Zayd played a decisive role as spiritual father and first imam of the movement. With him and after him, notably in the imama of Abu Ubayda, ahl al-da`wa continued to extend their influence to the Yemen, Oman, Khorassan and North Africa. Throughout the Umayyad period (AH 41–132/AD 661–750), if we except the caliphate of Abdel Malik bin Marwan (AH 65–86), the situation in Oman remained quasi stable. But with the start of the doctrinal and political troubles and the rebellions of the shiites, Azariqa and others, the rulers of Oman, Said and Sulayman, the sons of Abad bin al-Jalanda, launched into a revolution against the Umayyad state. To counter it, Abdel Malik then appointed al-Hajaj bin Yussef, a wali renowned for his harshness, who removed the sons of al-Muhallab from power in Iraq. He then invaded Oman in order to snuff out the revolution but the attempt ended in failure. By way of reprisal, al-Hajaj set about tormenting the Azds of Iraq at Basra and imprisoning their ulama, including Jaber bin Zayd, whom, according to al-alim al-Sama’ili, he had already prevented from spreading ‘the spirit of liberty’.Jaber bin Zayd was exiled with certain ulama’ of his movement to Oman, where the Ibadhite doctrine was already widespread. In fact, the exile of the doctrinal leaders in Oman did not disarm the movement; rather it helped to reinforce the vocation of Oman, which supplanted Basra as a bastion of the Ibadhite doctrine. Thanks to the hamalat al-ilm (bearers of learning and knowledge), the Ibadhite movement was able, in AH 128–129/AD 747, to launch a first revolution in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and extend from Hadramawt and Sana’ as far as Mecca and Medina, but the rising came to an end after two years. In the Maghreb, the Omani Ibadis played a preponderant part in stabilising the Islamic conquest. Ibadhite writings indicate in particular that Sulma bin Sad was the first to carry the Ibadhite doctrine there. During the first half of the second century of the Hegira, by dint of several revolutions, the Ibadhite movement succeeded in founding three imamas at Qayrawan (Kairouan) and Tripoli, all of which disappeared following bloody conflicts in which the Ibadis sacrificed many martyrs. Their clandestine action was crowned for a while by the establishment of the Rustamite state (AH 144–296/ AD 761–909). But its fall was to leave the Ibadis of the Maghreb with only a few scattered pockets in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya; however they still maintained links with Oman. Dr. Hussein Ghubash
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 11:17:46 +0000