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During the time of Jabir it is
mentioned that a group of outstanding leaders of the Muhakkimah
party, including 'Abdullah b. Ibadh, contacted 'Abdullah b. al-Zubair
and offered him help in the hope that the might agree to their
views.48 Abu 'Ubaidah adopted contrary policy. He always
wanted a pure Ibadhi movement, which could reach its aims
without any confusion. It is reported that 'Abdullah b. al-Hasan,
when he wanted to revolt against the Umayyad, he sent to Abu 'Ubaidah
and some other Shaikhs of the Ibadhi community in Basrah to
discuss his plans with them. The Shaikhs agreed to send Salih
b. Kathir to him, but Abu 'Ubaidah refused to agree with their
opinion and said, "What do you expect from a man who is afraid
about his life and seeking kingdom, would not he agree to all
your demands? If he agreed to what you invite him to, he would
say: "I agree with your views, but the people will be of more
support to me and I have more right (to the Imamate),' what
would you say to him, O Salih, when he is correct? If he wanted
religion as he claims, let him join our man in Hadramawt,
'Abdullah b. Yahya, and fight under his leadership till he
dies,"49 So they changed their minds because of Abu 'Ubaidah.
This firm attitude of Abu 'Ubaidah against having any contacts
with non-Ibadhi Muslims was very clear, and covered other
aspects of life such as marriage50 in addition to political and
religious activities. This policy was assured with the
principle of al-walayah and al-bara'ah and with the system of
al-majalis. In Basrah the Ibadhi community maintained the
policy of secrecy under the leadership of Abu 'Ubaidah. It
seems that the community of the Shaikhs in Basrah was the
executive committee of the Ibadhi movement. Abu 'Ubaidah was
the leader, or the Imam, who was in charge of the religious
affairs and the general policy of the whole community. He was
consulted by Ibadhis all over the Muslim countries about their
problems and plans. In Yemen, 'Abdullah b. Yahya did not
proclaim the Imamate until he got the approval of Abu 'Ubaidah.
The Imamate of Abu al-Khattab in North Africa was also designed
by Abu 'Ubaidah.52
There were a number of
outstanding Shaikhs who took an important part beside Abu 'Ubaidah
in his task. Among the leading Shaikhs was: i) Abu Mawdud Hajib
al-Ta'I, of Banu Hilal, a mawla, originally from Oman, who was
born in Basrah.53 He joined the Ibadhi movement after the death
of Jabir b. Zaid54 and became Abu 'Ubaidah's right-hand man. He
was in charge of military and financial affairs.55 His house
was one of the important centres of the movement in Basrah. It
was used for prayers during Ramadhan,56 and important meetings
of the Shaikhs were held in it. 57 When 'Abdullah b. Yahya al-Kindi
and Abu Hamzah proclaimed the Imamate, Hajib collected a large
amount of money to help them and bought weapons for them.58
When he died he left a debt of fifty thousand Dirhams, and his
colleague al-Fadl b. Jundub sold his house in Suhar in order to
settle that debt.59 He also was sent to Mecca during Hajj to
make peace between the Ibadhis of Hadramawt during the time of
'Abdullah b. Said.60 He also used to look after the activities
of the organization in Basrah and to call for the general
meetings.61 Hajib died before Abu 'Ubaidah during the Caliphate
of Abu Ja'far al-Mansur.62
Among the other outstanding
Shaikhs of the Ibadhi community of Basrah were: ii) Hayyan al-'A'raj,
a well-known Traditionalist, who lived in Basrah in the same
area as his teacher Jabir b. Zaid.63 He was older than Abu
'Ubaidah,64 studied with Jabir b. Aid, and passed on Traditions
from Jabir to the Ibadhi students, even to those who studied
with Jabir, such as Abu Nuh Salih al-Dahhan.65 iii) Abu Nuh
Salih b. Nuh al-Dahhan, from Basrah, who lived with Tayi' in
Basrah,66 studied with Jabir b. Zaid67 and participated with Abu
'Ubaidah in teaching Ibadhi doctrine. It is reported that
al-Rabi' b. Habib said, "I learned Jurisprudence from three men:
Abu 'Ubaidah, Dumam and Abu Nuh."68 Among the extant works
which were narrated from Abu 'Ubaidah and Abu Nuh is Kitab nikah
al-shighar of 'Abdullah b. 'Abd al-'Aziz, their pupil.69
iv) Dumam b. al-Sa'ib,
originally from al-Nadb in Oman.70 He was born in Basrah and
studied with Jabir b. Zaid, and narrated Traditions mainly from
him. 71 Even Abu 'Ubaidah himself learned Traditions reported
by Jabir b. Zaid, from Dumam. The most important part Dumam
played was teaching Ibadhi doctrine and Traditions most of which
were recorded by Abu Sufrah from Abu 'Amr al-Rabi' b. Habib
Dumam was imprisoned with Abu 'Ubaidah and another Ibadhi Shaikh
called Abu Salim by al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf, and was released after
the death of al-Hajjaj. 72 There were other Shaikhs such as Abu
al-Hurr Ali b. al-Husainy, Abu Hamzah al-Mukhtar b. 'Awf, Balj
or Balkh b. 'Uqbah, and others.
v) Among the young students of
Abu 'Ubaidah who played a great part in the Ibadhi organization
in Basrah during the life of Abu 'Ubaidah and afterwards was Abu
'Amr al-Rabi' b. Habib b. 'Amr al-Farahidi. He lived in Basrah
in a place called al-Harbiyah. 73 Later he left Basrah for
'Oman and lived in Ghadafan in al-Batinah.74 He was a
contemporary of Jabir b. Zaid and studied under him; he studied
also under Dumam b. al-Sa'ib, Abu 'Ubaidah, and Abu Nuh Salih b.
Nuh al-Dahhan.75 During the time of Abu 'Ubaidah he was, with
other members, in charge of the majalis,76 and Abu 'Ubaidah
appointed him as a Mufti of the Ibadhis during his life, and
described him as "Our pious, reliable, and trustworthy man." 77
It was with the assistance of
these men that Abu 'Ubaidah carried out his policy successfully,
and managed to established two Ibadhi states which were a real
threat to both 'Umayyads and 'Abbasids afterwards both in Arabia
and North Africa.
It is clear that Basrah was the
main centre for Ibadhi activities in Iraq. However, there is
evidence that other active Ibadhi communities existed in Kufah,
Mawsil, Mecca, Medina, and some parts of Khurasan where a good
number of great scholars emerged and contributed to the Ibadhi
School. The opinions of those scholars were presented side by
side with those of Jabir. Zaid, and Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim of
Basrah as is evident in the early Ibadhi works such as the
Mudawwanah of Abu Ghanim, al-Diwan al-ma'rud, and Riwayat Dumam.
Apart from this fact, very little is known about these
communities and their contribution to the Ibadhi movement in
political and educational activities.78 However, it was a clear
policy of the early Ibadhi leaders to direct their activities to
the remote parts of the Islamic Empire so that they would not be
easily crushed. They carefully avoided attempting any open
revolution in Iraq, and concentrated on southern Arabia79 and
North Africa. The following pages are aimed at throwing light
on the expansion of the Ibadhi teachings in North Africa. |
