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In 1903 Professor Duncan
Macdonald wrote: "Of the jurisprudence of the Ibadhis we know
comparatively little. A full examination of Ibadhi fiqh would
be of the highest interest, as the separation of its line of
descent goes for back behind the formation of any of the
Orthodox system." 1
The full examination of the
Ibadhi fiqh has not been carried out since then as was hoped by
this scholar. Instead, the Ibadhi school of law has been
treated by those who studied Islamic law with little attention
and was always referred to in generalised statements of little
value.
Although Schacht was aware of
the fact that the Ibadhi school of law was attributed to the
tabi'I Jabir b. Zaid, 2 he concluded his note on the Ibadhi law
by stating that the Ibadhis derived their law from the orthodox
schools. 3
Contrary to what he avers, the
Ibadhi School from the start took a detached line. It had its
own independent authorities, collections of Traditions and works
by its own jurists. It seems that Schacht was let to formulate
such a view for the following reasons: lack of information about
the original sources of Ibadhi law; the general view held that
the Ibadhis were a branch of the Kharijite movement. Since the
Ibadhis, like Sunnis, held contradictory views to those of the
Kharijites on certain points, he thought that the Ibadhis
derived those opinions from the orthodox schools. Finally, he
denies outright the fact that the features common to different
Islamic schools of law were older than the establishment of
these schools. 4
In this chapter it is undertaken
to study the origins of the Ibadhi School of law, its foundation
and development, and the main points of difference between
Ibadhis and other main Muslim schools.
The Ibadhi School of law is one
of the oldest, if not the oldest surviving school of Islamic
Jurisprudence. Its foundation goes back to the 'successor' (tabi'I)
Jabir b. Zaid al-'Azdi and his contemporary colleague and
student, Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah. The suggestion by
Macdonald that "the Ibadhi school of law must have been codified
to a greater or lesser extent by 'Abdullah b. Ibadh"5 proved to
be untrue. Careful investigation has shown that 'Abdullah b.
Ibadh made no contribution to Ibadhi jurisprudence. His main
role was in Ibadhi theology and political doctrine.
The man actually responsible for
the foundation of the Ibadhi School of law was Jabir b. Zaid. A
Traditionalist and a jurist, he was able, because of his vast
knowledge of Qur’an and Traditions of the Prophet, to form an
independent school, and to attract a number of intellectuals as
students. They later developed and transmitted his opinions.
The final shape of the Ibadhi
system of law as formed by his student Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b.
Abi Karimah in his later years, and by al-Rabi' b. Habib the
student of both Jabir b. Zaid and Abu 'Ubaidah. Jabir b. Zaid,
however, remained the most important figure in the foundation of
this school. Apart from his skill as a mufti who spent most of
his life delivering legal opinions and adjusting his views by
consulting the living 'Companions of the Prophet and the
outstanding 'successors' tabi'un, he was also the main link
between the followers of this school and those Companions who
played the major part in forming and transmitting opinions on
religious and legal matters.
The leading part played by Jabir
in the foundation of the Ibadhi school was clearly acknowledged
by the second Imam of the Ibadhis, Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi
Karimah, "Every Traditionalist who has no Imam in jurisprudence
has gone astray. Had not God favoured us with Jabir b. Zaid we
too would have gone astray."6 The fact that Jabir was a master
of an independent school of law was also recognised by Sunni
authorities. Abu Zakariya al-Nawawi, (ob. 676 H./1277 A.D.), in
his book Tahdhib al-'Asma', after speaking about Jabir b. Zaid,
his teachers and students said, "....They all agreed upon
regarding him a great and reliable scholar; he was considered to
be one of the Imams and the learned among the 'successor' and he
had a school (madhhab) of his own." 7
Accounts of Jabir's life and
activity as a mufti have already been given.8 Here we are
mainly concerned with his contribution and approach as a
jurist. His legal opinions or fatwas were recorded by his
Ibadhi students and form an important part of the basis of the
Ibadhi School of law.
The sources of legal opinions
known to and used by Jabir were the Qur'an, Sunnah, opinions of
the Companions, ('Athar) and his own ra'y, individual reasoning. |
