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With regard to the Qur'an, Jabir
possessed full knowledge of its interpretation from his teacher
Ibn 'Abbas who is considered to be the best authority in the
Tafsir of the Qur'an. The two authorities from whom most
information on Tafsir were reported, Mujahid and Qatadah, both
had close relationship with Jabir. In fact, Qatadah was one of
Jabir's students. 9 It is of interest affirm here that there
were no special Ibadhi works on Tafsir during the first 150
years of the hijrah. Ibadhi sources mentioned the Tafsir of 'Abd
al-Rahman b. Rustam, 10 one of the students of Abu 'Ubaidah
Muslim b. Abi Karimah, and the first Imam of the Ibadhi Imamate
in Tahert. The second complete Tafsir is that of Hud b. Muhkam
al-Hawwari which was composed during the 3rd century H. 11 The
most important and the largest Tafsir written by an Ibadhi
author is the Tafsir of Abu Ya'qub Yusuf b. Ibrahim al-Warijlani,
(d 570H). 12 This work is still lost. The discovery of this
book would be of great value to Islamic and Ibadhi studies.
The interpretation of the
Qur'anic verses dealing with legal and religious matters is
reported in those works containing the fatawa, and the
transmissions (riwayat), of Jabir and Abu 'Ubaidah. The verses
dealing with legal matters are dealt with in a special work by
the Omani Imam al-Salt b. Malik (d. Friday, 15 Dhu al-Hijjah,
275). His work is entitled Tafsir 'ayat al-'Ahkam, or Tafsir
al-Khamsini'ati 'ayah. 13
As for the studies of Jabir b.
Zaid, he gained his knowledge of Islam and its religious and
legal system through a large number of Companions, especially
Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn 'Umar, 'Abdullah b. Mas’ud and 'A'ishah. The
Ibadhi Imam Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah claims the
professorship of the following Companions for the Ibadhi school;
Abdullah b. 'Abbas, 'Abdullah b. Mas’ud, and Abdullah b. Sallam.
He described them as being firmly rooted in knowledge, (al-rasikhun
fi al-'ilm). He further said, "We walked in their steps,
followed their sayings, relied on their conduct and emulated
their methods." 14
As mentioned earlier, the basic
sources in formulating legal opinions used by Jabir b. Zaid were
the Qur'an, Sunnah, 'Athar then individual reasoning, ra’y.
Sunnah, in the sense of the
sayings of the Prophet, his deeds, and his approval of certain
actions or sayings of his Companions, was familiar to the early
Ibadhi authorities in its widest sense. According to Schacht,
"The earliest, certainly authentic, evidence of the use of the
term 'Sunnah of the Prophet' referring to its original political
use which provided a doctrinal link between the 'Sunnah of the
Prophet', the Sunnah of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and the Qur'an,
appeared in the letter addressed by 'Abdullah b. Ibadh to 'Abd
al-Malik b. Marwan about 76 H/695 A.D. However, Ibadhi
authorities used this term in its technical sense from the early
period of the foundation of their school. The term is used by
Jabir b. Zaid in two of his letters. In a letter to 'Uthman b.
Yasar, Jabir wrote: "As go what you have written to me asking
about the slave, whether he can pray though uncircumcised -
circumcision for the Muslim is an obligatory Sunnah (Sunnah
wajibah) and must not be neglected. We dislike (nakrahu) that
you should leave a slave of yours uncircumcised, and he must not
pray unless he is circumcised." 16 In another letter to al-Harith
b. 'Amr, Jabir again wrote: "As for what you mentioned regarding
a man who prays Maghrib, 'Isha', and Subh prayers not reciting
anything of the Qur'an (in these prayers), what I prefer
concerning this, is that he pray again those prayers and recite
Qur'an (in them), for he has neglected the Sunnah, unless he is
an illiterate person who cannot read, as God would not charge a
soul except according to its capacity." 17 Jabir also mentioned
the term Sunnah in his letter to Tarif b. Khulaid in the
following statement: "As for what you have mentioned regarding
an Imam leading people in obligatory prayers, who omitted to
make the ruku', the people following him in that, I prefer that
those people pray again what they have performed contrary to the
Sunnah." He further added, "Nothing of people's affairs in
which they oppose Sunnah can be right."18 The latter two
quotations are reported also in K. Jabir b. Zaid, narrated by
Habib b. Abi Habib from 'Amr b. Harim from Jabir b. Zaid. 19
Salim b. Dhakwan, a contemporary
of Jabir b. Zaid, when discussing the attitude of the extreme
Kharijites said, "We have nothing to do with those who claim
that today they have gained better knowledge of the Qur'an and
Sunnah and achieved supremacy over them (i.e. early
Muslims)."20 The role of Sunnah as a second source of Ibadhi
jurisprudence was clearly stated by Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi
Karimah, the successor of Jabir b. Zaid, in numerous statements:
1)
The Imam (leader) of the
Muslim is the Qur'an, and his guide is the Sunnah of the Apostle
of God. He likes only what god and His Apostle like. 21
2)
Concerning the decision
of the Imam whether it can be changed by the learned men of the
community or not, Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim said, "If his decision was
contrary to the 'Book' and the Sunnah, and the decision on the
case is known in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, they must change
what is contrary to the 'Book' and the Sunnah." 22
3)
Safety lies in what came
from God and His Apostle, and peril in opposing them. No one
can be right except he who agrees with them. 23
The students
of Abu 'Ubaidah kept to the same line. Some of his students
went to the extent of rejecting the opinions of early Ibadhi
authorities, such as Jabir b. Zaid and Abu 'Ubaidah, when
authentic Traditions were reported on a case, even by non-Ibadhi
authorities. On the question of hiyazah (acquisition of the
right of possession), it was reported that Jabir b. Zaid, out of
precaution, added ten years more to the ten years fixed by the
Prophet as the maximum time for acquisition of the right of
possession of land or property, if the original owner did not
claim his right to it during those twenty years. 'Abdullah b. 'Abd
al-'Aziz, a student of Abu 'Ubaidah, rejected the opinion of
Jabir on the basis of the Tradition from the Prophet, reported
by both Medani and Kufi authorities, that the fixed time for
hiyazah was ten years only. 25 His argument concluded with the
following statements, "What the Prophet said is the only
truth. The Sunnah must come first, provided it is an authentic
Sunnah from the Prophet. As for analogy, (qiyas), though it may
be old, it still cannot supersede the Sunnah." 26 |
