CHAPTER I
The Ibadhi school took its name
from 'Abdullah b, Ibadh al-Murri al-Tamimi. The school was
named after his father because he was better known than the son,
as is the case in Arabic genealogy1. Al-Malati alone
reported that the sect was named after its founder who is,
according to him, Ibadh b. 'Amr2. This information
cannot be taken into account, for al-Malati reported information
about the Kharijites in his book contrary to all sound
authorities who dealt with the subject.3
Very little is known about
'Abdullah b. Ibadh in both Ibadhi and non-Ibadhi sources. He is
of Banu Sarim b. al-Harith b. Muqa'is of Banu Tamim, one of the
main tribes of Mudar.4 Nothing is known about his
early life. The modern Ibadhi scholar Muhammad b. Yusuf
Atfaiyish suggests that Ibn Ibadh moved from Najd, the homeland
of his tribe, to Basrah5. He also reported that
certain narrations state that he was a 'Sahabi for a short time6.
However, Ibadhi chroniclers included Ibn Ibadh, among the class
of al-Tabi'un who lived during the second half of the first
century H7. It is not known whether he participated
in the civil wars which occurred among Muslims before the
'Umayyad rule. But it appears that he was not satisfied by the
rule of Mu'awiyah and criticised is violation of the Qur'an and
the Sunnah8. The first definite information about
his public activities was about his part in the defense of Mecca
against the 'Umayyad leader, Hussein b. Numair al-Sakuni, the
successor of Muslim b. Uqbah, (63 H/582 A.D.)9. He
also was among the leaders of the Muhakkimah party who tried to
win 'Abdullah b. al-Zubair to their side and offered him their
full support if he agreed to their views and dissociated himself
from 'Uthman Jalhah, and his own father al-Zubair b. al-Awwam,
but 'Abdullah b. al-Zubair refused to agree to their views and
they left him, some of them returning to Basrah among whom was
'Abdullah bin Ibadh10. It appears that the attitude
of Ibn al-Zubair made them give up all hope of an outstanding
leadership. A number of leading personalities emerged and
sought the leadership of the movement through military action.
First of these was Abu Rashid Nafii' b. al-Azraq who took an
extreme line in his revolt and withdrew with his followers from
the Muslim community on the basis that their land was a land of
war and they were all polytheists.11 At this stage
'Abdullah b. Ibadh appeared as a leading figure who opposed the
attitude of Nafii' and other Khariji leaders and refuted them
openly12. Non-Ibadh sources suggest that this was
how the Ibadhi school started, and accredited its foundation to
'Abdullah b. Ibadh who was according to most of those sources,
the head, (ra's), of the Ibadhi school.13
The information given in Ibadhi
sources shows that 'Abdullah b. Ibadh played a secondary part in
the foundation and the leadership of the Ibadhi movement
compared with its first Imam and founder Jabir b. Zaid. It is
reported that Ibn Ibadh in all his activities was acting
according to orders from Jabir b. Zaid14. It is also
stated that Ibn Ibadh was the most prominent theologian of the
time of Jabir b. Zaid, and that he was the one who refuted
openly the view of opponent groups of Qadarites Mu'tazilites,
Muji'ites, Shi'tes, and extreme Kharijites15. It is
believed that Ibn Ibadh propagated openly the views of his
school, despite the fact that the activities of the Ibadhi
School were carried out in secrecy at that time, because he
enjoyed the protection of his tribe. Another reason was that
the Ibadhi movement after the revolt of Nafii' b. al-'Azraq was
obliged to make its views about the Azraqites known to the
public to keep the support of ordinary Muslims, and to the
authorities to avoid their persecution. Jabir b. Zaid who was
the Imam of the Ibadhi movement at that time directed the
activities of Ibn Ibadh. The school took the name of Ibn Ibadh,
because he used to openly to propagate its views and was known
to non-Ibadhi groups for refuting their views as also because of
his clear and firm attitude against the extreme Kharijites.
Another reason which made the Ibadhi school bear his name could
be his political activities and his contacts with the 'Umayyad
Caliph 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan with whom he exchanged
correspondence16. The Ibadhis did not use at first
the name Ibadhis, instead they used the terms 'the Muslims’ al-Muslimun,
and 'community of the Muslims', Jama'at al-Muslimin, and 'the
people of the mission', 'Ahl el-da'wah. The name Ibadhis is not
mentioned in early Ibadhi works such as the Mudawanah of Abu
Ghanim or any other early works. Later, however, they
recognised and accepted this name. It first appears in Maghribi
Ibadhi works in the treatise of 'Amrus b. Fath 200 H.17
It seems that 'Abdullah b. Ibadh
became a public figure because of his views and activities and
certain groups other than the Ibadhis such as al-'Umariyah
18 claimed his leadership. It is also reported that al-Harithiyah,
the followers of al-Harith b. Mazyad al-Ibadhi claim that they
recognised none but the Imamate of 'Abdullah b. Ibadh after the
death of Abu Bilal Mirdas.19
It is not clear whether
'Abdullah b. Ibadh took any active part in the military revolts
which took place during his lifetime, al-Kadmi included him in
one list together with Abu Bilal and 'Abdullah b. Yahya al-Kindi,
and described them as al-Khawarij20. According to
al-Qazwini, Ibn Ibadh revolted during the time of Marwan b.
Muhammad b. 'Atiyah in Tabalah21. Shahrastani also
stated that Ibn Ibadh was with 'Abdullah b. Yahya in his revolt,
and in all his activities.22 Both Omani authors, al-Qalhati,
and Ahmad b. Abdullah al-Ruqaishi mentioned that Ibn Ibadh lived
up to the time of 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan to whom he wrote the
famous letters23. But, like other Ibadhi
authorities, they did not mentioned whether he lived afterwards
or took part in the revolt of Abdullah b. Yahya al-Kindi. It is
unlikely that Ibn Ibadh took part in those wars without being
mentioned by Ibadhi authors or other historians who reported
those wars such as al-Tabari, al-Isfahani and others.24 |
