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1. Al-Wahbiyah
The
mainstream of the Ibadhi movement in North Africa was
distinguished by the name al-Wahbiyah. There are different
opinions about the origin of this name. According to Ibn al-Raqiq,
they were named after 'Abd al-Wahhab, the second Rustumid Imam.150
The same opinion is reported by Ibn al-Saghir though he denied
any knowledge of its origin.151
Al-Qalhati,
in his book al-Kashf wa al-Bayan, used the name al-Wahbiyah for
the Ibadhis in general and stated that it is so named after
Abdullah b. Wahb al-Rasibi.152
Both modern Ibadhi scholars of North Africa, Muhammad Yusuf
Atfaiyish and Abdullah al-Baruni, adopted the same view and held
that Wahbiyyah is named after Abdullah b. Wahb and not after Abd
Al-Wahhab. Atfaiyish argued that if it was named after Abd Al-Wahhab,
the form should be Wahhabi and not Wahbi.153
But this opinion also is based on the grammatical rules of
Arabic only.
It is worth
mentioning here that the name was largely used by Berbers in
North Africa and it is possible that the correct form of the
name was altered to make it easier for the Berber tongue, and it
became Wahbiyah instead of the correct original form 'Wahhabiyah'.
The other fact which supports the opinion that the name Wahbiyah
is derived from Abd Al-Wahhab, is that the name did not appear
before the opposition of the Nukkar to the Imamate of Abd Al-Wahhab,
that opposition which split the Ibadhi community of North Africa
into two parties, the followers of Yazid b. Fandin who were
called al-Nukkar, and the followers of Abd al-Wahhab who should
have been named after him "al-Wahhabiyah' then as suggested
earlier, the name was changed and became Wahbiyah.
Wahbiyah
represent the mainstream of the Ibadhis of North Africa. They
played the most important part in both the political and
intellectual fields and are the only group which managed to
continue to exist until the present day. In all information
about the Ibadhi communities and their activities in the past,
we are indebted to this group and its literature. As this
chapter is concerned mainly with the theological differences
between the different Ibadhi groups, it is useful to include
here a translation of the Wahbi aqidah written by Abu Sakin Amir
b. Ali al-Shammakhi (d.592). For more details about the
theological views of Wahbiyah, and their creeds (Aqaid)
specialist works are available for consultation in both French
and Italian.154
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