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Non-Ibadhi authorities regards
the Ibadhi school as a branch of the Kharijite movement, which
broke away from the mainstream to form a moderate group under
the leadership of 'Abdullah b. Ibadh. This account of the
Ibadhi School was repeated by those scholars who studied the
subject on the basis of information from non-Ibadhi sources.
It was difficult for non-Ibadhis
to form a clear view of the Ibadhi movement and the nature of
its relationship to the Kharijite movement. This was due to the
secrecy of the activities and plans according to which most of
the early Ibadhi activities were conducted. The other reason
was, as mentioned by Ibn al-Nadim, the Ibadhis fear of
persecution by their opponents, which made them, conceal their
literature.35 It is essential therefore to present
the Ibadhis own view of the origin of their movement and its
place with relation to the Kharijite movements as seen by their
own authorities.
Ibadhis preserved a detailed
account of their views of the early political development of the
Muslim community. Al-Barradi gave the following list of the
early works and documents dealing with the subject.36
1.
Akhbar Siffin WA al-Nahrawan.
2.
Sifat 'Ahdath 'Uthman.
3.
The letter sent by 'Ali
b. Abi Talib to Ibn 'Abbas after the defeat of the people of al-Nahr
and the reply of Ibn 'Abbas to it.
4.
The letter of Jabir b.
Zaid to a certain Shi'te.
5.
The letter of 'Abdullah
b. Ibadh to 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan.
6.
The letter of Abu Bilal
Mirdas to all Muslims.
7.
The letter of Abu 'Ubaidah
Muslim b. Abi Karimah and Hajib to the people of the Maghrib.
8.
The letter of al-Rabi b.
Habib concerning 'Abdullah b. 'Abd al-'Aziz, Abu al-Mu'arrij,
and Shu'aib.
9.
The letter of Abu al-Hurr
'Ali b. al-Husain.
10.
K. Salim b. al-Hatiyah
al-Hilali
11.
K. Abi Sufyan Mahbub b.
al-Rahil.
12.
The Sirah of Muhammad b.
Mahbub to the people of the Maghrib.
13.
The Sirah of Munir b, al-Nayir
al-Ju'lani.
Al-Barradi mentioned that he saw
and read all the above-mentioned documents and works except the
Sirah of Muhammad b. Mahbub.37 It is reported that a
complete copy of this Sirah, consisting of seventy parts, was
available in Jabal Nafusah towards the end of the fourth century
H., and only part six of the book was available in Jerba Island
during that period.38 However, most of these works
and documents are still extant except the works of Abu Sufyan
and his son Muhammad b. Mahbub, K. Salim b. al-Hatiyah al-Hilali,
the letter of Jabir b. Zaid to the Shi'ite, and the letter of
Abu Bilal Mirdas. Al-Barradi preserved useful information from
some of those missing works in his al-Jawahir,39
while al-Darjini in his Tabaqat preserved useful information
about early Ibadhi authorities from K. Abu Sufyan Mahbub.40
There are earlier Ibadhi
documents that deal with the subject still in existence, which
can be consulted:
1.
The Sirah of Salim b.
Dhakwan, and Ibadhi scholar and contemporary of Jabir b. Zaid.41
2.
The Sirah of Shabib b. 'Atiyah
al-'Umani.42
3.
The Sirah of Abu Qahtan
Khalid b. Qahtan al-Hijari.43
In addition, there are also the
sermons of 'Abdullah b. Yahya and those of al-Mukhtar b. 'Awf,
delivered by him in Mecca and Medina which were recorded and
preserved.44
All those works by early Ibadhi
authorities contain the Ibadhi view of the early changes which
took place in the Muslim community and which started with
opposition to the policies of the third Caliph 'Uthman b. 'Affan,
and the Ibadhi account of, and attitude towards, the different
parties which came into existence in early Islamic history. The
following account of the Ibadhi view of the early political
development of the Muslim community, and their view of the
Kharijites is based on the above-mentioned materials. |
