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These rules were
followed throughout the Ibadhi history so much that contrary
opinions could not grow in the Ibadhi community. But
consequently, a number of the adherents of this sect broke away
from the original movement and formed their own groups.123
If the defection
consisted of breaking away from the organisation and defaming
the Ibadhi views or giving away their secrets, their attitude
towards these persons is not to forsake them only, but to kill
them by any means.124
It is reported that an Ibadhi youth came to Jabir b. Zaid and
asked him about the best form of Jihad. Jabir said,
‘Killing Khardalah,’ and the youth asked another man to show him
Khardalah and he stabbed him with a poisoned dagger inside the
mosque. According to a al-Jitali, Khardalah was a member of the
Ibadhi movement but he relinquished Ibadhism and gave away the
names of the members of the Ibadhi community to their enemies,
and disclosed the locations of the places in which the Ibadhis
held their meetings.125
Secrecy (kitman),
Manifestation (zuhur), Defence (difa), and Life
Sacrifice (shira).127
The course of
Islamic history as presented by the Ibadhis shows that the true
Muslim community, for which they stood in their struggle,
existed in one of the above mentioned four stages. The
‘manifest state’ of Islam, which was established by the Prophet
in Medinah, prevailed during the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar,
the first six years of the caliphate of Uthman and under the
rule of Ali until he accepted the arbitration. After that the
Muslim community was divided into three main groups: “those who
extolled the cause of Uthman, those who extolled the cause of
Ali, and the Muslims who kept to the right guidance.128
The Ibadhis stood
for the cause of the revival of the ‘manifest state’ when the
‘rightly guided’ Muslims failed to revive it and were massacred
in the battle of al-Nahrawan. They started a secret
organisation in which they taught their members the true
religion. It was essential for he members of the movement to
know about the error which led to the corruption of the
teachings of the Qur’an as explained and practised by the
Prophet and his first two successors; as for the people who were
responsible for the errors, the Ibadhis declared (baraah)
from them. This principle freed the Ibadhis from the personal
influence of the Companions of the Prophet who played the most
important part in the civil wars among the Muslims. They judged
these people according to the measure of piety and goodness as
enunciated by the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Their faults
were presented clearly in the early literature of the Ibadhis.
In his letter to the Umayyad caliph, Abd al-Malik b. Marwan,
Abdullah b. Ibad pointed out the faults of Uthman which caused
the rising of the Muslims against his rule;129
he said, “When the believers saw the faults of Uthman, they
renounced him; for the believers are the witnesses to God.”130
He further commented, “Whosoever took Uthman and those who wee
with him as hi =s friends, we declare our estrangement from
them, and for this we beg witness of God and His Angels. We are
enemies of them with our hands, tongues and hearts. With this
belief we live and with it we die……..”131
Among the
Companions who were treated according to the principle of (baraah)
were Talhah b. Ubaidullah and al-Zubair b. al-Awwam. They
merited baraah for breaking the pledge of allegiance, and
fighting against the legal caliph, Ali b. Abi Talib.132
A’ishah, the Prophet’s wife, although she took part in that
strife and was present in the battle of the Camel, was exempted
from (baraah) as she repented for her fault and thereby
maintained the state of (walayah).133
It has been reported by Jabir b. Zaid the first Imam of the
Ibadhis, and one of the pupils of A’ishah, that being admonished
by him and his friend Abu Bilal Mirdas for her activities in the
battle of the Camel, she repented and begged forgiveness of God.134
Ali b. Abi Talib was also treated with (baraah) for
accepting the arbitration of men in a matter pre-decided by the
Qur’an. The Qur’an clearly says: “If two bodies of the faithful
were at war, then make ye peace between them; and if the one of
them wrong the other, fight against the party which doth the
wrong until they come back to the precepts of God.”135
According to the Ibadhis, Mu’awiyah and his supporters were the
rebellious party and Ali had to fight them till they reverted to
God’s commandment, i.e. the rule of the legal caliph. The
acceptance of arbitration by Ali meant his deposition from the
caliphate – a fact which displeased a group of Muslims and
obliged them to choose a new Imam, Abdullah b. Wahb al-Rasibi.
The Ibadhis hold that Abdullah b. Wahb and the people of al-Nahrawan
were right, ad Ali b. Abi Talib was wrong for accepting
arbitration in the first place, and secondly for fighting the
people of al-Nahrawan.136
As regards
Mu’awiyah b. Abu Sufyan, and Amr b. al-As, they were treated
with (baraah) throughout for their rebellion against Ali
the legal caliph.137 The
former was described by Abdullah b. Ibad in the following
words: “We do not know anyone of the peoples who was more
callous to the distribution of wealth according to the laws laid
down by God than he, nor anyone more indifferent towards the
commandment of God than he, nor anyone more blood-shedding than
he.”138
Needless to say,
this baraah of the Ibadhis from such Companions concerned
only their political activities and not their knowledge of the
religion. Ibadhi jurists as is evident from the Ibadhi sources
presenting legal and theological opinions from Ali b. Abi Talib,
Uthman b. Affan and others accept their legal opinions. Even
Mu’awiyah, of whom the Ibadhis strongly disapprove, was one of
the persons from whom the Ibadhis strongly disapprove, was one
of the persons from whom Jabir b. Zaid narrated Traditions of
the Prophet.139
Concerning the
Companions who reserved their opinions about the civil strife
(fitnah) and refused to fight with Ali, such as Sad b. Abi
Waqqas, Abdullah b. Umar, Mohammad b. Maslamah and Zaid b.
Thabit, the Ibadhis have two opinions; one is baraah from
them, and the other is of ‘reservation’ about them.140
All Caliphs and their governors starting from Mu’awiyah were
regarded as tyrants (Salatin al-Jawr). Ibadhis declared
baraah from them with exception of Umar b. Abd al-Aziz
the Umayyad caliph. Some Ibadhi scholars state that he was
legal Imam because of the unanimous resolution of Muslims (ijma
al-ummah) to accept his Imamate.141
Some scholars report that Abu Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah
asked God to bestow His mercy upon Umar b. Abd al-Aziz, which
meant that Umar deserved (walayah).142
It is further reported that Abu Ubaidah sent delegation to Umar
to invite him to accept the Ibadhi doctrine. After a long
discussion Umar agreed with them on almost everything, but he
refused to renounce Uthman and said, “God made our hands clean
of that blood so let our tongues also be clean of it.”143
They refused to accept his opinion and the head of the Ibadhi
delegation, Abu al-Hurr Ali b., al-Husain told Umar: “Know that
we are not going to take you for a friend."144
"I wish they accepted the opinion of Umar.145
It is further reported by al-Fadl b. al-Hawwari that Umar b. Abd
al-Aziz acceded to the Ibadhi doctrine, and baraah from
the ‘tyrants’ and agreed to accept Ibadhis as “awliya.”
The delegation asked him to declare this openly, as, according
to Ibadhis, religious dissimulation (taqiyah) does not
behove the just ruler. Umar could not agree with them and
promised them to revive a Sunnah and abolish a heresy every day,
but they refused his proposal.146
Maghribi Ibadhis held that Umar b. Abd al-Aziz was nearer to
‘baraah.’ Abd al-Wahhab b. Abd al-Rahman b. Rustam, the
second Imam of the Ibadhi state in Tahert, was asked about his
opinion of Umar b Abd al-Aziz and he replied, “He was not
commended among the Muslims (i.e. Ibadhis). They did not take
him as a ‘waliy’, and he was nearer to ‘baraah’.”147
To begin with, the
Ibadhi sources discussed in detail the problem of tyranny and
the tyrants; and the attitude that was maintained by the Ibadhis
under their rule. The following is the description of the
tyrants given by Abu Ya’qub Yusuf b. Ibrahim al-Warijlani,
“Tyrants are those who rule the people by force and do not
comply with the laws of the shari’ah. They neither call
others to shari’ah nor they follow it. They neglect
Zakat, alms- giving, tithes and land tax. They do not care
about the shari’ah or fulfilling (hadd)
punishments. They devise for themselves special ways to
administer their own creed; build high palaces and houses,
protect them with guards and servants. They have raids on towns
and take all property as fines and bails; and use guards and
servants. They drink wine and wear silk; enjoy music and use
screens; and show injustice in every thing.”148
Ibadhi sources point out for example, Ziyad b. Abi Sufyan, and
al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf as tyrant’s Salatin al-jawr). A list
of names of the tyrants of Maghrib and al-Andalus is given by
Abu Ya’qub al-Warijlani in his book al-Dalil wa al-Burhan.149
All Ibadhi scholars agree that such rulers have no right of (walayah);
they and their supporters must be in the state of bara’ah.
It appears that all
Muslims in general in the first half of the first century knew
the principle of al-walayah and al-baraah. Ali, Mu’awiyah and
their supporters have practised it. Ibadhi sources report that
the Muslims gave Ali b. Abi Talib the pledge of allegiance on
the oath given to Abu Bakr and Umar, and on bara’ah from
‘Uthman and his party.
150 Jahiz also reported that Mu’awiyah sat in Kufah
receiving the oath of allegiance from the people on the
condition of bara’ah from ‘Ali b. Abi Talib; then a man
from b. Tamim came and Mu’awiyah asked him to give his oath on
that condition, the man said, O, Commander of the faithful, we
obey your living, i.e. the Companions, and will not declare
bara’ah from your dead.”
151 It is also reported that Hujr b. ‘Adiy and his
followers (‘Ali’s party) used to curse Mu’awiyah gave orders for
them to be arrested, and sent his messenger to the min prison to
call them to bara’ah from ‘Ali if they wanted to be set
free; and if they refused, they would be killed. Eight out of
fourteen, among whom was Hujr, refused to declare baraah
from Ali, and they were killed.153
Kharijites were also among those who advocated the principle of
al-walayah wa al-baraah.154
In his letter to Simak b. Ubaid, al-Mustawred b. Ullafah wrote,
“….. We call you to the book of God, the Sunnah of the Prophet,
and to (walayah) for Abu Bakr and Umar, blessing of God
unto them, and to (baraah) from Uthman and Ali b. Abi
Talib because of their innovations in religion, and their
abandonment of the judgement of the Qur’an.”155
It is also reported that the Muhakkimah leaders who joined
Abdullah. Al-Zubair to protect Mecca from the attack of the
Umayyad army, asked Abdullah b. Al-Zubair to renounce Uthman,
al-Zubair and Talhah.156
The same is reported about Urwah b. Udaiyah who was asked by
Ubaidullah b. Ziyad about his opinion of Uthman and Ali, his
reply was that he took Uthman as a (waliy) for the first
six years of his rule, then he declared ‘baraah’ from him
for the rest; and he took Ali for a waliy up to the time
he accepted arbitration.157
Ibadhi followed the
doctrine of (al-walayah wa al-baraah) as a religious obligation
more than a political attitude afterwards. Its rules and
regulations appeared in Ibadhi jurisprudence from the very
beginning, and were practised within the Ibadhi community as
explained before, while we find no more of this principle among
non-Ibadhi Muslims in the same form as it exists among the
Ibadhis. |
