Presented by Zia H Shah MD

Ibadiyya (ʿIbādiyya) is the only surviving sect of the early Kharijite movement and today represents a distinct branch of Islam alongside Sunnism and Shiʿism. According to historical accounts, the Ibadis take their name from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ibad al-Tamīmī, an early Basran theologian, but the school’s classical founder was Jābir ibn Zayd al-ʿAzdī of Oman (d. ca. 100 AH)mara.om. Ibadi origins trace to the first Islamic civil war (fitna, 656–661 CE), when the “Muḥakkima” Kharijites refused the arbitration between Caliph ʿAlī and Muʿāwiya at Siffīnmara.omarchive.org. In this upheaval three Kharijite branches emerged: the extremist Azāriqites, the moderate Ṣufrites, and the Ibadis at the intermediate polearchive.org. Under early leaders – first Jābir ibn Zayd in secret (kitmān) circles in Basra, then Abu ʿUbayda Muslim ibn Abī Karīma – the Ibadis initially formed underground communitiesarchive.org. Eventually they established Imamate states: in southern Arabia under ʿAbd Allāh b. Yaḥyā al-Kindī (al‑Ṭālib al-Ḥaqq), briefly in Oman under al-Julandā ibn Masʿūd, and later the Rustamid Imamate (767–909 CE) in North Africaarchive.org. These migrations carried Ibadi theology and law first across Oman and Yemen and then into the Maghrib and East Africamara.ommara.om.

Core Theology and Beliefs

Ibadi theology emphasizes God’s justice, human responsibility, and the importance of religious works. In creed (ʿaqīda) they align closely with Muʿtazilism on divine attributes: for example, Ibadis reject literal anthropomorphism and hold that God’s descriptions in Scripture are metaphoricalalsaidia.com. Unlike Sunni Ashʿarism (which attributes faith separate from works), Ibadis assert that faith must be demonstrated by righteous deedsalsaidia.com. At the same time they reject the extreme Kharijite position that a single grave sin makes one a polytheist. Instead, Ibadis distinguish different levels of infidelity (kufr): kufr-shirk (polytheism/unbelief) is the rejection of God’s oneness, whereas a sinful but professing Muslim incurs kufr nifāq (hypocrisy) or kufr niʿma (ungratefulness for God’s blessings)alsaidia.com. For example, someone who believes in prayer but fails to perform it out of neglect is not deemed an outright unbeliever but is termed a hypocrite or “ingrate”alsaidia.com. In Ibadi thought only the righteous Ibadis themselves are fully “Muslims” or people of uprightness (ahl al-istiqāma); all other Muslims (Sunni or Shia) are labeled ahl al-khilāf (“people of difference”) or ahl al-tawḥīd (monotheists) and still counted among God’s communityalsaidia.com. This reinforces a strict communal identity but stops short of declaring other sects as polytheists.

A defining theological principle is the walāya (al-walāʾ) and barāʾ (“association/affiliation” and “dissociation”) doctrine. Ibadis insist that believers must show zealous loyalty to God and the true community (walāya) and disavow those they consider to have abandoned the faith (barāʾ)archive.orgalsaidia.com. In classical Ibadi works these are described as binding obligations: Walāya is the spiritual cement uniting the community to God, and Barāʾ its oppositearchive.org. Notably, Ibadi authors clarify that Barāʾ need not mean formal excommunication or public cursing; rather, it signifies a distance of belief or ideological disaffection toward sinful believersalsaidia.com. This credo of loyalty and disavowal underscores the Ibadi emphasis on communal purity and accountability.

Jurisprudence and Religious Practice

The Ibadi legal tradition (fiqh) constitutes an independent madhhab that developed its own schools of jurisprudence. Early Ibadi law was derived from the Quran and Sunnah, interpreted through analogical reasoning (ra’y) by qualified jurists. Joseph Schacht’s characterization of Ibadi law as “ra’y-oriented” reflects that its foundational jurists (like Jābir ibn Zayd) relied on personal reasoning alongside the textarchive.org. Over time, Ibadi fiqh absorbed Maliki and Shāfiʿī influences from surrounding regions, but it retains unique positions (for example on ritual prayer times and purification). Ibadis compile their own hadith collections – notably the Musnad of al-Rabīʿ b. Ḥabīb – to record traditions endorsed by their community. (One medieval compilation, al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ, was arranged by al-Rabīʿ’ in the 9th/10th century to match Ibadi doctrinal needsarchive.org.) In practice, Ibadis perform the five daily prayers, fasting, and other pillars like other Muslims, with only minor liturgical differences. For example, Ibadis conventionally omit the word “Āmīn” after al-Fātiḥa in silent prayers and do not recite the Qunūt supplication in fajr (dawn) prayers, distinctions noted by scholars of Ibadi ritualalsaidia.com. Over the centuries Ibadi jurists have codified the law in works like Al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-Fiqh (the foundational Ibadi manual) and applied it even during periods of clandestine organization (kitmān).

Leadership, Community and Doctrinal Principles

In Ibadi political thought the community’s leader is called an Imam. Unlike Shia doctrines of divinely appointed Imams, Ibadi Imams are selected by consensus (shūrā) of the faithful based on piety and knowledge. As Britannica notes, Ibadi Islam stresses an elected rather than hereditary leadershipbritannica.com. Historical sources record that early Ibadis in Oman and Basra held elections or pledges (bayʿa) to competent leaders (e.g. the election of al-Julandā ibn Masʿūd), and Ibadi law enjoins obeying a just Imam. However, unlike the extremist Kharijites, Ibadis did not teach that any sinning ruler must be immediately slain. Classical Ibadi doctrine counseled first petitioning an unjust Imam to reform; only if he persisted in tyranny was removal by force permitted (though even then fighting was not deemed religiously obligatory for all)islamawareness.net. This pragmatic stance reflects the Ibadi view that stability under a professing Muslim ruler may be preferable to chaos.

Organizationally, the Ibadi community has emphasized taṭawwul (voluntary liaison) and ṣaḥabāt (companionship) centered on Ibadi scholars. They preserved chains of transmission (shuyūkh) and communal memory (athar) of past Imams and juristsarchive.org. From the Ibadi perspective, each generation’s imprint devolves to the next via walāya; their most eminent ‘ulamāʾ (bearing knowledge) are those linked in an unbroken line back to the Prophet’s companionsarchive.org. In sum, Ibadi doctrine enshrines a self-contained community: loyalty to its own Imams and teachers, moral responsibility for its members, and deliberate disassociation from beliefs or practices deemed un-Islamic (barāʾ)archive.orgalsaidia.com.

Comparative Perspective: Ibadi vs Sunni and Shia

Compared with Sunni Islam, Ibadi beliefs and practice are broadly similar in basic creed and pillars, but differ in nuances. The Ibadi emphasis on rational theology (close to Muʿtazilism) contrasts with the orthodox Ashʿarite theology of most Sunnisalsaidia.com. Ibadi fiqh is independent – it was never counted among the “four Sunni madhhabs” – yet Ibadi practice often resembles Maliki or Shāfiʿī norms depending on region. In Scripture and law, Ibadis likewise revere the Quran and the Prophet’s hadith, but they compiled distinctive collections and were selective: for instance they do not accept traditions that contradict the Quran or their core doctrines. On leadership, both Sunnis and Ibadis permitted the caliphate/imamate of Abu Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān, but Ibadis subsequently approved ʿAlī’s caliphate while denouncing his acceptance of arbitration with Muʿāwiya (a key Kharijite grievance)alsaidia.com. In theology of salvation, Sunnis generally separate faith from works, whereas Ibadis (like other Kharijite descendants) insist on faith manifest in deedalsaidia.com. Both traditions affirm the oneness of God, but Ibadis are peculiarly strict about attributing human shortcomings to sinners (kufr-ni‘ma) rather than labeling them true unbelieversalsaidia.com.

Compared to Shiʿa Islam, the Ibadi school stands even further apart on leadership. Twelver and Zaydi Shiʿism hold that Imamate belongs to ʿAlī and his descendants by divine designation; Ibadis explicitly reject any hereditary claim and uphold communal election of a righteous Imambritannica.com. On ritual and law, Ibadis and Shiʿa share little beyond the broad framework of fiqh (both have independent juristic traditions), though Ibadis – like Zaydi Shiʿas – historically showed some Muʿtazilite affinities. Both Shiʿa and Ibadi thought emphasize God’s justice, but Shiʿa theology developed doctrines such as the infallibility of Imams which Ibadis do not. In summary, Ibadi doctrine often finds itself between Sunni and Shiʿa positions: it affirms central Islamic truths shared by all, while preserving a distinctive emphasis on communal autonomy, elected leadership, and strict accountability.

Contemporary Ibadi Communities

Today the vast majority of Ibadis live in the Sultanate of Oman, where Ibadi Islam is the dominant faith. Indeed, more than 2 million of the world’s roughly 2.5 million Ibadis reside in Omanreligion.ucla.edu. In Oman the Ibadi legacy deeply shapes society: the country’s constitution and royal leadership are rooted in Ibadi traditions, even as the modern state cultivates religious tolerance. A recent study notes that Oman’s government (unlike Iran or Saudi Arabia) enshrines freedom for all faiths, and that historical observers have long praised Omani Ibadis for “living in harmony with all religious and ethnic groups”religion.ucla.edureligion.ucla.edu. Oman’s Ibadi scholars serve on official councils, and the Sultan often meets with the elected Ibadi shūrā Imamate council to discuss social and spiritual matters.

Outside Oman, small Ibadi minorities endure in parts of North and East Africa. In Algeria’s M’zab valley (Ghardaïa) the Mzabite Berber community remains Ibadi and still practices its distinct custom and code (despite recent friction with the Sunni state). Libya’s Nafusa Mountains and Zuwāra on the coast are also traditional Ibadi centers (they suffered persecution under Qaddafi and have recently reasserted their Ibadi identity). Tunisia’s island of Djerba has an Ibadi mosque community, and historical Ibadi traces exist in parts of Morocco and southern Algeria (remnants of the Rustamid heritage). In East Africa, Ibadi communities descend from Omani settlers: on Zanzibar and Pemba (Tanzania) some local elites remain Ibadi, and towns like Kilwa have Ibadi shrines. In all these regions Ibadis are now minorities in wider Sunni-majority societies, but they preserve their schools, mosques and networks.

In global perspective, Ibadism today is generally viewed as a tolerant, moderate form of Islam. Its adherents point to their historical legacy of nonviolence and coexistence: for example, 19th-century British observers noted that Omani Ibadis were unusually tolerant and peaceful towards other faithsreligion.ucla.edu. Modern scholars also stress this trend: one researcher notes that since the late 20th century Ibadis “define their school in terms of tolerance and interfaith understanding”las.illinois.edu. While formally still distinguished by creed and law, Ibadi communities generally maintain cordial relations with Sunnis and Shia nearby, and participate fully in national politics (notably in Oman where they are the majority).

In conclusion, the Ibadiyya sect is an Islamic school with deep historical roots and a cohesive identity. It arose from early Kharijism but charted its own path as a moderate, community-centered doctrinearchive.orgmara.om. Ibadi theology blends rigorous monotheism with an emphasis on justice and individual accountabilityalsaidia.comalsaidia.com. Its legal and ritual practices are broadly Islamic in form, yet maintain unique prescriptions. Above all, the Ibadi faith emphasizes the integrity of its community through loyalty (walāya) and dissociation (barāʾ) – concepts that have bound Ibadi Muslims together across centuriesarchive.orgalsaidia.com. Today, with most Ibadis living in Oman and smaller groups in Africa, the Ibadi tradition continues as a vibrant and distinctive branch of Islam, influencing religious life and politics in its societies.

Sources: Scholarly works on Ibāḍī history and doctrinemara.omarchive.orgalsaidia.combritannica.com and contemporary analyses of Ibadi Omanreligion.ucla.edu.