Ibadi (Ibadism)

Introduction

Religious organizations have been in existence for many years, and all of them have a unique origin and their spread. In most instances, religious organizations have a set of principles, rules, and beliefs that guide their way of life and culture. It also defines them and describes why they do and believe what they purport to be right. The Ibadi movement also bears the name of Ibadism or Ibadiyya, which is a school of Islam having much dominance in Oman and Zanzibar (Hoffman, 2004). Other groups of the organization occupy some parts of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and East Africa. The history of the movement explains that it came into existence 20 years after the death of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. A movement is a reformed group from the Kharijite movement. However, the movement denies any association with the former sect. The sect of Islam is neither Sunni nor Shi’I but believes that there ought to be a Muslim Society in which true Muslims are only part of their sect. The main difference between the group and the rest of Muslim is the root of political theory.

Aims of the group

Ibadism aimed at distancing itself from Kharijism movement by establishing ideologies that were different from the norms of the Kharijites. Ibadism movement started with being different in their viewpoint on the subjective interpretations of the words of the Prophet. Other aspects have diverse views on some things in the Quran, how the prophet followed the commands of Allah and the stories of the examples from his daily life. The aim of the Ibadis was to return the purity of the Islamic faith and the entire society along the lines laid by Prophet Muhammad (Hoffman, 2014).

The group aimed to live in peace with the other Muslims and, therefore, opposed to the armed rebellion and political assassination developed by the Kharijis in the form of Holy War. Thus, Ibadis have an aim of maintaining legalism and strict moral codes as the ambassadors called Puritans of the desert. The Ibadis movement ought to follow the main Khariji doctrines, but had modifications that defined the conditions for them to live in harmony with other Muslims. Thus, they had the objective of being reconciliatory towards other Muslims than the Kharijis.

The group also aimed to continue teaching the people the Traditions and Futya (legal opinion) regardless of whether they subscribe to the Ibadis’ ideologies.

Why they hold the aspirations

Ibadism is different from both Shia and Sunni Islam. The sect believes that souls condemned to Hell will stay in hell all the days if their lives. They reject that Muslims will see Allah on the Day of Judgment. The group holds the aspirations due to several issues.

Ibadism movement has a different perspective on some issues in Islam in comparison to other Muslims. The Umayyads people wanted the pre-Islamic power to return to their region. Thus, the Muslim community separated into different sects in opposition to the policies given by the third Caliph ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan. Ibadis was among the parties who had different opinions on the policies and thus branched to shape their beliefs and reactions.

The movement disregarded the logic and reasoning against the traditional path of the Prophet. Ibadis opposed the third Caliph policies since they were against the Sunnah and hence non-Islamic. The movement maintains distinct loyalty to the Quran and the Sunnah as well as to other Muslims, who respect the Sunnah and the Quran (Francesca, 2015). The Ibadi Caliphate is under a secular ruler and can also cease to exist. The Caliph can subjugate the other Ibadi rulers in an own free will and can also declare Jihads. According to the Ibadis, their rulers can have multiple wives according to the expectation of many people. Anyone can hold the temple holdings without penalty, and the Ibadi dynasties tend towards cultural decline.

The group maintains the objectives since it is different from the famous Sunni Islam and Shia that have divergent views on various issues. The Ibadis share a history of the powerful Khariji Movement that was the earliest Muslim sect. They did not agree with the accepted order in the first two centuries of Islam.

How they achieve their objectives

The group achieves its objectives by selecting Imams under whose guidance they can fulfill the crucial Qur'anic injunction of "promoting good and preventing evil." Thus, they establish the true Muslim community with clear guidelines on how to handle their conflicts and also how to interact with others. The sect has a belief that any Muslim with a blameless personality can be the Imam including slaves who do not undergo the customary rituals.

The group also achieves its objective by excommunicating from the community anyone who has a gross violation of their presets and becomes a Kafir. Ibadis believe in reconciliation, and the best way to handle such unbelievers is to excommunicate them rather than doing what others do. Most of the other Kharijis regarded the Kafir as polytheist who deserve death and not repenting (Francesca, 2015).

Ibadan defined four states in which their true Muslim community could exist. It was a method of ensuring that they stay away from the illegal Islamic rulers. The four states helped to maintain their true doctrines hence easy to achieve their objectives. The State of manifestation served the purpose of imposing Ibadan dominion on all the Muslims and openly selecting a universal Imam for the Muslims. The state of defense could survive by fighting the attacks from the enemy and has a special Imam to combat the enemies. The third state was that of self-sacrifice. A small group would attack the enemy as martyrs and have the assurance of paradise. The fourth State of concealment came into existence when the faithful; had to live under the reign of their opponents and practice dissimulation.

The ibadis have always had an attitude of unity with all the other Muslims despite them being non-Ibadis. One of their Imans claimed that the movement does not regard the Muslim opponents as idolaters since they believe in the unity of God, the Book, and the Messenger. Thus, Ibadis fulfill the objective of living in peace with the other Muslims by inheriting from them, marrying them, and living among them. The faith of Islam is the main aspect that unites them. The Ibadis invite people and give them an opportunity to understand their views and wait for them to make their decisions. Thus, attacks from their opponents are the only threat to destabilizing the movement and engage in a fight (Jones & Ridout, 2012).

The Ibadis broke off from the larger Kharijite sect after Umayyad took power. The group opposed the rule of the third Caliph in Islam and rejected the murder of Uthman and the Kharijite belief that people with divergent views ought to die. They attempted an armed insurrection that originated in the Hijaz region. The problems made the Umayyads sign a peace deal with the Ibadis and allowed it to retain a community in shibam. The Ibadis opted to break off from the rest of the Kharijites to have own doctrines and beliefs that would assist in achieving their objectives. Thus, any opposition by the Umayyads faced stiff resistance that led to the signing of the peace deal. According to the previous research work, the Ibadis wanted to maintain the true Islamic community that has strict observance of the law. Thus, the best strategy to use was to break from the rest of the groups. They formed a movement that has different ideologies but follows the unity of God, the Book, and the Messenger (Hoffman, 2015).

The ibadis also achieve their objectives by living lives that reflect what they believe. The political-theological concepts that arise from Ibadism can shape behaviors and attitudes, and also express themselves in action. The behaviors and actions of the Ibadians are effective in helping the movement achieve its objectives of maintaining peace and advocating for a pure Islamic society. The Ibadians maintain a personality of politeness that impacts to the other groups living within their communities. It is a strategy of promoting cohesiveness and thereby distancing itself from Kharijism movement.

Historical, Social, Political, Cultural, and Racial implications of membership

Ibadism is a distinct sect of Islam that does not share the same beliefs to the Sunni and the Shii. The main members of the group came from the Kharijite sect thereby becoming the dominant sub-sect of the Kharijites in Oman. There exist Historical, Social, Political, Cultural, and racial implications to the membership to the movement.

Historical Implications of membership

The movement has an Islam origin and thus shares the same history with other Islam groups. The association of the members of the movement with the dangerous Kharijite sect raises issues of the sincerity of its aims. According to the group, the members believe that they are the true Muslims and people of straightness. The ideologies of seeking for a harmonious Islam community appear genuine, but the movement has certain accounts of involvement with crime. Thus, the major implication of sharing a history with the Kharijite is viewing the Ibadis as ordinary Kharijites under a different movement. In 2005, the Sultanate of Oman's state security court sentenced to jail terms to 31 Islamists who plotted to overthrow Oman leadership and being part of an illegal organization. The men sentenced to the jail terms came from the interior of the country that is a stronghold of the Ibadis. Also, Ibadis is the dominant group in Oman and had a high possibility of taking part in the plot to overthrow the Leadership. The association of Ibadis with the Kharijites before they broke up has far reaching implications on the members due their history (Hoffman, 2015).

Social, political, and cultural Implications of membership

The membership of Ibadis movement has impacts on the social life. For several decades, the Ibadis and their beliefs remain a mystery to the outside world. It is the same to the non-Muslims and the other Muslims who do not understand the Ibadis. The Ibadis claim that they can justify their views on Sunnis and the Shi’ites since they took the time to read the works of the two groups. However, the two sects did not read Ibadi works and hence repeated myths and false information when addressing the topic. The isolated nature of Oman country granted the Ibadi movement a perfect environment to develop fully (Al-Azri, 2013). The groups separated from the Kharijite sect due to their rejection of many extreme beliefs. Thus, the spread of Ibadism in Oman became evident, and many people subscribed to its ideologies. The members live as tolerant Puritans and with little political influence since they prefer solving differences with dignity with reasoning rather than confrontational. They also tolerate the Christians and Jews who practice their ideologies and also share their communities (Francesca, 2015). The social life of the Ibadians is complex since the other people find it challenging to understand it. The other groups live in the same environments, intermarry, and conduct other common roles together, but identify the movement as unique to them.

The Ibadis claim that they are not a subset of the Kharijite movement. The implications of the Khariji thoughts and practices are sectarian and worm under the interests of conflict and division. Ibadis maintain a state of quietism that extends to the avoidance of violence and insist on tolerance and anti-sectarianism. The movement does not seek to convert the thoughts and doctrines of the occupants of their areas of dominance. However, it intends to have a cultural legacy of the early Ibadi practice of Kitman. The social orientation of the group maintains that they have to avoid open clashes with the authorities and also maintain relations with the rulers. Ibadians also do not isolate the members of the movement from the Muslim community (Wilkinson, 2015).

Racial implications of membership

The Ibadi sect is the dominant group in Oman and comprises the Arabs mostly. Nearly all the Omani’s are Muslim divided into the Sunnis and the Ibadis and a small percentage of the Shia groups. There are few who is Hindu and no Christians or Jews. Thus, the dominant race is Islam and people who join Ibadis require having the basic skills in Islam (Singhal, 2012). For a long time, Muslims have been under the profile of their groups organizing and executing several attacks across the world. Thus, Ibadians may have a clear agenda of their ideologies but the common misconception renders them not effective in achieving their mandate. The racial implications of being a member of the Ibadi are the common racial profiling about Islams across the world.

Conclusion

The beliefs and the social, political, and cultural organization of a movement are the main determinants of its ideologies. As such, the different political, military, and religious movements that exist have certain issues that define them. Of interest in the Research, paper are the Ibadi (Ibadism) who have much dominance in Oman. The Ibadis are a movement that shares common roots with the Kharijites but separated and adopted different ideologies and aspirations. The main aim of the Ibadis is distancing itself from Kharijism movement by living and practicing peace with other Muslim communities. The movement holds to its aspirations due to its strong belief in purity for the Islam community that motivates them to practice. The Ibadis achieve their objectives by living exemplary lives that display their ideologies and hence impact the other Islam communities. There are Historical, Social, Political, Cultural, and Racial implications to the membership of Ibadi. Their history of being part of the Kharijites has an effect on their way of life. The fact that Ibadis are Muslims renders them vulnerable to negative profiling similar to other Islamic groups.

References

Al-Azri K.M (2013) Social and Gender Inequality in Oman: The Power of Religious and Political Tradition. Routledge Publishers, 2013, ISBN 0415672414, 9780415672412

Francesca E.(2015) Ibad Theology: Rereading Sources and Scholarly Works; Georg Olms Verlag, 2015; ISBN 3487148854, 9783487148854

Hoffman V.J (2014) The Essentials of Ibadi Islam, Syracuse University Press, 2014. ISBN 0815650841, 9780815650843

Hoffman, V. J. (2004). The Articulation of Ibadi Identity in Modern Oman andZanzibar. Muslim World, 94(2), 201-216.

Hoffman, V. J. (2015). Ib??ism: History, Doctrines, and Recent Scholarship. Religion Compass, 9(9), 297-307. doi:10.1111/rec3.12164

Jones j. & Ridout N.(2012) Oman, Culture and Diplomacy: Edinburgh University Press, 2012; ISBN 0748674632, 9780748674633

Singhal R. (2012) The Religion of Oman: Ibadism,

Wilkinson, J. C. (2015). On Being An Ib???. Muslim World, 105(2), 142-156. doi:10.1111/muwo.12095

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