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In the Qurʾān, there are several references to zinā (meaning both fornication and adultery), which stress the social ills that follow from committing such a sin. The Qurʾān makes it clear that those found guilty of zinā, regardless of their marital status, will be liable to receive a punishment of one hundred lashes, whilst slaves, married or unmarried, should receive fifty lashes (Q. 24:2). Nonetheless, the complexities surrounding the issue of adultery, and in particular the issue of its punishment, gave rise to a heated debate in the early Islamic juristic circles, which coalesced into a number of traditions conveying a growing strictness with regard to the punishment for adultery, especially towards married adulterers. In this paper I offer an interpretation of the most significant among these narrations in the early sources. In particular, I provide an account of the issue from the perspective of the early Ibāḍī sources, which are often neglected in mainstream Islamic studies, in order to trace the Ibāḍī contribution to the early juristic debate on fornication and adultery. My hypothesis is that a focus on Ibāḍī sources, which have been proven to preserve some very ancient material, provides a stronger basis for the study of the early centuries of Islam.

P. 261: the aim of this study is to analyze the origins and the development of the Ibāḍī Madhhab and its relationship to the Sunnī schools in the early centuries of Islam. There are some important questions connected with this issue, for example, whether or not the Ibāḍī Fiqh developed independently of the Sunnī Fiqh, what was the role of the early Ibāḍī authorities and whether or not the position attributed to Jābir b. Zayd in the formation of Ibāḍī Fiqh could be accepted. I would argue that the solution depends on a critical analysis of Ibāḍī literature. It is possible, I would submit, to place these questions in the context of Islamic social and legal history. My research is based on the Ibāḍī Ṭabaqāt and Fiqh works and mainly on some Ibāḍī manuscripts, whose content seems to be early. Not only will the analysis of these texts make the process of establishment of the Ibāḍī Madhhab clearer, it will also provide a much stronger basis for the study of the early centuries of Islam. Pp. 263-264: the early Ibāḍī MSS the author refers to, and which contain Jābir b. Zayd’s legal responses and traditions, are: Jawābāt Jābir b. Zayd, Āthār al-Rabīʿ b. Ḥabīb and Futyà al-Rabīʿ b. Ḥabīb, the Traditions reported by ʿAmr b. Dīnār and ʿAmr b. Harim in parts 5 and 6 of the MS entitled Aqwāl Qatāda b. Diʿāma, K. al-Ṣalāt transmitted by Ḥabīb b. Abī Ḥabīb al-Jarmī from ʿAmr b. Harim from Jābir, included in the last part of the Aqwāl, the K. al-Nikāḥ, included in K. Nikāḥ al-Shighār by ʿAbdl. b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. All these works, with the exception of Jawābāt Jābir b. Zayd, are part of a collection of Ibāḍī MSS known as al-Dīwān al-maʿrūḍ ʿalà ‘l-ʿUlamā’ al-Ibāḍiyya, which is the principal source on Ibāḍī jurisprudence in the first centuries of Islam.

Based on: Sadūsī, Abū ‘l-Khaṭṭāb Qatāda b. Diʿāma: Aqwāl Qatāda (see especially pp. 234-236); Azdī, Abū ‘l-Shaʿthā’ Jābir b. Zayd: Jawābāt Abī ‘l-Shaʿthā’ Jābir b. Zayd (see especially pp. 237-242); Rabīʿ b. Ḥabīb: K. al-Āthār and Futyā al-Rabīʿ b. Ḥabīb (see especially pp. 243-246); Ibn Ghānim, Abū Ghānim Bishr [b. Ghānim] al-Khurāsānī: al-Mudawwana (see especially pp. 246-248).

At the end of the article, p. 75: among the Mozabites, Wilāya and Barā’a represent a religious transformation of tribal politics. The notables’ authority could not exist without a social structure founded in the clan. Each clan designates its representatives in the Jamāʿa and its notables, who direct the group’s business, form a restricted assembly which meets in the presence of one of the members of the Ḥalqa (Bourdieu 1962, 41-42). This connection between religious solidarity and agnatic groups’ power assures that community ties remain very strong even among emigrants. Particularism and individualism are banished and each Ibāḍī has a strong feeling of belonging to “the chosen people”, distinguished by their rigor and intransigence. In terms of organization of entrepreneurial activity, the solidarity existing among the Mozabites is converted into commercial cooperation. The business establishments in the Tell are generally the property of the family group, and in most cases the employees are members of the owner’s family or else come from the same clan or city. This family organization of the business enterprise, thanks to the very limited costs, allows the Mozabites to sell at competitive prices. Moreover, mutual aid is praticed in every possible occasion (Bourdieu 1962, 48; Chabert 1961, 348). In this way, fidelity to the traditional social structure, far from being an obstacle to their competitiveness in the capitalistic system, rather favours it and makes it easier.

Especially on the prohibition of Ribā. Pp. 200-201: in dealing with the Ribā prohibition, one can point out a further incongruity in the Ibāḍī law. As stated above, money exchange and, in general, dealings in precious metals demanded immediate delivery of the two lots which had been exchanged. This doctrine was generally accepted but, among the Ibāḍīs, the ʿUmānī scholar Ibn Baraka (middle of the 5th/11th c.) stated that the exchange of gold for silver on credit is allowed. ... The doctrine of Ibn Baraka did not become part of the school’s teaching. This doctrine may be regarded as a survival of the original Medinese custom in that some traditions quoted by Muslim reported that, during the Prophet’s lifetime, people in Medina used to exchange gold for silver on credit.

Study and translation of the book on al-Zakāt in Jannāwunī: K. al-Waḍʿ fī ‘l-Furūʿ. The translation is on pp. 45-64. Comparisons are being made with Jayṭālī: Qanāṭir al-Khayrāt; Shammākhī, Abū Sākin ʿĀmir: K. al-Īḍāḥ; Qaṣbī: Ḥāshiya ʿalà K. al-Waḍʿ; Thamīnī: K. al-Nīl; Iṭfayyish: Sharḥ K. al-Nīl; Sunnī and Shīʿī sources.

Il contributo è incentrato sull’apporto che studiosi italiani del secolo scorso hanno dato ad una migliore comprensione dell’Ibadismo. Laura Veccia Vaglieri, Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Mario Martino Moreno, Roberto Rubinacci, insieme a Vanna Cremonesi e Generosa Crupi La Rosa sono stati tra i primi a sottolineare l’importante contributo degli Ibaditi al pensiero islamico e, più in generale, alla formazione della cultura islamica. I risultati da essi raggiunti - al di là delle conclusioni di ciascuno studioso – sono di fondamentale importanza poiché attraggono l’attenzione su questioni cruciali come il passaggio di idee e dottrine all’interno della comunità musulmana. Nonostante la sua antichità, l’Islam Ibadita continua ad essere poco conosciuto e mal compreso. Spesso si riducono le sue peculiarità ad alcune dottrine politiche e ad un certo “puritanesimo” religioso. Ma il quadro è molto più complesso. La scuola ibadita ebbe fin dalle origini uno sviluppo parallelo ma autonomo rispetto alle scuole sunnite, basato sull’apporto di proprie autorità e giuristi. Gli Ibaditi hanno un ricco patrimonio letterario che risale fino alle origini dell’Islam, il cui studio è di grande potenzialità per una migliore comprensione sia dell’Islam in generale sia dell’apporto Ibadita in particolare.

"Ibadi Theology. Rereading sources and scholarly works, written by Ersilia Francesca" published on 18 Nov 2016 by Brill.

Article Cyrille Aillet, L’archipel Ibāḍīte. Une histoire des marges du Maghreb médiéval, Lyon, CIHAM Éditions, 2022 (Mondes médiévaux). 592 p. ISBN: 978-2-9568426-4-4. was published on October 1, 2024 in the journal Der Islam (volume 101, issue 2).