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The Sultanate of Muscat and Zanzibar grew initially from Oman's struggle with Portugal in the 17th century for dominance over trade in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, and then from the desire to assert control over Omani settlements in East Africa. In 1832, Sayyid Sa‘id ibn Sulṭan transferred the capital of the Omani Empire from Muscat to Zanzibar. Although Sayyid Sa‘id and his successors in Zanzibar appointed governors along the coast and had agents as far inland as the Congo, actual territorial control was weak. In 1856 the empire was divided between two of Sa‘id's sons, one ruling in Oman and the other in Zanzibar, a division that was formalized in 1861, marking the effective end of the sultanate. European colonialism dramatically reduced the domains of the Zanzibar sultanate in the last quarter of the 19th century, though a member of the Bu Sa‘idi family remained on the throne in Zanzibar until January 1964. The Bu Sa‘idi dynasty continues to reign in the Sultanate of Oman.

Ibadism first developed in Basra in the second century A.H. among groups of Arabian origin, especially from Oman. The earliest Ibadi texts were produced there; some have been lost, while others have been found in private Ibadi libraries in North Africa. It seems that the Ibadi community in North Africa wrote to the sect’s leaders in Basra for guidance, and that these early texts came into existence for that reason. Most of these texts remained unknown in Oman for centuries. The Ibadi textual tradition in the Arabian peninsula developed somewhat later and separately, after persecution in the late Umayyad period led to the dissolution of the Basran leadership and the migration of many Ibadis to Oman, and some to Yemen. The earliest Ibadi texts in the Arabian peninsula are letters or short treatises known as siyar (singular sira) that deal with a broad number of issues, from law and theology to rules for the Imamate. In the 3rd/9th century Ibadis produced the earliest Ibadi collections (jawami‘) of legal opinions. Abu Sa‘id al-Kudami (3rd/9th to 4th/10th century) produced the first monograph on a single topic, in which he tried to heal wounds in the Ibadi community of Oman that had been precipitated by disagreements over the deposal of an aged Imam in 272/886. Ibn Baraka (second half of the 4th/10th century) may have been the first to compose comprehensive works of Ibadi theology and law. His works were incorporated into a series of encyclopedias composed in the 5th/11th and 6th/12th centuries that consolidated Ibadi doctrine in Oman. It was only in the late 19th century that Nur al-Din al-Salimi led Ibadi theological literature in Oman toward convergence with that of North Africa, in the process creating a major change in the official Omani-Ibadi doctrine on the creation or eternity of the Qur’an. This paper will trace the development of Ibadi theological literature and the process of consolidation of an Ibadi theological tradition in the Arabian peninsula, especially with regard to three issues: association and dissociation (walaya and bara’a), free-will versus predestination, and the creation or eternity of the Qur’an.

Ibadi works have generally been overlooked in scholarship on the development of Islamic theology (kalam). From at least the early 8th century, kalam has revolved around questions about the divine attributes and their relation to God’s unity. The distinction between the attributes of God’s essence and the attributes of His acts has usually been attributed to the Mu‘tazil? theologians Ab? ’l-Hudhayl (ca. 135/752–ca. 227/842) and al-Na???m (d. between 220/835-230/845), but a recently published text written by Ib??? theologian ‘Abd All?h b. Yaz?d al-Faz?r? soon after the death of Ib??? imam Ab? ‘Ubayda Muslim b. Ab? Kar?ma (d. between 150/767-158/775) employs these terms. This is just one indication of how Ib??? texts can offer new perspectives on the development of Islamic theology. Al-Faz?r? was fully engaged in the theological controversies of Basra and Baghdad until H?r?n al-Rash?d’s persecution of the mutakallim?n in 179/795. He wrote works refuting the ideas of other theological schools, and his ideas were followed and developed among the Maghrib? Ibadis. In Oman, early resistance to kal?m was overcome in the writings of Abu ’l-Mundhir Bash?r b. Muhammad b. Ma?b?b (d. ca. 290/908). Ib??? theology on the attributes and essence of God has generally been similar to that of the Mu‘tazila, although Omani Ib???s only came to accept the doctrine of the creation of the Qur’an in the late 19th century. This paper examines Ibadi writings on the divine attributes from the earliest available texts to the twentieth century. Ibadi responses to questions that arose concerning the divine attributes will be compared geographically and chronologically with each other and with the articulations of other schools. In modern Sunni thought, these questions are generally ignored or even deemed irrelevant, but they remained vital much longer to Ibadi scholars, for whom they were central to the definition of the faith. The theological intricacies surrounding these questions received less attention over the course of the twentieth century, but Abdul Aziz bin Baz’s public denunciation of the Ibadis as infidels for their rejection of the eternity of the Qur’an and of the possibility of seeing God led the Mufti of Oman to provide a public—and hence simplified—explanation of Ibadi teachings on these issues. Nonetheless, Omani policy under Sultan Qaboos (r. 1970-present) and current Ibadi attitudes have emphasized pan-Islamic unity, at the expense of specifically Ibadi doctrinal articulations.

Although the Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Culture has published many classics of Ibāḍī scholarship and small bookstores like Maktabat al-Ḍāmirī and Maktabat al-Istiqāma have also contributed many valuable publications, much Ibāḍī scholarship remains unpublished. This paper will describe the major archival sources of Ibāḍī manuscripts in Oman and Zanzibar, and will discuss the following: the types of Ibāḍī manuscripts found in various archives and libraries; what those contents tell us about Ibāḍī scholarship and readership in Oman and Zanzibar in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the extent to which and manner in which these manuscripts have been catalogued; the state of preservation and digitalization of the manuscripts; and the manuscripts’ accessibility to researchers and conditions of research. On this subject, Oman and Zanzibar have some points of comparability, such as the existence of private, uncatalogued collections, but there are also important points of contrast: whereas the Sultanate of Oman has a major interest in specifically Ibāḍī scholarship, for the people of East Africa Ibāḍīs, who were all of Omani descent, were often seen as foreigners, sometimes admired and sometimes hated. Arabic manuscripts, which had undoubtedly already suffered from humidity and insects, were torn apart by angry revolutionaries in the Zanzibar revolution of 1964; the remnants were boxed and hidden away in the recesses of the Zanzibar National Archives, where for years the staff insisted that they had no Arabic manuscripts. Whereas Oman has had the financial wherewithal to invest in manuscript preservation and digitalization, Zanzibar has not. Nonetheless, there are significant things to be learned from these manuscripts, including the interest that Ibāḍīs in Zanzibar had in Sunni literature, as is evident from the presence of many Sunni texts in Ibāḍī-owned waqfs. Texts by Ibāḍī scholars resident in Zanzibar in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries indicate a broad range of scholarship, including works on Ibāḍī fiqh and theology, local herbal medicine, and a refutation of the ninth-century Nestorian Christian work known as The Apology of al-Kindi. Copies of books and manuscripts from Oman and other Arab countries may also be found. The Zanzibar Sultanate established a printing press in 1879 and published works by Ibāḍī scholars in Oman and Algeria, as well as one by a Zanzibari scholar.

Western scholars and students with an interest in the history of Ibädi Islam and Oman are no doubt familiar with the name and some of the extensive works of the author of the book under review, in which she resumes her previous research devoted to Ibädism in Oman and Zanzibar in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During repeated research stays in Oman over a decade Hoffman collected the material for the present volume, which, as she phrases it in the introduction, "is an attempt to introduce Ibädi Islamic theology to students and scholars of Islam, mainly through annotated translations of two basic Ibädi theological texts, in order to address the general unavailability of Ibädi texts to all but the most specialized scholars of Islam" (p. 4). The relative lack of interest in Ibädi theology may be partly because Ibädi religious literature is often obscure and difficult to understand. In fact, the oldest Ibädi theological literature is mainly fragmentary intra-community correspondence: letters (generally termed sira, pi. siyar) from imams and ulema with advice and/or explanations to the members about controversial religious and political issues. Moreover, according to European works from the last century, of which the older ones rely on only a few Ibädi sources, the distinctive nature of Ibädism seems to consist chiefly of a quietist political doctrine and of a religious puritanism. However, Ibädism presents a more complex reality. First of all, its sectarian nature is not so obvious. According to tradition, the Ibädi movement derives its name from cAbd Alläh Ibn Ibäd, who broke from Khäriji extremists in circa 65 A.H. (684/5) over the attitude to be adopted toward other Muslims. The Ibädis have been wrongly identified with the Khärijls by both Western scholars and non-Ibädi Muslim authors-Ibädis are instead very distant from them in political as well as religious matters. The connection between the two stems from the fact that most of the dissident Khärijis were from the Tamim tribe to which Ibn Ibäd also belonged. Moreover, proto-Ibädis were part of the Muhakkima movement of the early Khärijis, sharing with them the principle that the rule on earth belongs to God alone (la hukma ilia li-lläh). The Ibädi distinction from orthodox or Sunni Islam should be conceived in terms of internal Islamic diversity of doctrinal belief rather than in terms of their affiliation to Khärijism. As such the Ibädis are not a sect but a school (madhhab) that kept in close contact with the Sunni community and contributed to the general debate from which Islamic law and theology began to develop during the first two centuries in the heartland of the Muslim world, namely, Basra and Kufa, but also the Hijäz. Despite its antiquity, Ibädi Islam-and particularly Ibädi theology-remains little known and has often been misunderstood. To date the best-known monographs devoted to Ibädi theology in a European language are Studies in Ibädism by 'A. Kh. Ennami (Ph.D. diss., Cambridge Univ., 1971; [Benghazi]: Univ. of Libya, 1972; [Muscat] 22005) and Introduction a l'étude de l'ibadisme et de sa théologie by P. Cuperly (Algiers: Office des Publications Universitaires, 1984). This book by Valerie Hoffman seeks to amend the gap of three decades. Her main source is a brief and clear text intended as a primer for Ibâdï students of theology, al-cAqlda al-wahbiyya by Nâsir b. Sâlim b. cUdayyam al-Rawâhï (d. 1920), a prolific scholar better known in Oman as Abu Muslim al-Bahlânï. Unfortunately he died prematurely, leaving the work incomplete. Hoffman therefore also includes a translation of the passages of Kitab MaJalim al-dln by cAbd al-cAzïz al-Thamïnï al-Muscabï (d. 1808) dealing with predestination, a fundamental topic of Ibâdï theology that is omitted in al-Rawâhï's primer. Although it would be impossible to understand the early development of the movement and the doctrinal and political disputes over issues that led to its split into several subdivisions (firqa) without a reference to Ibädism's classical sources, I should emphasize the importance of including recent Ibâdï scholarship in an account on theology. Since theology played a role historically in creating sectarian identities and in defining and safeguarding Islamic belief, it is crucial to inquire about the theological discussions and debates among Ibâdîs during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when the Ibâdï reform movement began to reconcile Islam and modernity. Through an analysis of modern Ibâdï religious literature, Hoffman sheds light on Ibâdï theological formulations on topics that differentiate Ibâdï doctrine from Sunni Islam, such as reward and punishment in the afterlife, free will and predestination, anthropomorphic description of God, the creation of the Quran, and so on. The theological tenets explicated by Hoffman are of great importance in understanding not only prevailing Ibâdï doctrine, but also their striving from the nineteenth century onward to avoid both Westernization and Islamic radicalism. Nevertheless, fundamental Islam remains an important part of Ibadism. Ibâdï ethical principles reveal a rigorous conception of life and faith. Sinful actions entail the loss of a state of purity and render the sinner unfit to participate in religious rites. This moral austerity leads the Ibâdîs to refute any kind of innovation, laxity, or modern idea and to interpret the ancient precepts in the most stringent fashion. Salvation can only be achieved through prayer, pious living, and hard work. Ibâdîs show a strong cohesion as a group outside of the mainstream; its dogmatic basis lies in the concepts of waläya and banda (association and dissociation), namely, the duty of friendliness toward individuals who fulfil the precepts of religion and, conversely, the duty of hostility against those who do not deserve to be called believers. The doctrine of waläya and banda has its counterpart in orthodox belief only as regards the general duty of solidarity with the faithful and hostility toward infidels. According to the general rule, true believers must declare beträgt from tyrants and their followers and they must not take any of them as wäll. A country governed by tyrants and unjust rulers must be declared a land of tyranny and injustice. In the early centuries of Islam, a serious threat to the exacting Ibâdï position was represented by MurjPites, who propounded the doctrine of suspended judgment on the fate of sinners in the afterlife and on the first fitna. This was wholly contrary to the Ibâdï view of TJthmän and cAlï and their rejection of the Umayyad dynasty. The contribution of MurjPism was crucial to Ibâdï development, for some MurjPï ideas penetrated the movement; they were propagated by Härün b. al-Yamän (fl. ninth century), causing a serious split in the Mashriqï Ibâdï community. He proposed a tolerant attitude to waläya and baräya, according kufr status only to those committing sins that deserved hadd punishment in this world and hell in the next. He recognized a middle way (manz.Ua bayna l-manzilatayn) for people committing sins that his predecessors, such as Abu Ayyub, considered to be major. Furthermore, Härün tied the faith to individual piety (taqwä) rather than to the strict interpretation of religious observances. On this topic, crucial for the understanding of Ibädism, Hoffman emphasizes a definite inconsistency between theory and practice in the modern Ibâdï sources. One would expect an intolerant attitude toward all those not deserving the status of "true believers," but al-Rawâhï's primer shows a high degree of tolerance toward non-Muslims (e.g., the British Colonial Office in Zanzibar) and toward nonIbâdï Muslims, who are treated like Ibâdîs where intermarriage and mutual inheritance are concerned. After tracing the history of the movement and delineating its distinctive teachings in the first part of the book (pp. 3-53), Hoffman turns the second part (pp. 55-237) over to the translation of al-Rawâhï's al-cAqlda al-wahbiyya and the third part (pp. 241-76) to the partial but valuable translation of al-Muscabï's Kitäb MaJälim al-dln. The volume concludes with a glossary, a biographical dictionary, references, and an index (pp. 279-344). The translations are generally convincing and competent. Al-Rawâhï was a great poet and mystic (his biography is on pp. 45-46) and the author of some works of prose including his cAqida, which owes its name to cAbd Allah b. Wahb al-Râsibï, one of the first Khârijî leaders, who was killed at the battle of Nahrawân. The cAqida synthesizes and popularizes Ibâdï doctrine by way of a dialogue between students and teacher in which the latter elucidates the Ibâdï principles of faith and discusses the doctrines of different Muslim schools (Sunni, Shici, Mu'tazilï, and Khârijî) as well as the differences between the North African and the Eastern (Oman and Zanzibar) Ibâdï communities. The particular importance of Hoffman's volume lies in the first translation into English of this important and interesting text. For the rest, The Essentials of Ibadi Islam is a basic introduction to Ibâdism, polished and well written, ideal for the graduate classroom or even the advanced undergraduate, and suitable for those wanting to understand Ibâdï doctrine and acquaint themselves with theological texts.

When writing about Islamic sectarian diversity, the vast majority of authorspay attention only to Sunni and Shi‘i Islam. Yet there exists a third groupdrawn from the earliest conflicts that rent the Muslim ummah apart: the Ibadis.If they are mentioned at all, it is usually little more than a footnote remarkingthat this group is the remnant of the Khariji secession in 657. Yet this thirdgroup – today predominant in Oman and Zanzibar, with populations also inAlgeria, Libya, and Tunisia – played an important political and theologicalrole in the immediate post-Prophetic period. Due to this word’s negative connotation,however, Ibadis do not refer to themselves as Kharijis, a group historicallyviewed as religious extremists by other Muslims. Instead, “Ibadi”comes from the enigmatic Abdullah ibn Ibad/Abad who died early in theeighth century, although, as the author notes, it is likely that his successor Jabiribn Zayd played a more important role in founding the group.Addressing the dearth of English-language resources on Ibadi beliefs, ValerieJ. Hoffman has written The Essentials of Ibāḍī Islam in “an attempt tointroduce Ibadi Islamic theology to students and scholars of Islam” (p. 4) – atask in which she succeeds admirably. Her book is primarily a translation ofa theological primer and supplementary text, preceded by a short introductionon the origins and history of Ibadi Islam to orient the readers and prepare them ...

This workshop will introduce scholars to the doctrines, terminology, history and major sources on Ibadi Islam, utilizing sources in the Sultan Qaboos Collection.