Studies in Ibāḍism (al-Ibāḍīyya)

missionaries of Basrah was Salamah b. Sa'd (Sa'id) who was sent to North Africa, towards the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century H.25 It is reported from Imam 'Abd al-Wahhab from his father 'Abd al-Rahman b. Rustam that he said, "The first man who brought the Ibadhi sect to al-Maghrib, was Salamah b. Sa'd. He came to us in Qairawan, with the company of 'Ikrimah, the client (mawla) of Ibn 'Abbas, both riding the same camel on which they carried their provisions; Salamah b. Sa'd was propagating Sufrism. 'Abd al-Rahman said, 'I heard Salamah saying, 'I wish that the Ibadhi movement manifests, even for one day from morning to night, I would not mind if my head was cut off after that.'"26 It appears that the mission of Salamah b. Sa'd in North Africa was of three purposes:

1. To propagate the doctrine of the Ibadhi school.

2. To choose some leading members from the visited countries and send them for training in Basrah.

3. And to have a close study of these countries and report to the Ibadhi leader in Basrah.

As a result of the journey of Salamah b. Sa'd to North Africa, which took place about 105-107 H., the bearers of learning (Hamalat al-'ilm) were sent to Basrah and studied with Abu 'Ubaidah for five years.27 Several missionaries have been sent to different countries for the same purposes as those of Salamah b. Sa'd; for there were bearers of learning (Hamalat al-'ilm) to Yemen, Hadramawt, Khurasan, and Oman.28

All activities of the Ibadhi movement in Basra were carried out in secrecy, the special state known in Ibadhi doctrine as the state of (Kitman), secrecy.29 The Umayyads' suppression against any opposition obliged Ibadhi to carry on with their activities in secret for safety, and this was assured by establishing special centres (majalis) in secret places where they exercised their religious and educational activities.

It appears that the idea of secret centres (majalis) was founded as early as the days of Ziyad b. Abi Sufyan, for it is reported that 'Urwah b. 'Udayyah was caught in a sarab (under ground cave), where he was worshipping.30 These secret retreats were used of meetings of the members of the movement where they used to invoke God and discuss their present situation. These kind of majalis were mentioned by Abu Bilal Mirdas as well.31 From the given information it appears that there were three types of majalis:

1. Majalis of the Shaikhs, or the leaders of the movement; in these majalis the Shaikhs discussed the plans of the organization, and meetings in such majalis usually took place during the night, and no young members were allowed to