line. It had its own independent authorities, collections of Traditions and works by its own jurists. It seems that Schacht was led to formulate such a view for the following reasons: lack of information about the original sources of Ibadhi law; the general view held that the Ibadhis were a branch of the Kharijite movement. Since the Ibadhis, like Sunnis, held contradictory views to those of the Kharijites on certain points, he thought that the Ibadhis derived those opinions from the orthodox schools. Finally, he denies outright the fact that the features common to different Islamic schools of law were older than the establishment of these schools.4

In this chapter it is undertaken to study the origins of the Ibadhi School of law, its foundation and development, and the main points of difference between Ibadhis and other main Muslim schools.

The Ibadhi School of law is one of the oldest, if not the oldest surviving school of Islamic Jurisprudence. Its foundation goes back to the 'successor' (tabi'i) Jabir b. Zaid al-'Azdi and his contemporary colleague and student, Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah. The suggestion by Macdonald that "the Ibadhi school of law must have been codified to a greater or lesser extent by 'Abdullah b. Ibadh"5 proved to be untrue. Careful investigation has shown that 'Abdullah b. Ibadh made no contribution to Ibadhi jurisprudence. His main role was in Ibadhi theology and political doctrine.

The man actually responsible for the foundation of the Ibadhi School of law was Jabir b. Zaid. A Traditionalist and a jurist, he was able, because of his vast knowledge of Qur'an and Traditions of the Prophet, to form an independent school, and to attract a number of intellectuals as students. They later developed and transmitted his opinions.

The final shape of the Ibadhi system of law as formed by his student Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah in his later years, and by al-Rabi' b. Habib the student of both Jabir b. Zaid and Abu 'Ubaidah. Jabir b. Zaid, however, remained the most important figure in the foundation of this school. Apart from his skill as a mufti who spent most of his life delivering legal opinions and adjusting his views by consulting the living 'Companions of the Prophet and the outstanding 'successors' tabi'un, he was also the main link between the followers of this school and those Companions who played the major part in forming and transmitting opinions on religious and legal matters.

The leading part played by Jabir in the foundation of the Ibadhi school was clearly acknowledged by the second Imam of the Ibadhis, Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah, "Every Traditionalist who has no Imam in jurisprudence has gone astray. Had not God favoured us with Jabir b. Zaid we too would have gone astray."6 The fact that Jabir was a master of an