are well known in the Islamic collections of Hadith, and are regarded by the Traditionalists as 'reliable'.28 As for the scholars such as Abu Sufyan Mahbub b. al-Rahil, they also were Traditionalists and were regarded by Sunni Traditionalists as 'reliable', though they were not as well known as those mentioned previously.29 Apart from transmitting Tradition of the Prophet, Jabir b. Zaid participated in recording Traditions of the Prophet by writing down Traditions from some of his colleagues30 and allowing his students to write down Traditions on his authority.31 Ibadhi sources repeated the information given by Abu Zakariya' al-Warijlani, in his Siyar about the Diwan of Jabir b. Zaid, which he had composed, and which was available in the library of the 'Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid.32 Hajji Khalifah also mentioned Diwan Jabir b. Zaid,33 but he did not give any further information about the Diwan or the source of his information about the Diwan or the source of his information about it. As he has not mentioned any Ibadhi sources in his book, it is possible that he derived his information about the Diwan of Jabir from non-Ibadhi sources unknown to us. This however, supports the Ibadhi information about the Diwan, and creates hope for a future discovery of one of the earliest works on Hadith.34 In support of the assertion that Jabir b. Zaid has recorded Traditions and other forms of legal opinions from the Companions and some of his colleagues, the following information should be considered, "Abu 'Amr 'Uthman b. Khalifah al-Sufi, from Shaikh Yikhliftan b. Aiyub, from Abu Muhammad said, 'The Diwan of Jabir was in the possession of Abu 'Ubaidah, then in the possession of al-Rabi' b. Habib, then in the possession of Abu Sufyan Mahbub, then in the possession of his son Mohammad b. Mahbub, from whom they (i.e. The books or the volumes of the Diwan) were transcribed in Mecca"35 It may be of some value to mention here that the word Diwan is used in many places in Ibadhi chronicles meaning a collection of books and not a particular book.36

Early Ibadhi sources preserved few notes regarding the rules of narrating and recording Traditions. Abu 'Ubaidah said, "It does not matter to change the position of the words of the Traditions of the Prophet or of the 'Athar by bringing them forward or putting them back if the meaning is the same." He was asked, "What about adding or omitting letters such as ( , ) or ( i) if the meaning was not affected?" He said, "I hope that it will not matter."37

Speaking about from whom religious knowledge ('ilm) is to be obtained, Abu 'Ubaidah said, "It must not be learned from a heretic propagating his heresy; a fool whose foolishness is well known; a liar, even if he is truthful in his futya; or from him who did not distinguish his school, (madhhab), from others."38

It appears that knowledge of Tradition is not necessary for scholars to teach 'ilm, which means fiqh, i.e. knowledge of legal opinions. Abu 'Ubaidah was