PREFACE

Al-Ibadhiya, or al-Ibadhiyah, is one of the earliest Islamic sects, the foundation of which goes back to the first half of the first century H. The school took its name from Abdullah b. Ibadh, one of its early theologians.

The name Ibadhiyah applies to a Muslim group, which was considered by most writers as a moderate branch of the Kharijite movement. The adherents of this school still form a number of independent communities holding fast to its teachings. The largest of this lives today in Oman and Muscat in Southeast Arabia. There are other minorities in Zanzibar of the East Coast of Africa, in Jabal Nafusah and Zuwarah in Libya, in Jerba Island in Tunisia and in Wad Mzab in Algeria.

Very little is known about the Ibadhiyah, their doctrines, origins and development. Modern European scholars have made useful contributions in the field of Ibadhi studies, but their studies were directed mainly to the history of the Ibadhi communities or some aspects of their present social and religious life. With the exception of a few articles on Ibadhi theology, Ibadhi teachings in general have not been dealt with seriously. The studies conducted by European scholars on Ibadhism were based mainly on historical sources. The vast Ibadhi writings on jurisprudence and theology were not properly utilized. This was no doubt due to the difficulty of access to such sources.

The earlier paper on Ibadhi bibliography was presented by Motylinski in his article on "Bibliographe du Mzab"^* in which he listed the Ibadhi works given by al-Barradi, adding his own notes and findings. However he does not give specific locations of the Mss. he mentions, nor does he give a satisfactory description of them with the exception of the historical works. The value of this study lies in the fact that it was the preliminary step, which facilitated subsequent researches. The latest and most useful list of Ibadhi work in Mzab was made by the late Professor J. Schacht in his article "Bibliotheque et manuscript abadites" in which he listed the extant Ibadhi Mss. in the private collections of Mzab, arranged according to their subjects, giving the names of the collections and the numbers of the Mss. The other lists of Ibadhi collections of Mss. were compiled by other modern scholars: A list of the Ibadhi Mss. in Krakow in Poland made by Wladyslaw Kubiak, in his article "al-Makhtutat al'arabiyah fi Polunia" in Majallat Ma'had al-Makhtutat al-arabiyah; a list of the Ibadhi Mss. in the Oriental Institute of Naples, made by Rubinacci, and also the description of the Ibadhi Mss. in Dar al-Kutub or Cairo, made by the late Fu'ad al-Saiyid in the Catalogue of Dar al-Kutub.

During the course of this study I made two tours to the Ibadhi communities in