of the sect afterwards known as a "Ibadhis" or 'Ahl al-da'wah (People of the Mission) or Jama'at al-Muslimin (the community of the Muslims) revealed itself clearly, and Jabir became head or Imam of this movement.

We may now proceed to study Jabir's policy as leader of the Ibadhi movement; in his policy four main lines may be distinguished.

Firstly, to avoid any open clash with the authorities and to maintain friendly relations with the rulers.

Secondly, not to isolate the members of the movement from the Muslim community ('ummah).

Thirdly, to continue teaching people Traditions and Futya regardless of whether they were members of his movement or not.

Fourthly, since Jabir was intent on maintaining the security of the movement by carrying our part of its activities in secret, and by keeping the members of the organisation unknown to the rulers, he took a strong attitude against those who disclosed the names of the members to the "tyrants"65 Ibadhis regard Jabir as the first Imam of their school, and regard the period of Jabir's leadership as an example of the state of secrecy (kitman).66

Very little is known about the activities of Jabir during the rule of Ziyad b. Abi Sufyan and his son 'Ubaidullah b. Ziyad. Although in that period the movement faced suppression, and close friends of Jabir were killed, such as Abu Bilal, his brother 'Urwah, and others were imprisoned, such as Abu Faqqas, and Qunbur, there is no definite information that Jabir faced the same treatment. Ibadhi sources reported that Jabir said, "In that time (the time of 'Ubaidullah) we found nothing more helpful to us than bribery." 67 So Jabir went to the extent of using bribery to avoid any oppression caused by the tyrants to him and his followers.

During the rule of al-Hajjaj, Jabir maintained good relations with him through his secretary Yazid b. Muslim, who was a close friend of Jabir.68 Among the powerful families with whom Jabir established good relations was the Muhallabid family, his kinsmen; but, what was more important than kinship, Jabir was the religious teacher of this family. He used to visit them and teach them Islam and "command them to do good." 69 Among the extant correspondence of Jabir there are three letters which he sent in reply to letters from members of the Muhallabid family; two were sent to Khairah b. Damrah al-Qushairiyyah, the wife of al-Muhallab. From his other correspondence, we notice that Jabir had several contacts with people in official posts in different places. Among these persons was al-Nu'man b. Salamah, who sent a letter to Jabir asking him for his advice, so that he could collect the required amount of