for better understanding. First it seemed to them that at last their Muslim adversaries had started to realise what they (Ibadhis) had stood for from the beginning. The Ibadhis took part in this movement throughout the political struggle for national independence in their different countries, and stood side by side with their Sunni neighbours against the invading powers. They tried always to present their views and doctrines, to clear away the old misunderstanding and release themselves from the traditional isolation in which they always lived with regard to their Muslim neighbours. The Ibadhi contribution to the Ibadhi studies branched into two directions:

a) Providing their own literature by edition and publishing old Ibadhi works, and adding new contributions, in new writings to meet with the present requirements.

b) Presenting a clearer picture of their views and history in order to gain better understanding from non-Ibadhi Muslims.

As for non-Ibadhi Muslims, there is no serious attempt yet on their side to study Ibadhism deeply through its own sources. However, signs of such attention to Ibadhi studies have started to appear in modern universities through contemporary scholars who were no doubt directed towards Ibadhi studies through the interest and contribution of the European scholars. Cairo University, where an Ibadhi student Muhammad Hanbulah under the supervision of Muhammad Sallam Madhkur is undertaking a comparative study of the laws of ownership in Ibadhi law and modern canon law in Libya, is taking the lead in this direction. There is no doubt that the originality of the subject and the possibilities it offers for new lines of research will encourage more studies in the future.

The object of the present study is to provide a clearer picture of the Ibadhi School based on original but newly discovered Ibadhi material. Although in area this study is concerned with Ibadhism in North Africa, it was essential to study the origins of the Ibadhi movement and its early founders in Basrah, its relation to the Kharijite movement, its connection with the early events of Islamic history and political development, the effect these (two latter) had on the Ibadhi school with regard to its theological and juridical views, then its expansion into North Africa. It is also aimed to present a clear view of Ibadhi jurisprudence and theology; the points of agreement and disagreement with the contemporary opposition movements and schools of law, and some distinguishing features of the Ibadhi doctrine, namely the system of 'Walaya' and 'Bara'ah', and the stages of the Ibadhi community. Three Ibadhi texts were edited as part of this thesis to provide samples of Ibadhi literature covering the fields of theology, jurisprudence, and the subject of Walaya and Bara'ah which falls into both fields1.