Ibadh

Ibadh, also called Ibadism, is an early Islamic tradition tracing its origins to the 7th-century Arab movement rooted in the Kharijite milieu. It is named after Abd Allah ibn Ibadh (d. ca. 700 CE), whose followers formed a distinctive current within the wider Kharijite and Islamic landscape. Ibadis developed a moderate, community-oriented interpretation that differed from both mainstream Sunni and Shia orthodoxy and from other Kharijite factions.

The movement took early root in Basra and the eastern Arabian Peninsula, and by the 9th–10th centuries had established strong communities in the Maghreb, notably the M'zab valley in present-day Algeria, and sustained significant presences in Oman. In the Indian Ocean world, Ibadism also spread to East Africa, with communities in Oman’s coast and in Zanzibar.

The Ibadi creed emphasizes the Qur’an and hadith, while grounding political authority in community consensus and the appointment of a just imam who can be elected or consented to by the people. Ibadis are known for a relatively quietist stance on politics, favoring social cohesion and order, and they generally reject the designation of other Muslims as apostates. The legal tradition—Ibadi fiqh—developed its own jurisprudential methods, often described as more tolerant and pragmatic than other Kharijite or Sunni schools.

Today the Ibadi community remains strongest in Oman, where Ibadism is the state-influenced tradition, with smaller but historic communities in Zanzibar and in Algeria’s M’zab region, among others.