1

Mohamad Ballan

“They shall come to you from the West with God’s religion”: Ibāḍī Doctrine and Berber Identity in Ibn Sallām’s “Book of the Origins of Islam and the Foundations of the Faith” (ca. 875)

In the traditional framework of Islamic historiography, the are constructed within the broader narrative as the very antithesis of a centralizing Islamic polity and an increasingly “orthodox” (Sunnī) religious establishment in the early period. The classical sources often represent the Kharijites as violent rebels, strongly opposed to centralized political authority, whose coming was foretold by the Prophet as inaugurating an era of unprecedented discord and destruction, thereby guaranteeing for themselves the enmity of God and the Muslim community and were thus destined for eternal punishment in Hell.1 Most of these early texts seek to depict the Kharijites as a radical, fringe movement which was both theologically deviant and destabilizing to the proper political and social order. These sources were written during the emergence and consolidation of a Sunnī theological and historical narrative in the ninth and tenth centuries, and as such, consciously portrayed the Kharijites—in addition to other “heretical” sects—as violating “orthodox” Islamic beliefs and practices. As Jeffrey Kenney has noted, the Kharijites, in particular, were represented as a “negative paradigm” and served as a symbol for everything that “orthodox/true” Islam stood against.2

Modern scholarship, largely dependent upon these classical sources, has reproduced these representations and focused on the purported theological deviance and political instability caused by the Kharijites in the early centuries of Islam.3 In other words, the assumption that the Kharijites were indeed disruptive to the “natural course” of the development of early Islamic civilization and theology has been taken for granted as an established fact. This problematic macro-historical interpretation and misrepresentation of such a complex religio-political phenomenon as the rise of the Kharijites is underpinned by the fact that little attention has been devoted to the rich, albeit sparse, textual sources which were composed by the Kharijites themselves during the first three centuries of Islam. As a result, much of the historical writing about this movement and its adherents continues to be represented merely as a chain of wanton violence undertaken by a theologically unsophisticated group of tribal individuals. Moreover, rather than presenting critical historical analyses, many -language publications in particular appear to be little more than updated heresiographies which reproduce traditional assumptions about the movement and which are intended to reinforce classical arguments. Indeed, these studies are limited by the very

1 Jeffrey T. Kenney, Muslim Rebels: Kharijites and the Politics of Extremism in Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 26–28. Indeed, even the term used to designate the movement denotes “rebels” (from khurūj, “rebellion”) thereby reinforcing the association between violent rebellion and the religio-political movement known as the Kharijites 2 Kenney, Muslim Rebels, p. 20 3 Kenney, Muslim Rebels, pp. 20–21 2 fact that their authors have tended to rely disproportionately upon classical heresiographies composed in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, rather than upon literary sources which speak directly to the question of the social, political, religious, or even economic context which facilitated the rise of this movement.4 To be sure, there have been several scholars who have sought to provide a more nuanced picture by emphasizing that, although violent and rejected by the Sunnī and Shī‘ī legal and theological schools which would emerge by the tenth century, the Kharijites nevertheless represented a substantial portion of early Muslims and essentially constituted a third major political-theological sect of Islam during the first three Islamic centuries.5 In particular, these scholars have sought to underscore the diversity of the various groups subsumed under the heading of “Kharijtes” by emphasizing, in particular, the emergence of the Ibāḍīs as representing a particularly significant trend in the development of Islamic thought during the eighth and ninth centuries. Moreover, several of these scholars have contextualized the rise of the Kharijites within the various social, economic, political as well as religious- theological developments in early Islam rather than seek, as traditional scholarship has done, to exclusively identify the Kharijites with a singular cause.6 In the past decade, a number of important studies of the Kharijites, and the Ibāḍīs in particular, have been published which have sought to provide clearer insight into the doctrinal, social, and political dimensions of the movement.7

The importance of the history of early Islamic North for further understanding the course of the development of Kharijism is paramount. Not only did Kharijism shape the course of Islamic political and religious history in North Africa during the eighth and ninth centuries, but the movement itself was also transformed in fundamental ways. The importance of the Kharijites in the so-called Great of 740– 743, which played a key role in weakening and eventually overturning Umayyad political authority in North Africa, in addition to the rise of important Kharijite entities in the in the eighth and ninth centuries are two key developments which closely link the political in the early Islamic centuries with the religious development of Kharijism as a distinct, sectarian identity.8 In fact, the first three centuries which witnessed the establishment of Islamic political authority in North Africa can be interpreted in light of a

4 For example, see Nāyef Ma‘rūf, Al-Khawārij fī al-‘asr al-Umawī. Beirut: Dār al-Nafā’is, 2006. 5 Fred Donner, Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 191 6 Kenney, Muslim Rebels, pp. 23–25 7 See, for example, Adam Gaiser’s Muslims, Scholars, and Soldiers: The Origin and Elaboration of the Ibāḍī Imāmate Traditions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), Latīfah al-Bakkāy’s Ḥarakat al-Khawārij: Nasā’tuha wa taṭawwurha ila nihāyat al-‘ahd al-umawī (Beirut: Dār al-Ṭalī‘ah, 2001), Muḥammad Ḥasan Mahdī’s Al-Ibāḍīyya: nashā’tuha wa ‘aqā’iduha. Beirut: al-Ahlīyyah, 2011. This is not to suggest that critical historical writing about the Ibāḍīs is a recent phenomenon. The pioneering work of Tadeusz Lewicki, in particular, during the 1960s and 1970s has been a major influence upon the development of the field

8 Throughout this paper, the terms “North Africa” and “Maghreb” will be used interchangeably to designate the area ranging from to the Atlantic coast of Morocco. 3 succession of religio-political doctrines—Umayyad universalism, Kharijism (both its Sufrī and Ibāḍī manifestations), Fatimid Isma‘īlism—before the eventual triumph of Malīkī Sunnī orthodoxy in the eleventh century.9 The period of Kharijite religious and political ascendancy in North Africa, wedged as it is between the Umayyad and Fatimid periods, has received relatively little attention, primarily due to the lack of literary sources.

This paper seeks to modestly contribute to this rather neglected field within the history of early Islamic North Africa by bringing to light and assessing a source which provides important insight into the role of the Kharijites, particularly the Ibāḍīs, in the political and religious development of Islam in the Maghreb. The text in question, the Kitāb fīhi bad’ al-islām wa sharā’i‘ al-dīn (“The Origins of Islam and the Foundations of the Faith”) by Ibn Sallām (d. 887), was most likely composed in the Tripolitania region, around 875 during the height of the Rustāmid dynasty (776–909) and provides historians with the earliest surviving Ibāḍī text from North Africa. The text provides historians with nothing less than a detailed historical and doctrinal overview of Islam from an Ibāḍī perspective. The importance of this work is magnified when one considers that it is also the earliest extant history of Islamic North Africa written from an indigenous perspective. Quite surprisingly, since it was edited and published by Werner Schwartz and Shaykh Sālim ibn Ya‘qūb in 1986 it has attracted little attention from modern scholars. Due to constraints of space, I will neither be able to undertake a comprehensive historiographical overview or an in-depth historical analysis of Ibāḍism in ninth-century North Africa, despite the fact that this would be essential for a proper framing and contextualization of the text. Rather, in this paper I will undertake a brief analysis of the Kitāb, indicating in particular its importance for understanding the historical and religious development of Ibāḍism in North Africa while also underscoring its significance for historians of early Islamic North Africa in general.

Islamic North Africa and the Kharijites (ca. 730–909): A Brief Historical Survey

In order to understand the broader social and political background which informed Ibn Sallām’s historical perspective, it is necessary to briefly revisit the history of Kharijism in North Africa between the eighth and early tenth centuries. By the early 730s, Berber dissatisfaction with the discriminatory fiscal and social policies of the Umayyad authorities in North Africa, in conjunction with a number of other factors, culminated in the outbreak of a major rebellion in 740.10 It has been suggested by several scholars that the increased da‘wa (religious propagation) activities of Ibāḍī and Sufrī missionaries among the Berber tribes since the 720s was intimately

9 Abdallah Laroui, The History of the Maghrib: An Interpretative Essay (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977), pp. 105–106 10 Khalid Yahya Blankinship, The End of the Jihād State: The Reign of Hishām ibn ‘Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads (New York: City University of New York Press, 1994), pp. 199, 204–206; Abdelkader El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb (Tunis: Centre de Publication Universitaire, 2003), pp. 51–53; Rajab Muḥammad ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, al-Ibāḍīyya fī Masr wal Maghreb wa ‘ilaqātihim bi-Ibāḍīyyat ‘Umān wal Baṣra (Sīb, Oman: Maktabar al-Damārī lil Nashr wal Tawzī‘, 1990), pp. 36–39; al-Bakkāy, Ḥarakat al-Khawārij, pp. 217–218 4 connected with the outbreak of this revolt, which lasted until 743 and ultimately destroyed Umayyad political authority in North Africa west of the province of Ifriqīya (modern-day ).11 Rather than viewing Kharijism as the essential causal factor of the revolt, several modern scholars have suggested that the adoption of Kharijism by the rebelling tribes could be understood in two different ways. Firstly, it appears that it was Kharijite missionaries, mainly originating from Baṣra in Iraq and promoting their distinct interpretations of the faith, who played an active role in spreading Islam among the Berber tribes of north-west Africa, owing to the relative inaccessibility of the location where these tribes resided and the receptivity of these tribes to Kharijite religious doctrine (which was, to be sure, rather amorphous and undeveloped at this early period).12 Hence, it was as a result of their Kharijite religious views that the Berber tribes rebelled against the injustice of the Umayyad regime. Conversely, it has been argued that Kharijism, with its emphasis on social equality and its implacable opposition to “unjust” political authority, gave religious expression to the long-standing political and social grievances of these Berber tribes vis-à-vis Umayyad political domination.13 In other words, Kharijism as a religious doctrine was not necessarily the cause of the rebellion but, rather, it provided the Berber tribes with an important ideological framework within which they could adequately articulate their struggle against the Umayyads.

In addition to these two explanations, it should also be emphasized that the autochthonous tribes of North Africa, who are often subsumed under the deceptively simple term “Berber” (which conceals their diversity and geographic extent), had had a tendency towards autonomy and rebellion against central governing authorities throughout the Roman-Byzantine period. Indeed, there were a series of rebellions against the Byzantines (who struggled to pacify the tribes in the provinces of Tripolitania, and Mauretania), and there had even existed several independent Berber (or “Moorish”) principalities in the region following the Vandal invasions in the fifth and sixth centuries which weakened Roman authority in North Africa.14 It should also be remembered

11 Elizabeth Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise: The North African Response to the Arab Conquest (Princeton, New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1997), pp. 44–45; Tadeusz Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa” Journal of World History 13 (1971), pp. 75–76; Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pp. 37–39; ‘Abd al-Azīz Filālī, al-Maẓāhir al-kubra fī ‘asr al-wilāh bi-bilād al-Maghrib wal Andalus (Susa: Dār al-Ma‘ārif lil Ṭibā‘ah wal Nashr, 1991), pp. 47–53; Maḥmūd Ismā‘īl, al-Khawārij fī al-Maghreb al-Islāmī (Beirut: Dār al-‘Awda, 1976), pp. 35–45, 48–51; Blankinship, The End of the Jihād State, p. 206; al-Bakkāy, Ḥarakat al-Khawārij, pp. 218, 232–233; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, pp. 39–50; ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, al-Ibāḍīyya fī Masr wal Maghreb, pp. 52–53. According to later Ibāḍī sources, both Ibāḍī and Sufrī missionaries were actively propagating among the in the early eighth century (Abū Zakarīyya al-Warjlānī, Kitāb al-sīra wa akhbār al-a’imma [Tunis: al-Dār al-Tūnsīyya lil Nashr, 1985], pp. 42–43) 12 Elizabeth Savage, “Survival through Alliance: The Establishment of the Ibadiyya” Bulletin of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies 17 (1990), p. 11; Blankinship, The End of the Jihād State, pp. 100, 138; Filālī, al-Maẓāhir al-kubra, pp. 47–53. Abun-Nasr even asserts that Maysara al-Metghārī, the original leader of the revolt, was a Sufrī Kharijite (Abun-Nasr, A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 39) 13 Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, p. 2; Blankinship, The End of the Jihād State, p. 206; al-Bakkāy, Ḥarakat al-Khawārij, p. 218; Abun-Nasr, A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, pp. 37–38; Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” pp. 83–85 14 Yves Modéran, Les Maures et L’Afrique Romaine (Rome: Ecole française de Rome, 2003), pp. 375–376, 565–680 5 that Berber tribes played an instrumental role in attempting to resist the Arab conquerors of North Africa in the seventh century.15 It is thus a combination of factors and considerations which make the adoption of Kharijism by the rebelling tribes appear in retrospect as a logical development, which allowed the Berbers of north-west Africa to complement their political disaffection and desire to break away from Umayyad political authority with a religious justification. In particular, the ostensibly egalitarian emphasis of Kharijism, which was attractive to many mawālī (non-Arab converts to Islam) along with its austere vision for the Islamic community appealed to the Berber tribes and provided the ideological force which underpinned the rebellion against the Umayyads.16

Following the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate in 750, there was a brief interlude in which several Berber tribes espousing either Sufrī or Ibāḍī variants of Kharijism took the opportunity to establish several autonomous entities in the Maghreb following the disintegration of Arab rule.17 Seeking to take advantage of the political vacuum following the end of Umayyad rule, in 757 five Ibāḍī missionaries, or ḥamalāt al-‘ilm, were sent from Baṣra to North Africa “with the express mission of propagating an Ibāḍī imamate.”18 It was during this period that Ibāḍism spread among certain Berber tribes, notably the Hawāra, Zanāta and the Nafūsa, who were located in the Tripolitania region.19 An Ibāḍī imamate, backed by the support of these powerful tribes, was set-up by the leader of the ḥamalāt al-‘ilm, Abū al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 761) in Tripolitania and served as the main political and religious center for the movement in North Africa for a short period.20 Several Kharijite Berber entities were also set up in the region extending from the province of Ifriqīya to Tangiers, with an Ibāḍī authority even installed in Qayrawān under the auspices of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb’s fellow missionary, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Rustam, who was of Persian origin.21 However, by 771, the ‘Abbāsid caliphate successfully established its authority in North Africa, and eliminated much of the Kharijite political presence in the region east of the Aures mountains, with the former Ibāḍī representative in Qayrawān, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Rustam, fleeing westwards, where he eventually founded

15 Walter E. Kaegi, Muslim Expansion and Byzantine Collapse in North Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 220–246; Modéran, Les Maures et L’Afrique Romaine, pp. 780–788 16 For a skeptical perspective regarding the role of Kharijism as a primary, or even significant, driving force behind the Great Berber Revolt of 740–743 see Blankinship, The End of the Jihād State, p. 340, n. 26 17 Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, p. 27 18 Savage, “Survival through Alliance,” p. 11; Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” p. 76; Ismā‘īl, al-Khawārij fī al- Maghreb al-Islāmī, p. 64; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 38 19 Savage, “Survival through Alliance,” p. 12 El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, pp. 62–63; Ismā‘īl, al-Khawārij fī al- Maghreb al-Islāmī, pp. 62–64; ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, al-Ibāḍīyya fī Masr wal Maghreb, p. 106; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 38 20 Abū al-‘Abbās Aḥmad al-Shammākhī, Kitāb al-Siyar (Beirut: Dār al-Mudār al-Islāmī, 2009), pp. 248–249; Savage, “Survival through Alliance,” p. 12; Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” pp.76–77; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, pp. 65–69; Ismā‘īl, al-Khawārij fī al-Maghreb al-Islāmī, pp. 64–65; ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, al-Ibāḍīyya fī Masr wal Maghreb, pp. 107– 108; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 41 21 al-Shammākhī, Kitāb al-Siyar, pp. 250–253; Savage, “Survival through Alliance,” p. 12; Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, p. 46; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, p. 63; Ismā‘īl, al-Khawārij fī al-Maghreb al-Islāmī, p. 65; ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, al-Ibāḍīyya fī Masr wal Maghreb, p. 107; Laroui, The History of the Maghrib, p. 114; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, pp. 41, 43; Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” p. 89 6 a town (Tahart) in 761, which would become the center of another, more long-lived polity: the Rustamid dynasty.22 Those entities in the extreme north-west, from Tangier to Tlemcen, which were probably associated with the more extreme Sufrī branch of Kharijism were eventually absorbed into the newly-established Idrissid kingdom (r. 788–974), which was based around the city of Fez; the notable exception was the Midrarid emirate (r. 771–909) established at Sijilmassa, located on a major Sahara trade route maintained its independence until its final destruction by the Fatimids in the 950s.23 As under the Umayyads, the Berber tribes in Tripolitania and Ifriqīya (and ultimately, those areas west of the Aures mountains) articulated their political opposition to the ruling ‘Abbāsids (and subsequently the Aghlābids) through their adoption of Kharijism, with the more moderate Ibāḍī variant becoming more firmly rooted among the tribes throughout the eighth and ninth centuries, gaining adherents at the expense of the more radical and hitherto dominant Sufrī sect.24

By 778, the oppositional Ibāḍī tribes (including the Nafūsa, the Hawwāra, the Lawāta, and the Mazāta), fleeing from the ‘Abbāsid armies which had conquered Tripolitania and Ifriqīya, had converged upon the town of Tahart in modern-day northern and had elected the Persian dā‘ī ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Rustam, who had been one of the five missionaries sent in 757, as imām.25 According to the ninth-century Mālikī chronicler Ibn al- Saghīr, he was chosen to be imām for the very reason that, due to his Persian origin, he was unconnected with any major tribe in the region, and, as such, would not subvert the power of the major Berber tribes; this lack of tribal affiliation was also probably the reason why until the very end of the Rustamid polity power remained securely in the hands of the descendants of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān.26 His own charisma, sense of justice, and political ability is also cited as a major reason for his elevation to the imamate. ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Rustam (r. 776–784) and his descendants would rule an Ibāḍī imamate, known as the Rustamid dynasty, extending roughly from Tlemcen in the west to Tripolitania in the east and centered on Tahart, until its final conquest by the Fatimids in 909.27 The Rustamid dynasty represents the “golden age” of the Ibāḍīs in North Africa, characterized as imāmat al-ẓuhūr, or

22 al-Shammākhī, Kitāb al-Siyar, pp. 257, 264–265; Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” pp. 77, 90; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, p. 72; Ismā‘īl, al-Khawārij fī al-Maghreb al-Islāmī, p. 70; ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, al-Ibāḍīyya fī Masr wal Maghreb, p. 109; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 43 23 Laroui, The History of the Maghrib, pp. 110–111, 113; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, pp. 97–133; Ismā‘īl, al- Khawārij fī al-Maghreb al-Islāmī, pp. 82–107; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, pp. 49–50; Paul M. Love, “The of : Towards a History of the Midrarids” The Journal of North African Studies 15 (2010), 173–188 24 Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, p. 86 25 al-Shammākhī, Kitāb al-Siyar, pp. 265–267; Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, pp. 4, 124; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, pp. 136–141; Ismā‘īl, al-Khawārij fī al-Maghreb al-Islāmī, p. 107; Laroui, The History of the Maghrib, p. 114; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, pp. 43–45; Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” p. 91 26 Ibn al-Saghīr, Akhbār a’immat al-Rustamiyyīn (Cairo: Dār Nimr lil Tibā‘ah, 1984), pp. 239–240; al-Shammākhī, Kitāb al- Siyar, p. 265 Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, p. 49; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 45 27 It is important to note that these territorial boundaries reflect the extent of Rustamid influence, and not direct political control. It would be best to interpret these regions beyond Tahart as being the areas of influence of the major Berber nomadic tribes associated with the Rustamids. 7

“open manifestation” of the imamate.28 This polity was predicated upon the allegiance of several Berber tribes to the figure of the imām, based in the urban setting of Tahart, and was enriched by its role as a major emporium along the trans-Saharan trade route, which allowed it to expand both its wealth and its influence among the Berber tribes of the region.29 Indeed, the Rustamid dynasty succeeded in securing the allegiance of various Berber tribes, even those beyond the confines of its limited territorial base, and its capital, Tahart, became an important and prosperous urban center, which was home to Ibāḍīs, non-Ibāḍī Muslims, as well as a sizeable non-Muslim (primarily Christian) population.30 Moreover, the Rustamids maintained important intellectual and economic ties with the Ibāḍī community at Baṣra, facilitating the flow of ideas and wealth between Iraq and North Africa.31 This reinforced the role and legitimacy of the Rustamids as the political and intellectual center of North African Ibāḍism. It was under the Rustamids that Ibāḍism was most widely and successfully disseminated throughout North Africa and across the Sahara, as a result of trade links, important tribal ties, as well as the political force represented by the imamate itself. It is within this context of expanding Rustamid political influence and the increased importance of Ibāḍism in North Africa that the articulation of doctrine and the development of a distinct identity and historical narrative of the Ibāḍīs in North Africa took place. It is precisely because of these developments in the late ninth century that the source in question, Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb, assumes prominence and proves invaluable for the historian.

The Kitāb of Ibn Sallām: Text and Authorship

The Ibāḍī historian Abū al-‘Abbās al-Shammākhī (d. 1522), writing in the early sixteenth century in , is one of the most important authorities for North Africa in the ninth and tenth centuries. His encyclopedic biographical dictionary, Kitāb al-Siyar, which provides detailed information about many key Ibāḍī political and religious figures during the period, unfortunately contains no separate entry about Ibn Sallām. However, al-Shammākhi does make mention of the author in question, whom he designates as “Ibn Sallām ibn ‘Amru,” and uses his Kitāb as a major source when discussing events in the late eighth and early ninth centuries.32 Thus, it seems that Ibn Sallām was viewed as an important authority for the political and religious history of Ibādism in North Africa by scholars of the sect well into the early modern period. Indeed, much of al-

28 Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, p. 47; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, p. 141; Ismā‘īl, al- Khawārij fī al-Maghreb al-Islāmī, p. 111. For a detailed discussion of this title, see Gaiser, Muslims, Scholars, Soldiers, pp. 19–48 29 Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, p. 85; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, p. 210; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 45 30 Laroui, The History of the Maghrib, pp. 114–115; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, p. 45. For a detailed discussion of the institutional, social, political, and economic dimensions of the Rustamid dynasty, see Savage, A Gateway to Hell, A Gateway to Paradise, pp. 49–66; El-Ghali, Les États Kharidjites au Maghreb, pp. 141–213; Abun-Nasr, History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, pp. 45–49; Lewicki, “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” pp. 102–110 31 ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, al-Ibāḍīyya fī Masr wal Maghreb, pp. 135–221 32 Al-Shammākhī, Kitāb al-Siyar, pp. 258–260, 262–269, 290–291, 412–414 8

Shammākhī’s narrative about the political and religious aspects of North African Ibāḍism in the eighth and ninth centuries hinges upon the testimony provided by Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb. However, the fact that Ibn Sallām did not warrant a separate entry in the Siyār suggests that he was not considered, at least not by al-Shammākhī, to be from among the more influential figures in the history of the Ibāḍī da‘wa.

The introduction to the edited text provided by Werner Schwartz and Sālim ibn Ya‘qūb is particularly useful in providing some additional information, drawn from a few scattered sources, about the identity and circumstances of Ibn Sallām. As these authors have underscored, Ibn Sallām is not only the first Ibāḍī historian in North Africa, but his work can be considered the first major chronicle of the Islamic Maghreb in general.33 It appears that Ibn Sallām was a member of a rather old and distinguished Ibāḍī community in North Africa. As he himself describes within his Kitāb, both his uncle (Yaḥya ibn ‘Umar) and his grandfather (‘Umar ibn Tamṭanīn), among other members of his family, participated in the establishment of the short-lived imamate of Abū al- Khaṭṭāb in Tripolitania and were present at the fateful Battle of Maghmadas (761) against the ‘Abbāsids.34 Moreover, evidence found both within the text as well as externally indicates that Ibn Sallām originated from the Tripolitania region and belonged to the powerful Berber tribe of Lawāta, which was closely affiliated with the Rustamid dynasty in Tahart.35 Ibn Sallām explains that he was also closely-connected with various Ibāḍīs in the Maghreb, as well as elsewhere, describing how he had met, among others, the Ibāḍī scholar Abū Sāliḥ al-Nafūsī in 854 in the Jarīd region of Ifriqīya, and visited the Ibāḍī jurist Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Mālik al-Ḥijāzī in Fusṭāṭ (Egypt) in 865.36 It was his close relationship with many Ibāḍī religious and scholarly figures which enabled him to gather important details for his historical narrative of North Africa and positioned him within an expansive network of scholars and political figures which makes him such an invaluable source about Ibāḍism in North Africa during this period. Although there have been suggestions that the text was a compilation of the writings of various authors, I am inclined to agree with the argument put forth by the editors that the Kitāb is indeed a single text which was written by a single author, Ibn Sallām.37 It is plausible to assume that his Kitāb was composed over a period of several decades between the 850s and 870s during which time he probably edited his work and included additional material gathered throughout his many journeys in the Maghreb. Schwartz suggests that Ibn Sallām died around 887 and, as such, places the composition of the work prior to this date.38 This meant that the author was writing at the very peak of Rustamid political and religious ascendancy in North Africa and only two decades prior to the final destruction of the Rustamid Imamate in 909 by the Fatimids. It was during this period, during the reigns of the Rustamid imams Abū Sa‘īd Aflaḥ (r. 823–872) and his son Abū al-Yaqẓān Muḥammad (r.

33 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb fihī bada’ al-Islām wa sharā’i‘ al-dīn (Beirut: Dār Sāder, 1986), “Editors’ Introduction,” p. 6 34 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 118 35 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, “Editors’ Introduction,” p. 37 36 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 115, 126 37 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, “Editors’ Introduction,” pp. 11–36 38 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, “Editors’ Introduction,” p. 40 9

874–894), that there was a large number of religious and political texts which were composed by North African Ibāḍīs which led to the articulation of Ibādī religious doctrine in North Africa. It is important to contextualize Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb as a part of this broader trend, which was geared towards consolidating an “orthodox” Ibāḍī doctrine (which would become known as the Wahbīyya) in the face of the rise of several schisms within the da‘wa, the most significant of which was the Nukkārī.39

The work itself can be divided into four main parts. The first section deals largely with the theme of religious doctrine and belief (imān). Ibn Sallām draws upon various Qur’ānic verses and Prophetic traditions (ḥadīth) in order to explain the distinguishing features of “those possessing true faith” (al-mu’minūn). He approaches this question by narrating the biographies of a few of the Prophet’s companions (ṣaḥāba) as exemplary models of sincere belief, and engages in scriptural exegesis (tafsīr) in order to bring out the meaning of several Qur’ānic verses in relation with his broader point. The second section of the text deals with the question of religious obligations and legal duties. It is in this section that Ibn Sallām discusses doctrinal formulations and the pillars of Islamic belief in order to inform the reader about the core tenets of the Muslim faith. In the third section, Ibn Sallām details the “injustice” (dhulm) and the “corruption” (fasād) of the Umayyad and ‘Abbāsid dynasties by essentially constructing a narrative of the political history of the Islamic world from the time of the assassination of the second caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (r. 634–644) to the late-ninth century Maghreb. The short-lived imamate of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb in Tripolitania, in particular, receives close attention. Finally, the last section provides some important detail about the various Ibādī scholarly, political, and religious figures in both Baṣra and the Maghreb during the eighth and ninth centuries. In addition, this section underscores the “virtues of the Berbers” (faḍā’il al-barbar) by citing a number of aḥādīth extolling their characteristics. The text then ends with a list of the Ibāḍī jurists (tasmīyyat fuqahā’ aṣḥābuna) from the cities of the Qayrawān and Tripoli. Significantly, an epistle sent to the Maghrib from an Iranian Ibāḍī dā‘ī, Abū ‘Īsa Ibrāhīm ibn Ismā‘īl al-Khurasānī, is appended to the end of the text. The specific contents of this epistle and its importance will be explored in more detail below.

Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb combines a number of genres, including catechism, exegesis, biography, polemic, and historical narrative. As the editors of the text have indicated, this is representative of Ibn Sallām’s intention of giving the reader a “clear and coherent narrative of the origins of Islam and its institutions.”40 Ibn Sallām sought to familiarize his audience with the “true tenets of Islam” by articulating them in a clear, written fashion in order

39 The Nukkārīs rejected the succession of ‘Abd al-Wahhab (r. 784–823) and seceded from the Rustamids shortly thereafter, waging a campaign of propaganda and violence against Tahert. The vast majority of Ibāḍīs who remained loyal to the line of succession of the Rustamid imams became known as the Wahbīyya, which gradually became synonymous with “orthodox” Ibāḍī doctrine. The etymology of the term likely derives from the name of one of the earliest Kharijite leaders, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Wahb al-Rāsibī (d. 658), rather than from the name of ‘Abd al-Wahhāb. 40 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, “Editors’ Introduction,” p. 9 10 to preserve them from corruption and innovation on one hand, and provide a positive model for emulation (for his Ibāḍī readers or potential converts) on the other.41 As my analysis of the text seeks to demonstrate, it is the Ibāḍī Imamate, especially that established at Tripoli, which was depicted as the ideal political expression of Ibāḍīsm in North Africa. In many ways, the establishment of this polity represents, for Ibn Sallām, the culmination of over a century of Ibāḍī struggle against tyranny and corruption and embodied the realization of the Ibāḍī ideal of implementing their vision for Islamic society. Rather than engaging in a comprehensive literary analysis of the text, in the remainder of this paper I will focus on two broad themes in order to underscore the importance of the text for the historian of ninth-century North Africa: the importance of religious and theological doctrine within the text and the construction of a particular historical narrative as a means of articulating a distinctly North African Ibāḍī identity.

The Saved Sect: Belief and Doctrine in Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb

Questions of religious doctrine permeate every major aspect of Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb. Issues such as the implications of sin, the pillars of belief, and the nature of the Imamate are all major themes within the text. During the discussion of each of these issues, Ibn Sallām cites a number of hadith to reinforce his own position. It is notable that throughout the text, among the most frequently cited narrators of hadith dealing with questions of legal or theological doctrine are ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd (d. 650), ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (d. 687), and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 728). Aside from Qur’anic verses and hadith, is difficult to know with any certainty which sources Ibn Sallām relied upon when composing his work. He only tells us that he acquired most of his information from “the books of knowledge and hadith” composed by “our leaders [Imams] and jurists.”42 Even when he cites the opinions of various exegetes, he never mentions any specific names or books. The only work which he explicitly cites in a polemical treatise entitled Kitāb al-Radd ‘ala al-Rawāfiḍ written by ‘Abd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Fazārī, an eighth-century Ibāḍī from the Mashriq, which is cited only once throughout the text.43 The emphasis on the question of theological doctrine (‘aqīda) is done in order to delineate the distinction between those true believers (al-mu’minūn), the Ibāḍīs, and their opponents (al-mukhālifūn), identified with the majority of Muslims, who represent the path of tyranny and misguidance.

After opening with the customary invocation of the blessing of God upon the Prophet, Ibn Sallām begins his book by seeking to define religious faith, which he divides into the categories of islām, imān, and iḥsān.44 To this effect, he cites a ḥadīth attributed to the Prophet, through the transmission of ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar (d. 693),

41 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, “Editors’ Introduction,” p. 9 42 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 116 43 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, “Editors’ Introduction,” p. 17 44 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 59 11 in which the distinctions between the first two categories are delineated.45 Islām, the ḥadīth explains, signifies the establishment of ritual prayer (iqām al-salāh), giving alms (ītā’ al-zakāt), fasting the month of Ramadan (ṣiyām Ramaḍān), pilgrimage to Mecca (ḥajj al-bayt), and ritual cleansing (al-ightiṣāl).46 Imān is described as “belief in God, His Angels, His Scriptures, His Messengers, the Day of Judgment, death, and predestination.”47 The importance of each of these points is then reaffirmed throughout the text, which is in many ways am exegetical commentary on this ḥadīth. The citation of this particular prophetic tradition by Ibn Sallām is quite significant. It simultaneously allows him to reinforce the authority of the Prophet and traditions narrated from him as a major source of evidence, while also providing an overview of the key tenets of Muslim belief to the reader. This reference is also quite important because the ḥadīth in question was preserved (with variant wording) within other contemporary, non-Ibāḍī collections of Prophetic traditions and can best be understood as a catechism, or a clear exposition of the Islamic doctrine and faith. It seems therefore that at least on the basic level, there was little distinction between the core tenets of the religion as espoused by Ibāḍīs and other Muslims in North Africa. Additionally, based upon the including of this ḥadīth and other similar ones within the text, it appears that at least some of the same Prophetic traditions were also being transmitted within both Sunnī and Ibādī circles. However, the interpretation of this hadith by Sunni scholars was significantly different than the exposition provided by Ibn Sallām. While for the former islām and imān denoted degrees of religious belief, known only to God, for Ibn Sallām the category of islām seems to denote the practices of the religion while imān referred to theological beliefs.

In the next section, Ibn Sallām sets forth a more detailed and comprehensive exposition of Ibāḍī doctrine. He goes on to explain that “our religion” (dīnuna) is identical with that decreed by God which was revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad which was predicated upon the Oneness of God (tawḥīd Allāh) and owing the Almighty absolute obedience (al-ṭā‘ah).48 Ibn Sallām continues by underscoring that “our religion” is identical with that espoused by previous prophets and sacred figures, citing in particular Abraham, Moses, Jacob, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus, and he references a few Qur’ānic verses to reinforce this point. He also provides important details about the nature of belief, the implication of sin, and the characteristics of the “true believers” (al-mu’minūn).49 Later in the text, there is also a short discussion on apostasy, which relates to the broader arguments about sin and belief put forth by Ibn Sallām in this section.50 The discussion ends by leaving little question about the matter of the truth of Ibāḍīsm by declaring that the doctrine being espoused within the text (and Ibāḍīs in general) “is the faith [decreed by] God and His Prophet and the faith [followed and adhered to by] Abū Bakr and ‘Umar [ibn al-

45 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 59–61 46 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 60 47 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 60 48 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 61 49 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 61–69 50 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 93–95 12

Khaṭṭāb], may God be pleased with them both.”51 It is in this section of the text, which centers upon the discussion of key theological concepts, that Ibn Sallām deploys a number of Qur’ānic verses in order to provide a more limited interpretation of the original ḥadīth which he cited, and to leave little doubt in the mind of his reader that the Ibāḍī faith is firmly rooted in scriptural tradition and is identical with the original faith preached by the Prophet. This entire discussion is structured in such a way so as to familiarize the reader with the core tenets of faith as well as the key verses from the Qur’ān which underpin the doctrinal formulations advocated by Ibn Sallām. The implication is clear: Ibādīs are the true followers of the Prophet and are the only community that truly upholds the message of Islam. It is this message, along with a formulaic exposition of the core beliefs of Ibāḍism, which Ibn Sallām seeks to convey to the reader.

The next section of the text is devoted to a discussion of the companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Prophet. Although the Qur’ān and the Prophetic tradition held the supreme position in Ibn Sallām’s hierarchy of authority, the words and deeds of the individuals who Ibn Sallām identifies as the “righteous companions” of the Prophet form another major source of knowledge and authority throughout the text. Ibn Sallām emphasizes that the faith espoused by the Ibāḍīs is the same as that which was followed by these righteous companions. Only nine companions—Abū Bakr (d. 634), ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 644), Abū ‘Ubayda ibn al-Jarrāḥ (d. 638), ‘Abd al- Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf (d. 654), ‘Ammār ibn Yāsir (d. 657), and ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd (d. 650), Khuzayma ibn Thābit al-Anṣārī (d. 657), Abū Haytham ibn al-Tīhān,52 and Uways al-Qarnī (d. 657) —are specifically mentioned as representing a truly virtuous and exemplary model for the faithful.53 The first two caliphs figure particularly prominently within the text and Ibn Sallām cites both Qur’ānic verses and anecdotes from the life (sīra) of the Prophet extolling their virtues in order to make it absolutely clear that there can be no doubting the sincerity and piety of these two individuals.54 It becomes obvious from the narrative that Ibn Sallām, by highlighting the immense proximity of Abū Bakr and ‘Umar to the Prophet as well as their staunch devotion to the cause of Islam, seeks to emphasize the paramount importance of these two individuals as major sources of authority, whose status as sources of emulation cannot be contested. Similarly, the other companions mentioned above are also praised for their own deeds in the cause of Islam: Abū ‘Ubayda for his efforts in the conquest of Syria and Jerusalem, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf for his being praised within the Qur’ān, ‘Ammār ibn Yāsir for his perseverance and his sacrifice at the Battle of Siffin (657) against the “rebellious sect” of Mu‘āwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, Abū Haytham for his being among the first of the Anṣār of Medina to accept Islam, and ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, Uways al-Qarnī and Khuzayma ibn Thābit for their being praised by the Prophet on several occasions, .55

51 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 69 52 There are various dates of death given for this individual, including 641, 657 and 659 53 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 70–76 54 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 70–73 55 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 73–79 13

This section dealing with the companions sheds important light on the development of Ibāḍī sectarian identity in North Africa during this period by highlighting the prominence of the concept of “al-walāyā wal al- barā’a,” (association and disassociation) a central tenet of Kharijism from the earliest period, which is included by Ibn Sallām as one of the pillars of belief.56 Walāya involved affiliating with and praising those “rightly- guided” individuals believed to embody the Islamic ideal, while barā’a meant explicitly or implicitly disassociating from and condemning those who represent deviation and misguidance.57 For example, when mentioning the assassination of ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, Ibn Sallām makes sure to assert that the assassin, Abū Lu’lu’ was the “enemy of God,” whereas he invokes the blessings of God upon the caliph (referred to as al-shahīd, “the martyr”), in order to leave little doubt as to his position towards both individuals.58 As such, the emphasis upon these companions of the Prophet as representing models of virtue and true faith needs to be understood within this context of a construction of a particular identity, in which certain companions (notably ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān and ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib) were consciously excluded from the list of exemplary figures, with the clear implication that they were not among the righteous. This would have certainly set the Ibāḍīs apart from both the Sunnīs (who praised most the of the Prophet’s companions and considered them sources of authority) and the Shī‘īs for whom the family of the Prophet were singularly important. On the other hand, the text provides an important indication that for the Ibāḍīs, as for other groups of Muslims during the early Islamic centuries, designating which companions of the Prophet were worthy of praise and which were not was an important way of constructing a distinct identity and, more importantly, delineating a specific doctrine. The exclusion of ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī, in particular, could not have been seen (nor was it intended to be) as a neutral decision in this context. It was a rather bold assertion of a particular vision about Islamic origins, in which both of these figures were perceived to be beyond the circle of the “rightly-guided” companions. It is important to note that although ‘Alī is excluded from this list of companions, his status remains quite ambiguous throughout Ibn Sallām’s work. Not only does Ibn Sallām not explicitly repudiate ‘Alī, but he even narrates several hadith from him and emphasizes his wisdom and role as an adviser to the second caliph, ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. He also strongly criticizes the Umayyads for their policy of cursing ‘Alī. However, he refuses to include the customary invocation of blessings (“may God be pleased with him” or “God have mercy upon him”) following mention of ‘Alī’s name, despite the fact that this is done for all the other major companions of the Prophet, with the notable exception of ‘Uthmān, that are mentioned throughout the text.

In relation with this broader point of constructing a particular identity within the framework of espousing a specific vision of the early Islamic community, Ibn Sallām enters into a discussion of the concept of

56 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 92 57 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 92 58 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 72–73 14

“jamā‘a”.59 He begins by asserting that “our religion” is that of “the majority (al-jamā‘a) of the Prophet’s companions…and the religion upon which they [i.e. the companions of the Prophet] had agreed upon and were united around before the schism within the Muslim community arose.”60 This is followed by a citation of a tradition ascribed to the Prophet in which the latter states that “whomsoever separates themselves from the jamā‘a have abandoned Islam,” and another ḥadīth in which the Prophet asserts that “my nation shall be divided into seventy-three distinct sects, each of which shall be upon error (ḍalāla) except that (group) which adheres to the path followed by me and my companions.”61 These aḥādīth, which are found within Sunnī ḥadīth compilations during this period as well and provide the basis for that group’s identity (Sunnīs, after all, were self-identified as Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jamā‘ah), appearing as it does within the discussion sheds significant light upon Ibn Sallām’s articulation of Ibāḍī identity. He repeatedly makes it clear that the path of the righteous companions of the Prophet is precisely that which is followed by the Ibāḍīs. Moreover, he urges his readers to look to the “righteous companions of Muḥammad” as a model, since “they were the best of the Islamic community who were the most guided towards truth…whom God specifically chose as companions for His Messenger and [through whom] God chose to manifest His religion” and thus “it is important to know [and emulate] their virtues by following in their path…since they were upon the Path of Truth.”62 It thus becomes clear that Ibn Sallām’s idea of jamā‘a was closely tied with his understanding of the rank and station of the Prophet’s companions as models of emulation, based upon the latter’s faithful adherence to the message of Islam. In fact, the remainder of the text

Although Ibn Sallām speaks highly of the Prophet’s companions in a general sense, thereby implying that all the companions could be considered models of emulation, he nevertheless makes it clear that the nine companions mentioned in the beginning of the work are the only ones who can be considered the “best of the Muslim community” (akhyār al-Ummah), leaving the other companions of the Prophet with an ambiguous status.63 Ibn Sallām clarifies his position further still when he declares that the true faith was only that which was upheld by “the Companions and Followers from among the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār who were not innovators (mubtadi‘īn),”and that the Ibāḍīs follow the same creed which the companions had followed “before the schism/division arose,” a phrase which serves the purpose of excluding companions such as ‘Uthmān or ‘Alī, both of whom had been historically described by Ibāḍīs as introducing major innovations (bida‘) into the faith.64 Moreover, Ibn Sallām states that “the true interpretation of the term jamā‘a is that it refers to those Islamic beliefs which were agreed upon by the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār before the division arose within the community.”65

59 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 79–84 60 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 79 61 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 79 62 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 81 63 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 95 64 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 79, 95 65 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 81 15

These caveats serve the purpose of limiting the category of “righteous companions” to those whose stance towards the Kharijites (or their cause) during the intra-Muslim conflicts during the seventh century was favorable. It is these companions who represented the jamā‘a, while those companions who were viewed as failing to maintain their commitment to the pillars of the faith were not only excluded from the jamā‘a but even from the possibility of attaining salvation since “he who is an innovator or sinner (muḥdith) will not be saved and shall be annihilated…upon whom is the curse of God, the angels, and all the people.”66 The implications of being outside the fold of the jamā‘a is laid out even more explicitly: “any individual who departs from the jamā‘a even by a handspan can no longer legitimately be considered Muslim…and will be [eternally] cast into Hell.”67 It is notable that, with the exception of ‘Ammār ibn Yāsir, Uways al-Qarnī, and Khuzayma ibn Thābit, all the companions singled out as exemplars of piety and righteousness had all been dead prior to the outbreak of the First Civil War in 656, known as the “Great Fitna” (al-Fitna al-Kubra) in Islamic historiography. ‘Ammār, Uways, and Khuzayma had all been killed at Siffin (657) fighting on ‘Alī’s side prior to the arbitration (taḥkīm) controversy which had played such a decisive role in the rise of the Kharijites or Muḥākkima, to whom the Ibāḍīs traced their origins. Thus, by distinguishing between the belief and creed of the Muslim community before and after the First Civil War (656–661), the text implies that most of the companions of the Prophet fell into corruption and lost their “privilege” of being considered among the righteous as a result of the Fitna; it was only a small group of Muslims, the Kharijites (referred to as “our predecessors”), and their successors, the Ibāḍīs, who maintained themselves upon the correct path, which was identical with that of the Prophet and his nine “righteous companions.” In this way, Ibn Sallām is able to maintain his theoretical commitment to the idea of the jamā‘a, which is a concept he draws from the Qur’ān and ḥadīth, while remaining faithful to the doctrines of walāyā and barā’a, thus only affiliating explicitly with those companions of the Prophet who had not been “corrupted” as a result of the Fitna. This position allows Ibn Sallām to articulate a clear, uncompromising position that it was only a minority of the Prophet’s companions who were viewed as authoritative figures of authority and who can truly be considered among the righteous, a position which played a decisive role in distinguishing the Ibāḍīs from other Muslims. Indeed this position alludes to Ibn Sallām’s own perspective, described above, that it was the Ibāḍīs, whose religion was the uncorrupted form of Islam preached by the Prophet and followed by his righteous Companions, who were the only members of the Muslim community who would be saved. To reinforce this association between the Ibāḍīs and the “righteous companions” of the Prophet, the term al-jamā‘a is continually deployed throughout the remainder of the text to refer to the Ibāḍīs (dīn al-jamā‘a).

Although an elaborate discussion of this doctrine of the jamā‘a is beyond the confines of this paper, it is important to add that Ibn Sallām’s discussion of this concept invites comparisons with the developments

66 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 81 67 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 79–81 16 occurring within Sunnī circles during the same period. It is plausible that such a doctrinal formulation by Ibn Sallām, which placed great emphasis upon the creed of the Prophet’s companions and praised them as exemplars of piety, occurred in close conversation with scholars from among the Sunnī, primarily Ḥanafī and Mālikī, schools of thought in North Africa. Naturally, the Ibāḍī position was quite distinct from that of the Sunnīs but it nevertheless raises several questions about the degree of contact between the Ibāḍī and Mālikī or Ḥanafī jurists during this period. In a similar way, Ibn Sallām’s discussion of jurisprudence, including usūl al-fiqh (legal methodology), highlighting the importance of such concepts as qiyās (analogical reasoning), ra’ī (opinion), and athār (textual proof) as well as the legal dynamics involved in the decisions of muftīs and qādīs also reflects a substantial development of Ibāḍī legal theory, which invites further comparison with the developments occurring within Sunnī communities during the same period.68

In order to summarize (and legitimize) the arguments and doctrinal points discussed within the preceding sections of the text, Ibn Sallām preserves within his book a letter from the second Rustamid imām of Tahert, ‘Abd al-Wahhāb ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Rustam (r. 784–823), purportedly sent to the people of Tripoli.69 Significantly, the letter does not mention the doctrine of the jamā‘a, which is so strongly emphasized throughout Ibn Sallām’s discussion, although it does underscore the centrality of walāya and barā’a.70 This may be an indication that whereas ‘Abd al-Wahhāb was writing to the Ibāḍī community—underscoring key elements of doctrine and belief which were central to Ibāḍism—it appears that Ibn Sallām may have had a broader audience in mind and his emphasis on the jamā‘a was an attempt to communicate Ibāḍī doctrine to non-Ibāḍīs by deploying evidence and arguments to which they would be sympathetic. It may also signify an articulation of Ibāḍī doctrine distinct from developments occurring in Tahart. The inclusion of ‘Abd al-Wahhāb’s letter within the text makes it apparent that Ibn Sallām regarded this Rustamid imām as a figure of immense religious importance and authority. This fact demonstrates that Ibn Sallām himself was a follower of the Rustamids and belonged to the Wahbīyya sect rather than to the “heretical” Nukkārīyya which had refused to recognize ‘Abd al-Wahhāb as a legitimate imam. The inclusion of this epistle therefore provides important evidence for the historian on two levels: it reflects the connection between Tahart and Ibāḍī communities in a city like Tripoli, which was beyond the direct control of the Rustamid dynasty, and demonstrates the degree of authority which the Rustamids were perceived to have exercised in questions of doctrine. Moreover, it underscores the importance of the epistle as an important medium of communicating doctrine from the center of the Imam to his followers elsewhere in North Africa.

Thus, the entire first portion of Ibn Sallām’s text provides crucial insight into several aspects of ninth- century North African Ibāḍism. Firstly, it allows the modern historian to achieve a closer understanding of the

68 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 96–98 69 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 93 70 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 93 17 doctrinal and methodological developments occurring within the North African Ibāḍī religious establishment, demonstrating that the genres of Qur’ānic exegesis (tafsīr), legal methodology (usūl al-fiqh), theological exposition (‘aqīda), Prophetic tradition (ḥadīth), and Prophetic biography (sīra) were all important facets of the religious arguments being deployed in the late ninth century. Secondly, the emphasis on key points such as jamā‘a invites further scholarly inquiry and comparison with similar developments occurring within the Sunnī schools in the Maghreb and beyond. It would also be important to compare the extent to which Ibn Sallām deviates from other Ibāḍī doctrinal formulations in order to better understand the significance of the theological and legal arguments which appear within the Kitāb.

Righteous Leadership and Islamic Revival: Towards a Narrative of North African Ibāḍism

There is a clear political theory of the Imamate which emerges from Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb. The vision for leadership provided by the text is predicated upon several key concepts, the most important of which is justice. Importantly, it is the words of the second caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb about the consultative assembly (shūra) which he had ordered to be convened prior to his death that provides the basis for much of Ibn Sallām’s discussion about righteous leadership and the dynamics involved in the elevation of an individual to the imamate.71 It becomes clear that piety, justice, forbearance, knowledge, and astuteness were considered to be among the major qualities of the Imam.72 For Ibn Sallām, the true path of Islam, Ibāḍism, harmonizes the divinely-revealed commandments with the concept of shūra (consultation), so that the implementation of God’s will is only possible through the collective participation of the community. One of the central tenets of the theory of the Imamate put forth by Ibn Sallām is the binding nature of the oath of allegiance: “if there is a leader (imām) who has been elected and been given allegiance by the Muslims on the basis of his vowing to establish the religion of God, then obedience to this leader is an absolute obligation.”73 Expounding upon this idea, Ibn Sallām explains that because ‘Uthmān was elected caliph by a consultative council (shūra), the oath of allegiance (bay‘a) to him and recognition of his Imamate was an obligation.”74 Likewise, he asserts that obedience to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib following the death of ‘Uthmān was also an obligation.75 Indeed, Ibn Sallām condemns al-Zubayr ibn al- ‘Awwām (d. 656) and Talḥa ibn ‘Ubayd Allāh (d. 656) in the strongest terms as the “disloyal violators of oaths” (al-nākithūn) for their rebellion against ‘Alī, the legitimate Imam, following their initial oaths of allegiance to him; Mu‘āwiya ibn Abī Sufyān (d. 680) is similarly condemned for rebelling against the legitimate Imam. 76 These

71 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 102–104 72 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 102 73 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 95 74 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 105 75 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 106 76 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 106 18 three concepts—the obligation of the imamate, the central function of the shūra, and the binding nature of the bay‘a—are therefore the key aspects of Ibn Sallām’s theory of the Imamate.

Following an exposition of the various theoretical aspects of the Imamate, Ibn Sallām seeks to provide a historical narrative which seeks to clarify the underlying reasons for the great schism within the Muslim community. Although claiming that both ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī were both legitimate rulers, Ibn Sallām explains that neither of them could be considered righteous Imams and were disqualified on the basis of their misguidance: ‘Uthmān on account of his sinfulness and introduction of reprehensible innovations into the faith and ‘Alī as a result of his committing a major sin by agreeing to arbitration with Mu‘āwiya, “an act which took place contrary to the commandments of the Qur’an.”77. It was at this moment, according to Ibn Sallām, that the Muslim community was fractured into two separate sects (shī‘atayn) with the “people of falsehood (ahl al-bāṭil), led by Mu‘āwiya, overcoming the people of truth (ahl al-ḥaqq),” the latter being the Kharijites.78 It was in this intolerable situation, argues Ibn Sallām, in which the believers were subjected to oppressive violence and persecution due to their adherence to the true faith, that the “people of the da‘wa” were forced to confine themselves to the peripheral regions of the Islamic world, including the Maghrib, Oman, Yemen, and Khurasan, where they secretly spread the teachings of Islam.79 Ibn Sallām laments the fact that these true believers (referring to the Kharijites) had become an oppressed minority among a majority of sinners and disbelievers. In order to explain this transformation, he narrates a hadith in which ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb is foretold by the Prophet as being “the gate of fitna,” whose violent death would mark the beginning of the injustice and misguidance of the Muslim community.80 This hadith reinforces the traditional Ibāḍī narrative which confines the period of the “rightly- guided caliphate” to Abū Bakr and ‘Umar and blames the civil wars and the violence which ensued on both ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī. Another hadith is then narrated in which the Prophet tells his companions that following the great conquests of Persia and Byzantium, the Muslim community would be dominated by rivalries and internal conflict, which would be characterized by the Muslims violently murdering one another. ‘Umar is moreover quoted by Ibn Sallām as telling the Quraysh: “I perceive you as a bigger threat to the community of Muḥammad than the Abyssinians, the Sassanids, and the Byzantines.”81 The purpose of these hadith is to vindicate the Kharijites for disassociating from the broader community following its descent into sinfulness and chaos and to provide evidence that both the Prophet and ‘Umar had foretold the deviation of the Quraysh away from the principles of Islam. In this situation, it was therefore necessary for the “people of truth” (Kharijites/Ibāḍīs) to separate themselves and seek refuge in distant corners of the Islamic world rather than be persecuted for their beliefs by sinful rulers and their misguided followers. The theme of the sinfulness of the majority of the Muslim

77 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 105–106 78 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 106 79 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 106 80 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 107 81 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 108 19 world and the continued existence of the a pristine form of Islam among only a small minority is quite an important one for Ibn Sallām and plays a central role in his construction of a distinctly North African Ibāḍī identity, as will be discussed below.

The remainder of the narrative is devoted to laying out the characteristics of unjust leadership. To this effect, Ibn Sallām cites a number of Prophetic traditions which order the Muslim community to repudiate (violently if necessary) the unjust rulers who rule in accordance with their desires rather than by the Qur’ān and the Prophetic precedent.82 One tradition cited by Ibn Sallām even asserts that individuals who do not disassociate from unjust rulers would be counted among their number, and would be deserving of the same eternal punishment.83A short exposition of the importance of justice and adherence to divine commandments as criteria for leadership is then followed by a condemnation of the “mulūk al-jabāira” (tyrannical rulers), identified with the Umayyads and the Abbasids.84 The latter are described as “imāms who lead their followers toward Hellfire” due to their abandoning the Qur’ān as a basis for their legislation, undermining the religion of the jamā‘a, and their introduction of innovations into the faith.85 The Umayyads are also described as tyrannical for their violation of the sanctity of Mecca, the extortion of the wealth of the Muslims, consumption of wine, their unjust overturning of the covenants of Jews and Christians, in addition to a long list of other misdeeds.86 In short, according to Ibn Sallām, the Umayyads committed every major offense short of a formal renunciation of the religion itself.

The next section details the role of various figures in the seventh and eighth centuries, designated as “our scholars and imāms from whom we transmit our religion after the period of the Prophet,” who were based in Iraq, Yemen, Medina, Mecca, and Iran, in upholding the correct doctrine and remaining steadfast in the face of Umayyad corruption and persecution.87 This portion of the text is particularly useful for understanding who the figures were to whom Ibn Sallām and, presumably, other North African Ibāḍīs looked to as their predecessors. Among the names are several major legal scholars and ḥadīth experts, such as Jābir ibn Zayd (d. 713), an individual who had learned from both Ibn ‘Abbās and ‘Ā’isha and who Ibn Sallām asserts was “the most knowledgeable of all the people of the earth” and “the most righteous of the inhabitants of the earth.”88 Moreover, it traces the beginnings of Ibāḍī rebellion against the Umayyads. According to Ibn Sallām, it was the Baṣran Ibāḍī Abū Bilāl Mirdās al-Tamīmī (d. 680) who launched the first violent uprising against the Umayyads before he was killed by the authorities.89 The theme of violent rebellion against the Umayyads in the East dominates much of the

82 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 98 83 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 98 84 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 98–101 85 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 99 86 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 100–101 87 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 108–116 88 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 108–109 89 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 111 20 rest of the chapter before Ibn Sallām transitions into a description of the beginnings of the Ibāḍī revolt in the Maghreb. According to the text, it was Abū al-Khaṭṭāb who was the first to raise the standard of violent rebellion in the Maghreb on behalf of the Ibāḍīs.90 The ẓuhūr or rebellion of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb is described in some detail and the participation of Ibn Sallām’s father and uncle in the rebellion is emphasized.91 The text explains how it was only with the help of the Berber tribes that an Ibāḍī imamate, extending from Tripoli to Qayrawan, was established under the leadership of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb.92 The text provides important details and information about the nature of the rebellion and about the participation of specific individuals and Berber tribes.93 Following a description of the death of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb, Ibn Sallām’s narrative continues with a detailed description of the continuation of the Tripoli imamate under the leadership of Abū Ḥātim Ya‘qūb ibn Ḥabīb (d. 771).94

Sectarian Identity, Ethnicity and Islamic Revival: The Berbers as Harbingers of a Just Order

The articulation of a particular North African Ibāḍī identity is one of the most distinctive aspects of the text in question. This becomes more discernible when closer attention is devoted to the chapter in the text entitled “Prophetic statements about the virtues of the Berbers.”95 It is in this section that Ibn Sallām’s importance as both an indigenous Berber author as well as an Ibāḍī can best be appreciated. Although the traditions are most likely apocryphal, their use within the text, and the placement of this discussion right after the assertion that without the aid of the Berber tribes it was unlikely that Abū al-Khaṭṭāb would have successfully established an Imamate at Tripolitania is highly significant. The first tradition ascribed to the Prophet cited within the text involves a conversation between the Prophet and the angel Gabriel in which the latter explains to the former that the Berbers “will be the ones who will revive the religion after its death, and they shall be the ones to renew it after it has faded away.”96 Moreover, the angel continues, the Maghreb shall be the “head” of the revitalized faith of Islam, with the clear implication that the Berbers will play a lead role in its revitalization and that the religious and political center of the revived Islamic faith will be the Maghreb.97 This ḥadīth, appearing as it does within the context of Ibn Sallām’s description of the establishment of the first Ibāḍī Imamate in the Maghreb, is a clear allusion to the corruption of the Umayyads (and ‘Abbāsids) on one hand, who have undermined the foundations of Islam to such a degree that the faith has “faded away,” and on the other hand it is intended as a reference to the Berber tribes who have strived against the tyrannical caliphates in order to establish a just, Islamic order. The profound significance of this ḥadīth for Ibn Sallām was most likely in its direct praise of the Berber tribes, many

90 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 117 91 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 118–121 92 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 119 93 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 120–121, 126–127 94 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 128–131 95 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 121–125. I have appended my translation of these aḥādīth in the appendix. 96 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 121–122 97 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 122–123 21 of whom had adopted Ibāḍism by the late ninth century, who would play a direct role in reviving the faith of Islam and lead the Islamic world toward a new era of justice and righteousness. 98 The hadith also fulfilled the function of transforming the Maghreb from a backwater of the Islamic world into a region of major significance for the Islamic faith.

Another ḥadīth cited by Ibn Sallām describes how the Prophet had asserted that “God would open a gate for Islam from [among the people] the Maghreb who would ennoble Islam and humiliate the disbelievers. They will be a people of staunch and simple belief.”99 Following his narration of the ḥadīth, Ibn Sallām explains that he sincerely hopes that the prophecy contained within it would be realized and confidently asserts that the Ibāḍīs (ahl da‘watuna) are the most entitled to fulfill its meaning.100 This demonstrates to the reader the profound moment in history in which they were living, with the ascendancy of Berber tribes in North Africa, which had become a major political force in the Islamic world since the mid-eighth century and, since the rise of the Tripoli and Tahart imamates, had become the primary supporters of the Ibāḍi creed in North Africa (and, by extension) the Islamic world. In more ways than one, the citation of these aḥādith was both an attempt by Ibn Sallām to reinforce the centrality of the Ibāḍis to restoring the authentic form of Islam more generally, but was also part of a broader argument in which he sought to emphasize the specific role of North African Ibāḍis, the Berber tribes, in shaping the future course of Ibāḍism and, thus, Islam.

The final ḥadīth cited by Ibn Sallām with regard to the virtues of the Berbers is probably the most significant in this regard. The hadith, which is narrated by none other than ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, asserts that the Berbers “are the ones who shall come to you [Arabs] from the West with God’s religion” after it had been squandered or lost by the Arabs, and it was to the Berbers that the Qur’ānic verse “If you turn away, God will substitute another people in your place” (Q. 47: 38) referred.101 Another variant, cited in the same passage, asserts that the Berbers are also the people being referenced in the Qur’ānic verse which states that if the faithful were to revert from their religion or shirk from their religious obligations then “God will substitute in your place people whom He loves and who love Him. They will be kind with the believers, stern with the disbelievers, and will strive in the cause of God without fear of any blame” (Q. 5:54).102 The implication of these references is profound,

98 It is worth noting that in contemporary apocalyptic texts being put forth by proto-Sunnīs the Berbers also represented as playing an important role. Unlike the emphasis upon the positive role of the Berbers or the righteousness of the Maghrib, however, such texts often emphasized the nefarious role played by the Berbers, who were associated with disbelief and destruction. For more on this, see Nu‘aym ibn Ḥammād, Kitāb al-Fitan (Cairo: Maktabat al-Tawḥīd, 1991), pp. 260–277. In the near future, I hope to explore the interplay between the role of the Berbers within Ibn Sallām’s text and Nu‘aym ibn Ḥammād’s Kitāb al-Fitan and how this is reflective of how the doctrinal identity of the Berbers played an important role in their representation in both Sunnī and Ibāḍī texts. 99 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 123–124 100 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, p. 124 101 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 124–125 102 Ibn Sallām, Kitāb, pp. 124–125 22 as it places the Berber tribes (with the strong implication that it is those tribes professing Ibāḍism that are being referred to) directly within the scheme of the Qur’ānic cycle of sacred history in which one people supplant another as the bearers of God’s revelation. As the Banū Isrā’īl or Children of Israel, were replaced by the Arabs of the Hijāz as the vehicle for the transmission and fulfillment of the divine decree among humanity following the failure of the former to properly maintain themselves as faithful servants of God, so now too would the Arabs be supplanted by the Berbers, a people whose commitment to the divine commandments and faithfulness to the core truths of the Islamic message could not be doubted. By providing the reader with these references, which are deliberately inserted within the broader narrative of the rise of the Ibāḍī imamate at Tripolitania in 757, Ibn Sallām sought to reinforce the association in the mind of his reader between the earliest Muslim generation in seventh-century Arabia and the Berber tribes of the Maghreb of the eighth and ninth century, both of whom were divinely-appointed as bearers of the true message of Islam to the rest of the world. He moreover sought to make it clear that this was not merely a pious declaration, but that this development was in fact being realized through the concerted efforts of the Berber tribes, who brought about the establishment of the Tripolitania Imamate and the Rustamid polity.

Bearing these points in mind, the citation of these three alleged Prophetic traditions provides the ideological lens through which the historical narrative provided in Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb should be viewed. Ibn Sallām, as a Berber, sought to emphasize the central role of the Berber tribes in the Maghreb for their contribution to the rise of an authentic (and unique) expression of Islam which he believed had played (and would continue to play) a key part in preserving the vision of the early Islamic community in the face of the deviation and tyranny which had characterized the Muslim community since the assassination of ‘Umar in 644. By claiming that this important role of the Berbers as maintainers of true Islam was foretold by the Prophet himself Ibn Sallām was adding an important layer of legitimacy to his main argument throughout the book that it was the Ibāḍīs who were the truly faithful believers and the preservers of the pristine Islamic message which was revealed to the Prophet and upheld by his righteous companions. Thus, the Ibāḍīs were depicted as central to the revitalization of Islam and its preservation while the tyrannical Umayyads (and ‘Abbāsids) had undermined the very essence of the faith and led the community astray. Moreover, it was in the Maghreb—with the essential aid of the Berber tribes—that the highest ideal of Islam, the Imamate, found its truest expression. Implicit within the rest of Ibn Sallām’s argument and discussion is also that the legal institutions and theological doctrines of Islam had been preserved and were being further developed or articulated within the context of North African Ibāḍism. The narrative which emerges from the text is therefore not one of a marginalized Muslim minority in an isolated part of the Muslim world, but of that of a vanguard community which sought to restore truth and justice to the Muslim world through its intellectual and political efforts. In other words, by identifying Ibāḍism with the jamā‘a and underscoring the divinely-ordained destiny of the (Ibāḍī) Berber tribes to revive the proper Islamic order, the text was making an 23 argument for an essential, Islamic orthodoxy while simultaneously reinforcing the sectarian boundaries of his own community by convincing them of their own validity and authenticity within the broader scheme of Islamic history.

The central importance of these aḥādīth to the vision of Ibn Sallām cannot be underestimated, especially when understood within the context in which he was writing. The ascendancy of the Rustamid dynasty, whose very pillars of support were the Berber tribes in modern-day Algeria and Tripolitania, represented the fullest political and religious realization of the Ibāḍī ideal. As such, the notion of a triumphant Islam being restored through its efforts was presumably rather prevalent among many Ibāḍīs. For Ibn Sallām, it was essential to remind his readers that not only had this triumph come about as a result of the concerted efforts of the Berber tribes in the Maghreb, but that the role of these people in the “revival of Islam after its fading away” was divinely ordained and foretold by the Prophet himself. Indeed, the implication is that without the efforts of these Berber tribes it was very likely that the tyrannical rulers (al-mulūk al-jabābira) would have triumphed and true Islam would have been completely destroyed. Moreover, as he notes in his commentary on the second ḥadīth, it was the people of “our creed,” the Ibāḍīs, who would fulfill the meaning of the Prophet’s words and who were most deserving of the praise lavished upon the Berbers within the ḥadīth. This leaves little doubt in the mind of the reader that his own interpretation of the Berbers mentioned within the text of these traditions referred (exclusively) to Ibāḍī Berbers. The incorporation of these Prophetic traditions within the broader historical work is therefore part of an attempt by Ibn Sallām to represent Ibāḍism, especially its manifestation within the Maghreb, as a central development within the sacred history of the divinely-revealed message of Islam, which extended from the pre-Islamic prophets, through the career of the Prophet Muḥmmad and the first two caliphs, the struggles of the Ibāḍīs in the central Islamic lands against the Umayyads, to the establishment of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb’s imamate and the present. The linking of such individuals as ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, the narrators of these traditions, with the words of the Prophet praising the Berbers was an important way for the author to connect his own people (and generation) with the earliest community of Islam which represented a pristine, uncorrupted form of the faith, of which the North African Ibāḍīs served as the sole custodians and guardians in the late ninth century. It is rather significant that these exact same ahadith were also related, with identical chains of narration, by another prominent North African Ibāḍī scholar, Abū Zakarīyya Yaḥya al-Warjlānī (d. 1130), writing almost three centuries after Ibn Sallām., which demonstrates that they were in wide circulation among the Ibāḍīs.103 Abū Zakarīyya actually begins his historical chronicle, which focuses on the history of the Ibāḍī Imamate in North Africa, by narrating these prophetic traditions about the virtues of the Berbers. In doing so, he reinforces the association between the Ibāḍism and the Berber identity on one hand, and the centrality of the role of the Ibāḍī Berbers as God’s instrument for the maintenance and revival of the true faith on the other.

103 al-Warjlānī, Kitāb al-sīra, pp. 52–56. 24

Conclusion: Ibn Sallām and Early Islamic North Africa

In this rather brief overview of Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb, I have hoped to show how the text is immensely valuable for historians of early Islamic North Africa. The Kitāb does not only provide invaluable historical details about the rise of Ibāḍism in North Africa by listing several key events, names, and dates but allows historians to appreciate the interrelationship between the role of tribalism, political developments, and the articulation of religious doctrine. The role of the author and the sources which he draws upon as active participants in the articulation of Ibāḍī doctrine and the events which witnessed the political rise of North African Ibāḍism makes the text a particularly important testimony to the rise of a phenomenon which remains little understood within modern scholarship. The text also contributes to the modern scholarly understanding of the rise of important aspects of Ibāḍī legal thought in North Africa and invites closer comparative study with developments occurring within Sunnī circles during the same period. Furthermore, the construction of a specifically North African Ibāḍī narrative of the series of events which culminated in the establishment of the Ibāḍī imamate in the Maghreb presents modern historians with a unique doctrinal and political vision from early Islam, in which not only a distinct sectarian community (the Ibāḍīs), but a specific group of people (the Berbers) become the bearers of the Islamic message and its main revitalizers in an age characterized by dissension and corruption. This articulation of Ibāḍī identity, revolving as it does around the perception of the Ibāḍī Muslims as the only group within the Muslim community who would attain salvation, is probably the main impetus behind the work and strongly informed both the doctrinal formulations and the historical narrative within the text. It is hoped that this paper has provided some insight as to the value of the work for understanding both the political, sectarian, and theological dimensions of early Islamic North Africa. It is hoped that further engagement with Ibn Sallām’s Kitāb will provide historians with an essential tool for reintegrating the phenomenon of Ibāḍism within the broader discussion about early Islamic North Africa in the eighth and ninth centuries.

25

Appendix: Prophetic Statements about the Virtues of the Berbers (faḍā’il al-barbar)

[Ibn Sallām, Kitāb fīhi bada’ al-islām wa sharā’i‘ al-dīn, pp. 121–125]

Ḥadīth 1

It was related to us that the Mother of the Believers, ‘Ā’isha (may God have mercy upon her), was once approached by a man from among the Berbers while she was sitting in the company of twelve men from among the Emigrants and Helpers (al-muhājirūn wa al-anṣār). As a result, ‘Ā’isha arose from the cushion upon which she was sitting and broke apart from the gathering to [give her attention] to the Berber, leading the people present to angrily disperse. The Berber sought that which he was after and then departed. ‘Ā’isha then sent for those [who had left] in order to gather them together. [When] they all arrived, she said to them: “Why did you all angrily leave my presence?”

They said “We were angry at the man. Verily, a Berber had entered into our presence even though we all hold him in contempt and despise his people (qawm). He esteems himself above us and you.”

‘Ā’isha said “He only esteems himself above us because of the statement of the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) about [the Berbers].”

They said: “And what exactly did the Prophet of God say about them?”

She said: “Do you recall so-and-so the Berber?”

They said: “Yes.”

‘Ā’isha said: “The Prophet and I were sitting one day when that Berber entered upon us with a pale face and sunken eyes. The Prophet of God (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) gazed upon him and said to him: ‘What happened to you or are you ill? You departed from my presence yesterday with in good spirits and looking healthy, but now you return looking as if you have emerged from the grave!”

The Berber said: “I have spent the night, O Prophet of God, in severe distress and preoccupation.”

The Prophet said: “What has you worried?”

He said: “Yesterday, you repeatedly turned your gaze towards me and I feared that this was because a verse of the Qur’ān was revealed about me.”

The Prophet said: “Do not let this sadden you! Verily, my repeatedly looking towards you yesterday was only because Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to me and said: ‘O Muḥammad, I entrust you to be mindful of God and to treat the Berbers well.’” The Prophet continued: “Then I said: ‘O Gabriel and who are the Berbers?’ Gabriel said: ‘They are his people’ and he pointed to you, so I looked.” The Prophet continued: “Then I said to Gabriel: ‘And what is it about the Berbers?’ To which Gabriel replied: ‘They will be the ones who revivify God’s religion after it should perish and they shall be the ones to revitalize/renew it if it should falter.’ Gabriel continued: ‘O Muḥammad, the religion of God is a creation from among the creations of God. It arose in the Ḥijāz, its origins/roots being in Medina where it was created weak before He nourished it and caused it to grow until it became ascendant and increased in greatness and became fruitful in the same manner that a tree bears fruit and it will also become decrepit as a tree becomes decrepit. Verily, the head of God’s religion will be located in the 26

West (al-Maghreb) and, truly, when the great, heavy thing falls it is not lifted up from its center or from its roots but rather it is raised up from its head.”

Ḥadīth II

It has been related to us that ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may God have mercy upon him) was approached by a group of Berbers from the Lawāta tribe which were sent to him by ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ from Egypt; the latter was at that time the governor of Egypt during ‘Umar’s caliphate. They entered into ‘Umar’s presence with shaved heads and beards and ‘Umar asked them: “Who are you?”

They said: “We are from among the Berbers of the tribe of Lawāta.”

‘Umar said to the others in the gathering: “Are there any among you who know anything about this tribe and its relations with the tribes of Arabs and non-Arabs?”

They said: “We know nothing about them.”

Al-‘Abbās ibn Mirdās al-Sulamī said: “I have knowledge about them, O Commander of the Believers. These are descended from Barr ibn Qays. Qays had a number of children, among whom was one called Barr ibn Qays and his character abounded with indecency and licentiousness, meaning he was of low morals, and he fought all his brothers one day and withdrew to the desert (al-barārī) and his descendants increased vastly in number so the Arabs said: ‘They have berberized (tabarbarū),’ which means they increased in number.”

When ‘Umar looked at them, who had been sent as a delegation by ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ, who had sent translators along with them to translate on their behalf when ‘Umar asked them anything. ‘Umar asked them: “Why have you completely shaved your hair and beards?”

They said: “That was hair which grew during the days when we were unbelievers. We wished to replace it with hair which will grow while we are Muslim.”

‘Umar said: “Do you possess any towns or cities in which you live?”

They said: “No.”

He said: “Do you have any fortresses in which you seek refuge?”

They said: “No.”

He said: “Do you have markets in which you engage in commerce?”

They said: “No.”

At this, ‘Umar (may God have mercy upon him) began to weep.

Those present asked: “What is making you weep, O Commander of the Believers?”

He said: “I weep because of a statement of the Prophet of God (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) on the day of Ḥunayn. The Muslims were defeated and the Prophet of God looked at me while I was weeping and said: ‘Why are you weeping, O ‘Umar?’ I replied: ‘I am crying, O Prophet of God, because of this small band of 27

Muslims and the gathering of entire nations of unbelievers against them.’ He told me: ‘Do not weep, O ‘Umar, for verily God shall open a door for Islam from the West. God shall glorify Islam through them and God shall humiliate the unbelievers though them. They will be people of piety and discernment (ahl khashya wa baṣā’ir) who will die for that which they have discerned. They do not inhabit cities or towns nor do they possess any fortresses in which they seek refuge nor do they possess any markets in which they engage in commerce.’ As a result of this, I wept because I remembered this statement by the Prophet and other virtues about [the Berbers] which he related to me.”

Then, [‘Umar] sent them back to ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ in Egypt and ordered that they be placed at the vanguard of his armies. ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb treated them kindly and graciously and he ordered that they be placed at the vanguard of his retinue. They remained with ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās until ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān was killed.

When we heard that this ḥadīth, which is related from the Prophet by ‘Umar, refers to a group of people from the West we hoped and anticipated that it refers to the people of our faith (ahl da‘watuna) who are the most entitled to realizing and embodying the virtues of this Prophetic statement.

Ḥadīth III

It was related to us from a man who was from among the descendants of Abū Bakr: “‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib said: ‘O people of Mecca and people of Medina I entreat you to be mindful of God and to treat the Berbers well for they shall come to you from the West with God’s religion after you have squandered it. Indeed, they are the ones whom God mentioned in His Book: ‘God will substitute in your place people whom He loves and who love Him. They will be kind with the believers, stern with the disbelievers, and will strive in the cause of God without fear of any blame’ [Q. 5:54]. They will not assess the deeds of anyone who has violated the obedience of God.

The descendant of Abū Bakr said: “Since the time of the killing of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, we Arabs have fought each other over dinars and dirhams, and since the time of strife (al-fitna) the Berbers have fought only for the establishment of God’s religion.” This descendant of Abū Bakr continued, extending the chain of the ḥadīth to ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd and said: “During the last pilgrimage which he attended, he arose to give a sermon and said: ‘O people of Mecca and people of Medina I entreat you to be mindful of God and to treat the Berbers well. Verily, they are the ones who shall come to you from the West with God’s religion and they are the ones by whom… [blank in the manuscript]…God shall replace when He says [in the Qur’ān]: ‘If you turn away, God will substitute another people in your place’ [Q. 47: 38]. And, by the One in Whose Hands is the soul of Ibn Mas‘ūd, if you were to see them you would be more obedient to them than their own right hand and closer to them than their own covers, meaning their clothing. And they remembered that the number of Muslims on the day of Ḥunayn was 12,000 and God knows best.”

28

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