ABSTRACT

The Iba¯d. ı¯ form is a distinct sect of Islam which nonetheless shares with the other major groups of Islam, the Sunnı¯ and Shı¯ ı¯ branches, the same basic doctrines and practices. Iba¯d. ı¯ Islam’s distinctions lie mainly in its doctrine of the necessity of overthrowing unjust rulers, if feasible, and in its definition of who is considered a Muslim. Iba¯d. ı¯ Islam also preserves doctrines popular in the early Mu tazilı¯ theological school that have been discarded in Sunnı¯ Islam, though preserved in some Shı¯ ı¯ sects, regarding God’s essence and attributes and the createdness of the Qur a¯n. Iba¯d. ı¯ Islam is a small sect found today only in Oman, in small pockets of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, and among Omanis living in east Africa.