Although the school was founded in Basra, modern-day Iraq, its followers subsequently sought refuge in Oman, Yemen, Hadramawt in the southeast peninsula of Arabia, and North Africa.
Although Ibāḍīsm was extinguished in Basra, the foundation of the Ibāḍī community,[1] in the late 2nd century AH (ca.
8th century CE), the Ibadi teachers of Basra and their works continue to constitute sources of inspiration for the life and teaching of the Ibāḍī community.
[4] This position is expressed explicitly by the "most prominent Ibāḍī Kalām theologian" of the 2nd century AH (ca.
ʻAmr al Farāhīdī, who incorporated the aḥādīth (the sayings and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad) into the āthār of the Ibāḍī community.
[11] From the beginning, learned men and spiritual leaders of the Ibāḍī community developed a spiritual and intellectual movement which closely followed the religious, political, and social ideas of Islam, and elaborated on religious and theological teachings on all matters related to Islamic society.
As such, it developed—together with the Muʻtazila movement—a rich theology that transformed Classical and Late Antiquity to the demands of the prophetic word.
[12][13][14][15] The Ibāḍīs, according to their narratives, were one of the first to approach the Qur'anic passages and formulate the basic theological principles of Islam.
He is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days and then Istawā (rose over) the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty)" (Surat 57, 2–4).
This is a passage that describes God's greatness and omnipotence, and the Ibāḍīs interpreted it allegorically (Taʼwīl) to avoid anthropomorphism.
The Ibāḍīs applied the same interpretation to all the Qur'anic "beautiful names" (al-asmāʼ al-ḥusnā) that refer to the hand of God (al-yad) to express His power, and the eye (ʻayn) to indicate His global supervision.
As with the Christians, the Muslims too adopted the arguments of Greek philosophy, particularly Aristotelian logic, to support their positions.
It is worth emphasising that, from as early as the 7th century, Islamic theology was familiar not only with the terms "essence" and "accident" from Aristotelian logic, but generally also with its syllogisms.
[10][23][24] A major, related problem is God's justice (ʻadl), which was widely discussed by Ibāḍī theologians.
As such they allowed social intercourse, intermarriage, and mutual inheritance, but not religious association (walāya, tawallī) with them.
[28] In the twenty-first century, atomic theory was adopted by Islamic schools, including the Ibāḍī, to prove the existence of God.
It is particularly important to note that early Ibāḍī and Mu'tazilite thought that predates the formative Islamic period (and which often remains opaque to modern researchers) utilized philosophy from the classical period and Early Antiquity, imbuing old notions—such as the aforementioned ones of substance, atoms, essence, attributes, etc.—with new meanings.
Ibāḍīs also created a rational discourse that promoted the study and hermeneutics of Islamic texts and scriptures.