al-Rabi refused to agree with them pointing out that such views were held only by ignorant people and not by devout learned men87. The same attitude was reported from his ancestor Abu Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah. It is reported that he was told that Muqatil says that God created Adam in His shape. Abu Ubaidah said, "Muqatil lied," but he did not regard him as a polytheist88.

The other question regarding Muslim sinners who commit grave sins, was concerned with the punishment for those sinners on the Last Day. Ibadhis maintained that the committer of grave sins has to repent to enjoy the right of intercession, and to escape the punishment for persistence in grave sins which is eternal Hell.89 If the sin was connected with the obligations to God, repentance alone is enough, but if it affects rights of other people, the sinner should give back the rights of those people in order to complete his repentance90.

This attitude was, in fact, the basis of the Ibadhi doctrine of al-wad wa al-wa'id, promise and threat, which was directed against the Murji'ites who maintained that the professing of Islam (shahadat) is all that is required from the faithful in order to enter Paradise. The Traditions reported from the Prophet defined the Murji'ites as those who say that faith is word only without works91. It is reported that Jabir b. Zaid said, "The Murji'ites are the Jews of the people of the Qiblah, because they promise the sinners Paradise and say, 'The Hell-fire shall not touch us save for a number of days,' as Jews and Christians have said"92.

The system of walayah and bara'ah was constructed at an early stage of the Ibadhi movement to regulate the relations between the believers and the sinners, so that Muslims will always be reminded that only practising Muslims deserve love and harmony on account of their full practice of Islamic teachings, and that those who neglect their religious duties and persist in sinning should be disapproved and ostracised until they repent.

The doctrine of al-walayah wa al-bara'ah was one of the main topics of the Ibadhi creed. Its rules were laid down during the time of Jabir b. Zaid the founder of the Ibadhi movement. Apart from the numerous Qur'anic verses on which this doctrine was based, there is also a large number of traditions which were considered as directions for the system. According to al-rabi b. Habib, any Tradition which speaks of a person with the expression, "He is not of us" (ليس منا), means that the person is to be considered in the state of (bara'ah)93.

The doctrine of al-walayah wa al-bara'ah is discussed in detail in a special chapter in this work94. It is mentioned here only to point out that it was one of the early doctrines which appeared in Ibadhi theology.