any more.145

Another event of a similar nature took place during this stage. It occurred when al-Harith b. Talid, the Ibadhi Imam of Tripoli, and his Qadi Abd al-Jabbar b. Qais al-Muradi were found dead with the sword of each one thrust into the body of the other, no-one knowing whether they killed each other, and in this case, who was wrong. The question was whether they should remain in the state of (walayah) or be transferred to the states of reservation (wuquf), or (baraah).146 Conflicting opinions resulted on the matter among the Ibadhis of North Africa, and the case was presented to Abu Ubaidah in Basrah for a decision.147

Another question reported to have arisen in the course of the argument within the Ibadhi community was the question of the 'proof' (al-hujjah). The argument was about a hypothetical case of a Christian who had not heard of the Prophet of Islam, and who had converted a Magian to Christianity. Some Ibadhis youths came to Abu Ubaidah with the strange view that the Christian is a Muslim because he had not yet heard of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Magian is an infidel despite his acceptance of Christianity. Abu Ubaidah refuted their views and disassociated himself from them.148 This view was taken over afterwards by the Husayniyah.149

After the death of Abu Ubaidah there was a chance of conflict and difference of opinion. The Ibadhi movement lost with his death a strong leadership which maintained the unity of the movement and provided final decisions on the problems which arose. The movement expanded, and al-Rabi b. Habib, who succeeded Abu Ubaidah as its religious leader, failed to gain support and acceptance from all his contemporaries. It was during this period that a number of Ibadhi splinter groups started to appear.

First, we will deal with the original movement or the mainstream of the Ibadhi school which was known as al-Wahbiyah. After presenting their basic views, the divergence between the Ibadhi groups and its nature will be readily understood.

1. AL-WAHBIYAH

The mainstream of the Ibadhi movement in North Africa was distinguished by the name al-Wahbiyah. There are different opinions about the origin of this name. According to Ibn al-Raqiq, they were named after 'Abd al-Wahhab, the second Rustumid Imam.150 The same opinion is reported by Ibn al-Saghir though he denied any knowledge of its origin.151

Al-Qalhati, in his book al-Kashf wa al-Bayan, used the name al-Wahbiyah for