wrote responses to theological problems sent to him from Ibadhis of North Africa,244 but those responses have not as yet been discovered by modern scholars.

Special works on theology started to appear after conflicts on certain matters had taken place among the Ibadhis. The first in the field among Ibadhis of the East was Abdullah b. Yazid al-Fazari who wrote a number of books to express his views.245

The earliest work written by the Ibadhis of North Africa is K. al-Tawhid al-Kabir, by Isa b. Alqamah al-Misri. Information about this book is very limited, but from what is reported, it appears that it was written to refute the views of Abdullah b. Yazid al-Fazari.246 Isa b. Alqamah was described by Abu Ammar Abd al-Kafi as one of the expert Ibadhi theologians. He added that he had convincingly refuted the views of those who asserted that the names and the qualities of God were created.247

Although the Ibadhis of North Africa had faced strong opposition from other neighbouring schisms, namely the Mu'tazilites during the Imamate of Abd al-Wahhab b. Abd al-Rahman b. Rustam (168-190 A.H.) to the extent that the Imam was obliged to seek help from theologians from Jabal Nufusah to refute the Mu'tazili views in Tahert,248 there is no information about special books on theology having been written by the Ibadhis of North Africa during this period.

During the Imamate of Aflah b. Abd al-Wahhab (190-240 H.) new controversies arose among Ibadhis in this field which needed settlement. It was during this period that the Khalafiyah, Naffathiyah and Husainiyah groups, mentioned earlier, were founded, and their arguments had to be refuted.249 As these splinter groups had been formed in the areas around Jabal Nufusah, Nufusi theologians assumed the burden of discussing and disproving their arguments.250 Among the extant works which were composed during this period are two short treatises of Amrus b. Fath; (a) al-Dainunah al-Safiyah, and (b) al-Radd ala al-Nakithah wa - Ahmad b. al-Husain.251 Two other works were well known during this period; they were both on theology and written by Abd al-Khaliq al-Fazzani. Unfortunately, these two works are still lost.252

Among the theologians of other Ibadhi groups, only Ahmad b. al-Husain wrote a book on theology entitled K. al-Maqalat.253 During his Imamate (240-281 H.), Abu al-Yaqzan Muhammad b. Aflah wrote his treatise on the creation of the Qur'an.254 It is reported that he was a great theologian, and wrote forty books on the subject of 'capacity,' (istilaah), alone, apart from a number of letters and responses.255

It is not known if any other works were written after this period up to the time