Ta'ariti of Jerba and entitled; al-Maslak al-mahmud fi ma’rifat alrudud. 316

As for Mzab and Jerba Island, the first work of similar nature to appear was the Jawab of Abu Mahdi Isa b. Ismail al-Musabi (d. 971 H.),317 which he wrote on behalf of the Mizabis in reply to a Jawab by the Maliki Shaikh, Abu Ali b. Abi al-Hasan al-Bahluli. Abu Mahdi, in his Jawab, defended the Ibadhi views and refuted the accusations made against Ibadhis by the Maliki Shaikh.318 Later, the task of defending Ibadhi views was championed by Shaikh Muhammad b. Abi al-Qasim al-Musabi and his son Yusuf b. Muhammad, (ob 1187 H.).319 The former wrote many responses in reply to attacks from Sunnis. One of these was to questions raised by an anonymous Sunni author, which was found in a written form in the mihrab of the mosque of Ghardayah. From the reply of al-Musabi, it appears that the questioner regarded the Ibadhis as Mu’tazilis, and mentioned the Ibadhi views on the question of ‘vision’ (al-ru’yah) and eternal existence in Hell for the Muslims who did not repent for committing major sins.

In his reply, al-Musabi rejected the classification of Ibadhis as Mu’tazilis, discussed the two other points on vision and abiding in Hell, and gave his answers to the linguistic and grammatical questions by the questioner.320

The second rejoinder (Jawab) was to a letter from the city of Algiers also by an anonymous Sunni. It appears that the Sunni writer referred to Ibadhis, in his letter, variously as Mu’tazilis, Mariqah, or Rafidah. He also accused them of hating Abu Bakr, Umar, and Ali and claimed that they name their sacrificial animals with the names of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Ali then kill them!! Again, before refuting these accusations, al-Musabi outlined the Ibadhi aqidah.

His son Abu Ya’qub Yusuf b. Muhammad al-Musabi wrote a long letter to Ahmad Pasha the ruler of Tripoli, (1123 - 1158 H.),321 concerning the testimony of the Ibadhis. It is reported that this event took place in the year 1155 H. In the introduction to his letter, al-Musabi stated that the reason for writing it was that a group of Ibadhis from Jerba Island had testified in a case in the court of Ahmad Pasha, but some learned men had told him that their testimony was not to be accepted - thus creating anxiety and perplexity. Therefore he presented the Ibadhi creed, and discussed the question of testimony using Sunni and Maliki sources.323

The aqidah included in the response of Muhammad al-Musabi is the same aqidah included in the responses of his son Yusuf b. Muhammad al-Musabi. it is not known whether this creed was composed by Muhammad al-Musabi or was written earlier, but it was certainly not one of the previously mentioned creeds.324

A number of works of this nature were written by Muhammad Yusuf Atfaiyish