Ibadi

Ibadi

The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya (Arabic: الاباضية al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a form of Islam distinct from the Sunni and Shī'ah denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman and Zanzibar. Ibāḑīs can also be found in Algeria, Tunisia, East Africa as well as Libya.

Believed to be an off-shoot of one of the earliest schools, the Khawārij, it is said to have been founded 60 years after the death of the prophet Muḥammad. Historians as well as majority of Muslims believe that the denomination is a reformed Islamic sect, formally known as the Khawārij or Khārijites. However, Ibāḑīs continue to deny any but a passing relation to the Khārijites (Khawārij), and point out that they merely developed out of the same precursor group; and whilst they may hold some beliefs in common, they and the Khārijites were never one and the same.