Page 211 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

The Omani Manuscript Collection at Muscat 201
until A. Isfoaq Ibrahim b. Qays’s time in the first half of the
5th/11th century (W.35) that the Hadramls acquired a sharlImam:
and, when the two states did link up for a short while, A. Ishaq put
himself under the command of the Omani Imam al-Khalil b.
Shadhan in accordance with the rules deriving from the basic
principle that there cannot be two Imams in a mi$r.
The election of a sharl Imam, however, was a serious under­
taking for not only had the community to fulfil its side of the
bargain but it had also to be very sure of its leader. This was, first,
because the rules which permitted removal from office of a sharl
Imam were far stricter than those applying to an Imam ‘ala ’l-difa\
and, secondly, because they automatically armed him with full
command of the shurat, religious warriors with a marked propen­
sity to lapse back into their primitive tribal habits if not properly
controlled. Hence in electing some of the early Imams there is
sometimes a sharp difference of opinion amongst the ‘u/ama’about
whether to accord sharl status or not.
Another issue which begins to arise in the troubled times at the
end of the 5th/ 11th century is that of the </a‘i/ Imam. This is
treated by Qa<JIs A. Muhammad al-Kha<Jir (W.48) and A. ‘Abdul­
lah Muhammad b. ‘Isa al-Sirri (J.M. 9 iic) both of whom were
concerned by the frequency with which those who ought to know
better were beginning to say that the Imam was only a figurehead:
‘all the rulings from the past are that a learned Imam must be i
chosen. But if they are not able to do so and are afraid that they
and their country might fall into the hands of jababirah wa-ahl
al-khilaf‘ and if they can only find a leader who is qalil al-(ilm
wa-da‘If al-ba$Trah, but who nevertheless is a member of the
community and enjoys confidence, then they may elect him on the
condition that he does not act without the advice of the ahl al-‘ilm.
This must be spelt out to him in detail and it must be made quite
clear to him that he has only been chosen through force
majeure ... He must not act without advice in things in which he
has no competence’.

C. Relationships with jababirah
The basic principle, and it is in this that the Ibatjls fundamentally
differ from extremist Khawarij schools such as the Azariqah, is
that all other Muslims are ahl al-qiblah and that the IbadI state
alone forms part of the Dar al-Islam. Eventually it should reform
the whole so that the true Muslim state founded by the Prophet is
re-created. In the meantime Iba<JIs must live with their fellow
Muslims and come to terms with their unconstitutional (jababirah)