Alsaidia_828_Modified

The present volume contains a first edition of three Arabic treatises by the 'Um?n? Ib??? religious scholar Abu l-Mundhir Bashir b. Mu?ammad b. Ma?b?b (d. ca. 290/908). Two of the texts، K. al-Ra?f fi l-Tawhid 1 (Book of Paving about Divine Unity) and K. al-Mu??raba (Book of Warfare)، were until recently considered lost by western scholars. With their discovery، a significant new source for the study of the development of early Ib??? thought in Oman has become available. The third text، Abu l-Mundhir's so- called S?ra، sets forth his legal opinion condemning the deposition of the 'Um?n? Ib??? Imam al-?alt b. M?lik in 272/886.

The author of the texts، Abu l-Mundhir Bashir، was a grandson of Ab? Sufyan Mahbub b. Ru?ayl، the last leader of the Ba?ran Ib??? community in succession to Wa'il b. Ayyub (d. ca. 190/806) and is thought to have died around 210/825. Ma?b?b visited Oman repeatedly and، according to some sources، moved to ?u??r in Oman before his death، but this seems unlikely، and according to another report he rather died in Mekka. His most famous son، Ab? 'Abd All?h Mu?ammad b. Ma?b?b، is known to have studied first in Ba?ra and later in Oman. He became q??? of ?u??r from 249/863 until his death in 260/873 and was involved in the controversy over the theological doctrine of the created nature of the Qur'an. As he backed this doctrine، he was almost expelled from Oman، since the contemporary Ib??? scholars there were strictly traditionalist in outlook and opposed to the speculative theology of kal?m. Mu?ammad b. Mahbub، however، enjoyed the trust of the contemporary Ib??? Imams of Oman. Both his sons، Abu l-Mundhir Bashir and 'Abd Allah، were born and died in ?u??r.

Abu l-Mundhir became a prominent Ib??? scholar and author of author- itative theological and legal books. His writings reflect expert knowledge of Ib??? religious law and a consistent inclination to rationalist kal?m in contrast to the traditionalist tendency of earlier Ib??? scholarship in Oman. An affinity with the thought of the contemporary Mu'tazili theologian Ab? 'Ali al-Jubb?? (d. 303/915 - 16) is distinctly apparent، although there is no evidence that Abu l-Mundhir ever met al-Jubb??.

1 The full title as given in the manuscripts is: Kit?b al-Rasf fi l-taw?id wa-a?k?m al-Qur'?n wa l-asma' wa l-a?k?m wa l-sunna wa l-im?ma wa-asm?' al-d?r wa-a?k?mih? wa-?ud?th al- '?lam.

2

See J. C. Wilkinson، The Imamate Tradition of Oman، Cambridge 1987، p. 190; P. Crone and F. Zimmermann، The Epistle of S?lim b. Dhakw?n، Oxford 2001، p. 314.