Understanding of Islamic law method of al-Ibāḍiyya

Al-Ibāḍiyya emerged in Basra as a continuation of the first al-Khārijītes who opposed the al-taḥkim (the arbitration) in the Battle of Siffīn, which took place among the Islamic community in the first century of Hijrī. As a jurisprudential madhhab, al- Ibāḍiyya has been treated under the umbrella of al-Khārijīs from other sources rather than its own sources. The madhhab's jurisprudence and methodology were overshadowed by the impression left by the negativities in the theological and political fields in the first period. Al-Ibāḍiyya took part in the movement formed after the first al-Khārijī who opposed al-taḥkīm. However, the split that this formation experienced within itself in the later process was not sufficiently taken into consideration by the authors. The fact that al-Ibāḍiyya is mentioned together with other al-Khārijī groups under the umbrella of the al-Khārijīs with a totalist approach forms the basis of many opinions put forward about it. For this reason, in this study, we have dealt with the historical origin, birth and formation of the Al-Ibāḍiyya madhhab in general and its understanding of the uṣūl al-fiqh in particular, based on the sources of the madhhab, without neglecting the classical sources. In the study, we have seen that the approach of al-Ibāḍīs and the approach of al-Ibāḍīs to al-Ibāḍiyya madhhab in general and to fiqh and uṣūl al-fiqh in particular in the sources other than al-Ibāḍiyya are different from each other. We examined the Ibāḍīs' understanding of the uṣūl al-fiqh through basic issues such as the proofs they relied on, their methods of deduction, the methods of ta'āruḍ (conflict), tarjīḥ (preference among the proofs) and their approach to ijtihād and taqlīd. In the research, we found that many views on fiqh and its methodology, which were attributed to al-Ibāḍiyya under al-Khārijī umbrella or directly, were not confirmed by al-Ibāḍī sources. It can be argued that the sect's jurisprudential thought continued to be largely influenced by the Ahl al-Sunnah, especially the mutakallimīn (theologian) uṣūlists. In general, the disagreements of the al-Ibāziyya with the Ahl al- Sunnah in matters of the uṣūl al-fiqh are not much different from the disagreements of the sects of the Ahl al-Sunnah among themselves. To summarise, al-Ibādiyya advocates an understanding of uṣūl based on Qur'ān, Sunnah, ijmā', qiyās and istidlāl.