The Islam from the edge: The role of Ibadi minority in the evolution of Islamic History, Theology and Law

My contribution starts from a question: Why study Islam from the edge? I think that reading Islam from the edge provides with a unique opportunity to chart alternatives to the dominant and Sunnī-centric narratives on Islam. The Sunnī/“orthodox” mainstream and the sectarian/“heterodox” Islam concurred in elaborating historical readings, which are conflicting but, at same time, simultaneous and interdependent. Ibadism is a fundamental (but often forgotten) religious and legal school of Islam which represents nowadays a minority scattered between Oman and North Africa. Having formulated their views early and moved into relative isolation soon thereafter, the Ibāḍīs preserved old doctrines that are no longer extant in the mainstream tradition. Thus, their heritage has a great potential for the reconstruction of Muslim thought in the pre-modern era and for shedding new light on culture and intellectual activity in the Islamic world.