Self-defining through Faith: the walāya and barā’a dynamics among the early Ibādis

The Ibāḍī ethical principles reveal a rigorous conception of life and faith. Sinful actions entail the loss of the state of purity and render the sinner unfit to participate in religious rites. This moral austerity leads the Ibāḍis to refute any kind of innovation, laxity or modern ideas and to interpret the ancient precepts in the most rigorous fashion. Salvation can only be achieved through prayer, pious living and hard work. Ibāḍis show a strong cohesion as a group set apart, which has its dogmatic basis in the concepts of walāya and barā’a (association and dissociation), namely the duty of friendliness towards individuals who carry out the precepts of religion in a satisfactory manner, and conversely, the duty of hostility against those who do not deserve to be called believers. The doctrine of walāya and barā’a has its counterpart in orthodox belief only as regards the general duty of solidarity with the faithful and hostility toward infidels.