Legal and Theological Dimensions of Slavery in an Early Ibāḍī Text
Introduction The text translated below, edited by the prolific Abdulrahman al-Salimi, is excerpted from an epistle authored by the Ibāḍī qāḍī Abū ʿAlī Mūsā b. ʿAlī (d. 237/851) on behalf of the Omani Imam al-Muhannā b. Jayfar (r. 226/841-237/851) addressed to Muʿādh b. Ḥarb (d.?).[1] According to al-Salimi, the text “discusses a number of theological and legal questions that were currently preoccupying the people of Oman.”[2] His edition is based on four manuscripts of the text found in various public and private libraries in…