Abstrakt: |
The Ibādī sect of Islam originated in Iraq during the first/seventh century, but missionaries soon travelled west to the Maghrib where many Berbers, who had already converted to Islam, became followers. The Ibādī missionary effort culminated with the establishment of an Ibādī Imamate by 'Abd al-Rahmān ibn Rustam in about AH 160/AD 776. Many Berber tribes in North Africa became affiliated with this state while establishing good relations with the Aghlabids, who then ruled modem-day Tunisia and Tripolitania. When the Aghlabids launched their conquest of Sicily in 212/827, members of Ibādī Berber tribes were among the Muslim forces. With the establishment of Muslim rule on the island, Ibādī tribes from North Africa began to settle there. Arabic and Ibādī historical sources suggest that their communities in Sicily became part of the Ibādī trade network that flourished between sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean. The rise of lbādī commercial interests on the island may have led Ibādīs there into conflict with the new Fātimid state that replaced Aghlabid rule. It seems possible that some of the struggles between the Muslims of Sicily and the Fātimid central government in Ifrīqiya were due to Fātimid attempts to control the lbādī trade network and to undermine the economic power of the Ibādī tribes on the island, much as they had done in North Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |