Ibadi thought between the Mashriq and the Maghrib: Institutional continuity and societal transformation in Oman and Algeria

Abstract

    This study explores the trajectories of Ibadi thought in Oman and Algeria by examining the factors that contributed to its institutional continuity in the Omani case and its societal transformation in the Algerian experience. The importance of the topic lies in its attempt to explain the relationship between religious thought and political and social structures, and to show how institutional contexts can shape either the continuity of ideas or the transformation of their historical functions. The study aims to explain why Ibadi thought followed two different historical paths despite sharing the same doctrinal foundations, while highlighting the role of political authority and social institutions in shaping these divergent outcomes.

  The study is guided by a central question: to what extent did political and institutional structures contribute to the institutional continuity of Ibadi thought in Oman, while leading to a model of societal continuity in Algeria after the collapse of the Rustamid state? In addressing this issue, the research also examines a number of related questions concerning the role of political authority, social organization, and religious and educational institutions in reproducing or transforming Ibadi thought.

  Methodologically, the study adopts an integrative approach that combines comparative analysis, structuralism, and political anthropology, while also drawing on perspectives from the sociology of religion and institutional theory. The research relies on a wide range of historical and doctrinal sources, including classical Ibadi chronicles, modern historical studies, and sociological literature dealing with the Imamate system in Oman and the ʿAzzāba institution in the M’zab Valley of Algeria.

  The findings demonstrate that the Omani experience represents a model of institutional continuity in which Ibadi thought became integrated into the structures of governance, education, and the judiciary through the Imamate system, ensuring its long-term presence within the public sphere. By contrast, the Algerian experience reflects a model of functional transformation and societal continuity, as the collapse of the Rustamid state shifted Ibadi thought from centralized political authority to localized social frameworks, particularly through the ʿAzzāba system, which assumed major religious, educational, and social functions, thereby preserving Ibadi identity. The study concludes that the continuity and transformation of religious thought are shaped not only by doctrinal content but also by the political and institutional environments in which it operates, highlighting the close relationship among state, society, and the continuity of intellectual systems in Islamic history.

Keywords: Ibadi Thought, Oman, Algeria, Institutional Continuity, Societal Continuity.