This publication contains twenty-three texts, most of which were written between the end of the 2nd/8th century and the end of the 3rd/9th century. The majority of them reflect the early stages of the development of the First Ibadi Imamate in 132/750 – established when the Omanis fully seceded from the central state in Baghdad until the Imamate was collapsed by the Abbasids in 280/893. The source value of these Ibadi texts for researchers and scholars specialised in Islamic studies far outweighs any importance they might attach to sectarian history per se.

Abdulrahman al-Salimi (Ph.D Durham 2001), editor of this work, is an Omani scholar. He has published in the field of Omani studies and on early Islamic sources. He is also the editor of al-Jushamī’s (d.494/1101) al-Tahdhīb fī l-tafsīr (Refinement in the Quranic exegesis) (10 volumes), Beirut, 2019.

This publication will be proven relevant for all interested in the formation of early Islamic thought sources, and for scholars and students of Ibadi studies.