Jabir ibn Zayd

Jabir ibn Zayd, also known as Abu al-Sha'tha Jabir ibn Zayd al-Yahmadi al-Azdi, was an Islamic scholar and theologian from the Tabi'un, the second generation of Muslims. He is recognized as one of the founding figures of the Ibadis, the third major denomination of Islam, and took leadership of the denomination after the death of Abd-Allah ibn Ibadh. Born in the village of Firaq, near modern-day Nizwa in Oman, he was a student of two prominent early Muslims: Aisha, the widow of the Prophet Muhammad, and Abd Allah ibn Abbas, the Prophet’s cousin.

As a tabi'i, his learning came directly from these Companions, and he later transmitted many hadith from various other Companions, forming the core of Ibadi legal interpretation. His relationship with the powerful Umayyad governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf was initially friendly, as al-Hajjaj viewed the Ibadi movement as a moderate branch of the Khawarij, useful as a counterweight to more extreme factions. This ended after Ibn Zayd ordered the execution of one of al-Hajjaj's spies, which led many Ibadis to be either imprisoned or exiled to Oman.

After the death of Ibn Ibad, Ibn Zayd led the Ibadis to Oman where the aḥādīth ṣaḥīḥat al-isnād he narrated from different companions of Muhammad formed the corpus of the Ibadi interpretation of Islamic law. Ibn Zayd is highly respected not only within his own denomination but also among Sunni Muslims, who regard him with a prestige comparable to that of Hasan of Basra. He is the most frequently cited transmitter in the Jami'ul Sahih, one of the two principal hadith collections of the Ibadis, cementing his central role in preserving and shaping their religious tradition.