Abu al-Sha'tha Jabir ibn Zayd al-Yahmadi al-Azdi was an Islamic scholar, theologian and one of the founding figures of the Ibadis,[1] the third major denomination of Islam. He was from the Tabi‘un, or second generation of Islam, and took leadership of the denomination after the death of Abd-Allah ibn Ibadh.[2] [3]
Ibn Zayd was born in the village of Firaq, near modern-day Nizwa in Oman.[1] As a tabi'i from the second generation of Muslims, he was a student of Prophet Muhammad's widow Aisha and cousin Abd Allah ibn Abbas.[1]
Umayyad governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf had friendly relations with Ibn Zayd personally, as the former viewed the Ibadi denomination as a more moderate branch of the Khawarij that could be used as a bulwark against the more extreme adherents.[2] 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.[2] 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.[3]
Ibn Zayd is well respected by both his denomination as well as adherents of Sunni Islam, holding roughly the same level of prestige as the Sunnis' own Hasan of Basra.[1] He is the most commonly cited transmitter in Jami'ul Sahih, one of the two hadith collections of the Ibadis.[4]