The Diptych
Ibadi Islam and Islam
Ibadi Islam stands as a Branch; Islam stands as a Worldview. This comparison renders under slot registry version 1.0, in the registry's fixed order. The Diptych displays; it does not score, rank, or adjudicate.
Coverage: Ibadi Islam has 5 sections documented and 2 partial; its evaluative coverage is pending. Islam has 6 sections documented and 10 partial; its evaluative coverage is pending.
1. In its own words
The entity stated in its own words: its self-description, before any external description.
Ibadi Islam
Ibadi Islam descends from the Kharijite secession of the first Islamic century, moderated early into a tradition of elected imams, congregational discipline, and quiet endurance. It is neither Sunni nor Shia, and it survives as the majority tradition of Oman with communities in North and East Africa.
Source: The Musnad of al-Rabi ibn Habib.
Confidence: high
Islam
Islam began with the Prophet Muhammad's preaching in Mecca and Medina and divided within a generation over the succession to his leadership. That first division, and the schools of law and theology that grew from it, structure the tradition to this day, and this tree models them as first-class entities rather than as notes under a single heading.
Source: The Qur'an.
Confidence: high
2. Scale and spread
How large the entity is and where it is found: adherents, bodies, and geography, with sources.
Ibadi Islam
Ibadi Islam counts a few million adherents. Oman is its demographic and scholarly center, where Ibadis form a large share of the population, with older communities in Algeria's M'zab valley, Libya's Nafusa mountains, Tunisia's Djerba, and Zanzibar.
Source: Valerie J. Hoffman, The Essentials of Ibadi Islam (Syracuse University Press, 2012).
Confidence: high
Islam
Islam counts about 1.9 billion adherents, roughly a quarter of the world's people, and is the majority faith in 49 countries. The largest national population is Indonesia's; the Asia-Pacific region holds the most Muslims, ahead of the Middle East and North Africa.
The range inside, as documented:
- Sunni Islam: The majority tradition of Islam, which holds that leadership after the Prophet passed by the community's choice and consensus, and orders its life by the Qur'an, the Sunna, and the schools of law.
- Shia Islam: The tradition that holds leadership of the community belonged by designation to Ali and the Prophet's household, carried by the doctrine of the Imamate.
- Ibadi Islam: The tradition descended from the moderate wing of the first secession, which elects its imam on merit and survives today chiefly in Oman.
Source: Pew Research Center, 'The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050' (2015).
Confidence: high
4. Sources of authority
What the entity treats as authoritative: its scriptures, creeds, councils, and reference works.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
5. Ultimate reality
What the entity holds to be ultimately real.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
6. The human person
What the entity holds a human person to be: nature, dignity, and destiny.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
7. Problem and solution
The entity's account of what is wrong and how it is set right.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
8. Ethics and hard cases
The entity's moral teaching and how it meets the hard cases.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
9. Practice and devotion
How the entity is practiced: worship, prayer, devotion, and the calendar.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
Islam
Partial coverage
- Ṣalāh; The Five Daily Prayers
- Jumuʿah; The Friday Prayer
- Dhikr; The Remembrance of God
- The Hajj
- The Ramadan Fast
- Salah, the Daily Prayers
- Shahada
- Al-Fatiha
Confidence: moderate
10. Community and governance
How the entity is organized: its bodies, offices, and the directory of its communities.
Islam
Partial coverage
The range inside, as documented:
- Sunni Islam: The majority tradition of Islam, which holds that leadership after the Prophet passed by the community's choice and consensus, and orders its life by the Qur'an, the Sunna, and the schools of law.
- Ibadi Islam: The tradition descended from the moderate wing of the first secession, which elects its imam on merit and survives today chiefly in Oman.
- Ahmadiyya: The movement founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the promised Mahdi and Messiah, a claim the wider Muslim world does not accept.
Confidence: moderate
11. Art and material culture
The entity's art and material culture, drawn from the Religious Art section.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
Islam
Partial coverage
Confidence: moderate
12. Science and technology posture
The entity's posture toward science and technology.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
Islam
Partial coverage
- Islamic Golden Age
- Contemporary
- Islamic
- The telescope
- Evolution by natural selection
- Vaccination
- Gene editing and the germline
- Climate and creation
Confidence: moderate
13. Internal diversity
The range inside the entity: its branches, schools, and movements, each in its own terms.
Ibadi Islam
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
Islam
The range inside, as documented:
- Sunni Islam: The majority tradition of Islam, which holds that leadership after the Prophet passed by the community's choice and consensus, and orders its life by the Qur'an, the Sunna, and the schools of law.
- Shia Islam: The tradition that holds leadership of the community belonged by designation to Ali and the Prophet's household, carried by the doctrine of the Imamate.
Confidence: high
17. Contested history
The points of the entity's history that are contested, and by whom.
Islam
Partial coverage
The range inside, as documented:
- Sunni Islam: The majority tradition of Islam, which holds that leadership after the Prophet passed by the community's choice and consensus, and orders its life by the Qur'an, the Sunna, and the schools of law.
- Shia Islam: The tradition that holds leadership of the community belonged by designation to Ali and the Prophet's household, carried by the doctrine of the Imamate.
- Ibadi Islam: The tradition descended from the moderate wing of the first secession, which elects its imam on merit and survives today chiefly in Oman.
Confidence: moderate
20. Sources
Ibadi Islam
- The Musnad of al-Rabi ibn Habib.
- Valerie J. Hoffman, The Essentials of Ibadi Islam (2012).
Islam
- The Qur'an.
- Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization (2003).
Citations resolve to the site's References register as that rebuild lands; exports of this comparison stand under the tools above.
| Section | Ibadi Islam | Islam |
|---|---|---|
| In its own words | populated: Ibadi Islam descends from the Kharijite secession of the first Islamic century, moderated early into a tradition of elected imams, congregational discipline, and quiet endurance. It is neither Sunni nor Shia, and it survives as the majority tradition of Oman with communities in North and East Africa. | populated: Islam began with the Prophet Muhammad's preaching in Mecca and Medina and divided within a generation over the succession to his leadership. That first division, and the schools of law and theology that grew from it, structure the tradition to this day, and this tree models them as first-class entities rather than as notes under a single heading. |
| Scale and spread | populated: Ibadi Islam counts a few million adherents. Oman is its demographic and scholarly center, where Ibadis form a large share of the population, with older communities in Algeria's M'zab valley, Libya's Nafusa mountains, Tunisia's Djerba, and Zanzibar. | populated: Islam counts about 1.9 billion adherents, roughly a quarter of the world's people, and is the majority faith in 49 countries. The largest national population is Indonesia's; the Asia-Pacific region holds the most Muslims, ahead of the Middle East and North Africa. |
| Historical timeline | populated | populated |
| Sources of authority | not documented | partial |
| Ultimate reality | not documented | partial |
| The human person | not documented | partial |
| Problem and solution | not documented | partial |
| Ethics and hard cases | not documented | partial |
| Practice and devotion | not documented | partial |
| Community and governance | partial | partial |
| Art and material culture | not documented | partial |
| Science and technology posture | not documented | partial |
| Internal diversity | not documented | populated |
| Contributions | not documented | not documented |
| Internal critique | not documented | not documented |
| External critique and reply | not documented | not documented |
| Contested history | partial | partial |
| What each says about the other | not documented | not documented |
| What this comparison cannot settle | populated: This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. | populated: This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. |
| Sources | populated | populated |