Eighth Conference on Ibadi Studies

(TOKYO - 20-23 MAY 2017)

A Medieval Ibāḍī
Tawḥīd in Berber:
Some considerations
Vermondo Brugnatelli
University of Milano-Bicocca
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

Berber manuscripts:

T = Bibliothèque Nationale de
Tunis Ms.Or. 2550 (“Kitāb al
Barbariyyah”)

M = “Manuscrit Rebillet”,
photocopies in possession of
Muhammad U-Madi

B = Ms owned by Ouahmi Ould-

Braham
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

Index of the Berber text (T = Tunis ; M = Ou Madi ; B = Ould Braham)

1. Kitāb al-Tawḥīd T ― B
2. Kitāb al-Ṣalāt T M B
3. Kitāb al-Zakā T M B
4. Kitāb al-Ṣiyyām T M B
5. Kitāb al-Nikāḥ T M ―
6. Kitāb al-Ṭalāq (al-Kabīr) T. M B
7. Kitāb al-Ṭalāq (al-Saġīr) T M ―
8. Kitāb al-Naḥla wa al-hiba ― M ―
9. Kitāb al-Wiṣāya ― M B
10. Kitāb al-Diyāt T M B
11. Kitāb al-ʾašriba wa al-ḥudūd T M ―
12. Kitāb al-Šahadāt T ― ―
13. Kitāb al-Buyūʿ wa al-aḥkām T ― ―
14. Kitāb al-Aḥkām wa al-aqḍiya T ― ―
15. Kitāb Šarḥ al-Buyūʿ wa al-aḥkām T ― ―
16. Kitāb al-Ribā T ― ―
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

A new manuscript
of the Berber Tawḥīd:
a copy made by
Auguste Bossoutrot
(ca 1900), 13 pages
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

The Berber Tawḥīd

Ms. Tunis Or. 2550

f 1b f 1a

f 2b f 2a

f 3a
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

Sachau, E. “Über die Religiösen Anschauungen der Ibaditischen

Muhammedaner in Oman and Ostafrika.” Mitthelungen des Seminars für
Orientalische Sprachen. vol. II, 1899, 47-82.

Motylinski, A. de Calassanti-: “L’Aqida des Abadhites”. In: Recueil de

mémoires et de textes publié en l’honneur du XIVe Congrès des Orientalistes
par les professeurs de l’École supérieure des lettres et des medersas. Alger
1905, 505–545.

Rubinacci, R.: “La professione di fede di al-Ǧannāwūnī”. In: Annali

dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli, n.s. 14, 1964, 553–595.
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

Abdulraḥman al-Salimi & Wilfred

Madelung (eds.) Early Ibāḍi Theology.
Six kalām texts by ʿAbd Allāh b. Yazīd al-
Fazārī. Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2014.

(Kitāb al-tawḥīd fī muʿrīfat Allāh - Book

of Monotheism in the Recognition of
God, p. 153-198)
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

CONTENTS
[f. 1a, 1-19]
The ḥuǧǧa (‘the proof / argument’)
— of God
— of the Prophet
— : evidence against/in favour of men

[f. 1a, 19-f. 2b, l. 14]

The ʾamr (‘the order (of God)’)

[f. 2b, l. 14-f. 3a, 7]

Agreement/disagreement among fuqahāʾ concerning the ʾamr
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

CONTENTS
Scheme of ʾamr:

[1] masmūʿ / [2] ġayr masmūʿ

[2] ġayr masmūʿ

[2.1] kun ibtidāʾan; [2.2] kun fānin; [2.3] kun iʿādatan; [2.4] kun bāqin

[1] masmūʿ
[1.2] ġayr ilzām ([1.2.1] ʾamru taʾdībin ; [1.2.2] ʾamru tahdīdin; [1.2.3]
ʾamru taḥrīḍin; [1.2.4] ʾamru taḫliyatin; [1.2.5] ʾamrun mubāḥun)

[1.1] ilzām
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

CONTENTS

[1.1] ilzām
[1.1.1] mā yasaʿu
[1.1.1.1] mā yasaʿu ilâ maǧīʾi waqti-hi wa
[1.1.1.2] mā yasaʿu abadan mā lam yataqāwalū ʿalâ ʾllāh fī-hi ʾl-kaḏibu

[1.1.2] mā lā yasaʿu
[1.1.2.1] mā lā yasaʿu n-nāsa ǧahlu-hu
[1.1.2.2] mā lā yasaʿu n-nāsa fiʿlu-hu
[1.1.2.3] mā lā yasaʿu n-nāsa tarku-hu
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

Tiweḍ lḥuǧǧeṯ en Bab-enneɣ.

Tiweḍ maḏey? ǧ-leḥkem eḏḏ elwaṣf
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

Tiweḍ lḥuǧǧeṯ en Bab-enneɣ.

Tiweḍ maḏey? ǧ-leḥkem eḏḏ elwaṣf

asersur < ʾasar°sūr°> = al-ḥuǧǧa (Bossoutrot)

asersur <ʾsrsūr> = ḥuǧǧa (f. 96a, l. 12)
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

EXPLICATION / TRANSLATION
f. 1b, ll. 3-6:
kun ibtidāʾan yenwa-yasen: «aynuṯeṯ!» aynuṯen
wa kun fānin yenwa-yasen: «efneṯ!» efnen
wa kun iʿādatan yenwa-yasen: «ekkreṯ!» ekkren
wa kun bāqin yenwa-yasen: «ebqeṯ!» ebqen
«farīqun fī ʾl-ǧannati wa farīqun fī s-saʿīri» yenna Bab-enneɣ

‘Order of creation: He said «come into being!» and they came into being
order of annihilation: He said «cease to be!» and they ceased to be
order of resurrection: He said «rise!» and they rose
order of everlasting: He said «stay forever (in Heaven or Hell)» and they stood.
«Some will be in the Garden and some in the blazing flame» says God
{Qur. 42:7}’
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

EXPLICATION / TRANSLATION
f.1a 19-20:
Wa mā maʿnā «lā muntahâ la-hā»? Lā ġāyata la-hā.
Wa mā maʿnā «lā ġāyata la-hā»? Wel tili aymir
(= ‘it has no limits’)
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

EXPLICATION / TRANSLATION
f.1a 19-20:
Wa mā maʿnā «lā muntahâ la-hā»? Lā ġāyata la-hā.
Wa mā maʿnā «lā ġāyata la-hā»? Wel tili aymir
(= ‘it has no limits’)

f. 3a, l. 4-5:
Mā maʿnā «mā lā yasaʿu»? eḏ «mā lā yaḥillu».
Mā maʿnā «mā lā yaḥillu»? eḏ «mā lā yaǧūzu».
Wa mā maʿnā «mā lā yaǧūzu»? d «a we-nneǧǧur».
(= ‘what is not permitted’)
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

CALQUES
f. 1a, l. 12-13:
«ʿala kam min waǧh kānat ʿalay-hi ʾl-ḥuǧǧa?» fa-qul: «ʿalā
waǧhayn...»
1a 20-1b l. 1:
«ɣef mennaw w_wuḏmawen yella alamr? af sen wuḏmawen...»

f. 1b, l. 20-21:
mā lā yasaʿu n-nāsa ǧahlu-hu
d ‘ayisi wel dey-es yetlew unetta ǧ elǧehalt-is’
Arabic wasiʿa ‘be large, wide; be possible, permitted’
Tuareg alwu ‘be large, wide; be indulgent’
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

PROBLEMATIC TRANSLATIONS
f. 2b, l. 12:
tamusni n tmusni n elǧumelt
ay maʿrifa tafsīr al-ǧumla

f. 323a, l. 14-15:
mant tanettaṯ, mant lmeɛna-s, mant tumnunt-is?
mā hiya, mā maʿnā-hā, mā tafsīru-hā?
‘what is she? what is her meaning? what is her explication?’
f. 400a, l. 3:
etfayy = ḍaw ʾaw maʿrifa «light or knowledge»
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

SOME POINTS
[f. 2a, 1-3]
Bab-enneɣ iǧǧen
unetta wel yettwecbih
wel yettweẓri
wel yelli unemru-s ula ǧ-iǧenwan ula i tmura
wel yetterrez ʾas ɣef cra
wel yetɛeḏḏeb ʾas ɣef cra
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

SOME POINTS
[f. 2a, 3-6]

yetterrez af tǧm (= ṭāʿāt) en tmeǧǧa

yettɛeḏḏeb ɣef yir en tmeǧǧa cra ɣel twaḍenneṯ al-ǧawāriḥ
al-ḫamsa

«May musneṯ al-ǧawāriḥ al-ḫamsa?»

al-ǧewāriḥ al-ḫamsa miṯl al-samʿ wa al-baṣr wa al-šamm
wa al-ḏawq wa al-lams.
Bab-enneɣ d anfel en waydin.
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

SOME POINTS
[f. 2a, 8-16]
wel diy-es a necukeṯ ewla eḏ Mxemmeḏ en wass-u ewla eḏ
Mxemmeḏ en wayesliḏ ezzeman-is
Muḥammad al-muḫtār yenna Bab-enneɣ dey tira kutub timezwurin
al-māḍiya
lā faẓẓan wa lā ġalīẓan wa lā ṣaḫḫāban fī l-ʾaswāq wa lā
yamšī bi n-namīmati wa lā yuǧāziyu sayyiʾatan bi sayyiʾatin wa
lākinna-hu yaʿfū wa yaṣfaḥu; ummatu-hu al-ḥāmidūna
yaḥmidūna: yaḥmidūna llāha ʿalâ kulli maǧdin wa yuhallilūna-
hu ʿalâ kulli našazin al-mutawaḍḍiyūna bi ʾaṭrāfi-him al-
mutawazzirūna ʿalâ ʾawsāṭi-him lahum fī ʾāḫiri l-layli dawīyun
ka-dawīyu n-naḥli wa faqhu-hum ka-faqhi l-ʾanbiyāʾi wa ṣufūfu-
hum fī l-qitāli wa ṣ-ṣalāti sawāʾun.
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

SOME POINTS
Tira timezwurin ‘ancient writings’ = Torah, a passage reportedly
quoted by Kaʿb al Aḥbār and consistent with Quran:

{Qur. 3:159} «So by mercy from Allah, (O Muhammad), you were

lenient with them. And if you had been rude (in speech) and harsh in
heart, they would have disbanded from about you...» fa bi mā raḥmatin
min Allāhi linta la-hum wa law kunta faẓẓan ġalīẓa l-qalbi lanfaḍḍū
min ḥawli-ka...
{Qur. 42:40} «and the retribution for an evil act is an evil one like it,
but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation - his reward is (due)
from Allah. Indeed, he does not like wrongdoers» wa ǧazāʾu sayyiʾatin
sayyiʾatun miṯlu-hā fa man ʿafā wa ʾaṣlaḥa fa ʾaǧru-hu ʿalâ llāhi ʾinna-
hu lā yuḥibbu ẓ-ẓālimīna
 A medieval Ibāḍī tawḥīd in Berber

THE END - THANK YOU

tamma Kitāb al-tawḥīd bi-ḥamd Allah wa ḥusn ʿawni-hi wa al-ṣalāt

wa as-salām ʿalā sayyid-nā Muḥammad wa ʾāli-hi wa sallam