Nukkariyya (),“Deniers,” also called the Nakkara or al-Nakkariyya or Yazidiyya was one of the main branches of

Ibadi Islam Ibadism (, ) is a school of Islam concentrated in Oman established from within the Kharijites. The followers of the Ibadi sect are known as the Ibadis or, as they call themselves, The People of Truth and Integrity (). Ibadism emerged around 60 ...

, founded in 784 by Abu Qudama Yazid ibn Fandin al- Ifrani. Led by

Abu Yazid al-Nukkari Abū Yazīd Makhlad ibn Kaydād Dajjal (; – 19 August 947), was a member of the Ibadi sect. He opposed the Ismaili Shia rule of the Fatimids in North Africa and sought to restore Ibadi dominance in the region. Known as the Man on the Donke ...

, they revolted against the ruling

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

(today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria), conquering

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661� ...

in 944 and laying siege to

Sousse Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which ...

, but were ultimately defeated in 947. The Nukkari were known as "Yazidiyya" due to their founder, Yazid al-Irfani, and had no connection to the Adawiyya Kurds, who were called Yazidiyya due to their reverence of Yazid ibn Muawiya. Remnants of the Nukkari are thought to have survived on the island of

Djerba Djerba (; , ; ), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. Administratively, it is part of Medenine Governorate. The island h ...

. They split from mainstream Ibadism, i.e. the Wahbi. The parent branch of Nukkari, Wahbi Ibadism, was the most mainstream of the

schools of thought A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the perspective of a group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement. ...

within Ibadism, due to the fact that most preserved Ibadi texts can be attributed to Wahbi affiliated scholars. The dating of early Wahbi writings such as kutub al-rudud and siras (letters) has led some analysts such as Salim al-Harithi to claim Ibadism as the oldest sect within Islam. However others suggest Ibadism only took on characteristics of a sect and a full-fledged madhab during the demise of the

Rustamid dynasty The Rustamid dynasty () (or ''Rustumids'', ''Rostemids'') was an Ibadi dynasty of Persian origin which ruled a state that was centered in present-day Algeria. The dynasty governed as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from its capital Ta ...

. The term Wahbi is chiefly derived as an eponymous intimation to the teachings of Abdullah bin Wahb al-Rasibi. Although the term Wahbi was initially considered superfluous as Ibadism was largely homogenous, its usage increased upon the advent of the Nukkari secession in order to differentiate the Wahbis from the off-shoot Ibadis. The most common epithet Wahbi Ibadi clerics enjoined their adherents to apply to themselves is the term ''ahl al istiqama'' meaning ''those on the straight path''. They rejected the usage of ''ahl al -sunnah'' as early usage assigned the term ''sunnah'' as the practise of Muawiyah cursing Ali ibn Abi Talib from the pulpits, although during the Umayyad era, this meaning changed.

References

{{Islamic Theology, schools Ibadi Islam 10th century in Ifriqiya Medieval history of Algeria

See also

References