Nukkar (Nukkariyya)

Nukkar (Nukkariyya) is recorded within Ibadi Islam. The sources read do not establish whether it is extant. Also written Nukkariyya, Nakkar, Yazidiyya (after the early Ibadi scholar 'Abdullah b. Yazid al-Fazari), Mulhida (hostile label).

Origin

Founder named in the sources: Abu Qudama Yazid b. Fandin al-Yafrani (the group is defined by adherence to his principles; the source does NOT call him a founder, and no founder is asserted). No founding year is given below, because the sources read do not agree on one and a date has not been chosen for them. No founding year is given by the source and none is asserted. Demir records the sequence: the Ibadis of the Maghrib first prevailed against the Abbasids at Tripolitania and Qayrawan under the Yemeni-born Abu'l-Khattab al-Ma'afiri (d. 144/761); after his killing they founded the Rustamid state under the governor of Qayrawan, 'Abd al-Rahman b. Rustam (160-297/777-909). Contrary to the Ibadi principle that the imam is chosen by the community, 'Abd al-Rahman appointed his own son 'Abd al-Wahhab as imam. Abu Qudama Yazid b. Fandin al-Yafrani, one of the six members of the shura that 'Abd al-Rahman had constituted on the model of 'Umar, withheld his bay'a; division and conflict followed among the Ibadis, Abu Qudama was killed, and his supporters settled at Tripoli with Shu'ayb b. Ma'ruf. The naming is the source's: Ibadis who accepted 'Abd al-Wahhab b. 'Abd al-Rahman, the second Rustamid imam, were called WAHBI; Ibadis who did not recognise him and adopted Abu Qudama's principles were called NUKKAR, glossed by the source as 'those who deny'. The Nukkariyya became an independent movement in usul and 'aqa'id, following 'Abdullah b. 'Abd al-'Aziz and Abu'l-Mu'arrikh in fiqh and Hatim b. Mansur and 'Abdullah b. Yazid al-Fazari in kalam. Both 'Nukkar' and the alternative names the source reports for them (Yazidiyya, Mulhida) are outsider labels; no self-designation is recorded in any source reached.