Corrections concerning Dr. John Andrew Morrow’s statements about Ibadism.

“And don’t mix the truth with the falsehood, or conceal the truth while you know.” (Qur’an 2:42)

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There was a recent interview with Dr. John Andrew Morrow on the Bridging Minds Channel on YouTube. I would encourage those who visit Prima Qur’an to subscribe to the following channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bridgingminds7512 -the channel is in its infancy and insh’Allah good things will follow.

“And don’t mix the truth with the falsehood, or conceal the truth while you know.” (Qur’an 2:42)

I lead with this particular verse because as a Muslim I am dutybound not to conceal the truth when I know what it is.

Also, unfortunately our school, the Ibadi school has a great deal of misunderstandings surrounding it and we take opportunities when and where we can to clarify these misunderstandings.

I believe that this article will also prove that being in academia does not necessarily entail that a person is well informed on a particular matter.

Case in point. Let us look at Brother Dr. John Andrew Morrow’s impressive CV- curriculum vitae.

“Dr. John Andrew Morrow is a professor, research scholar, and author. He has three degrees from the University of Toronto: an Honors BA with double majors in Spanish and French Language and Literature, as well as an MA and a PhD in Spanish American Literature.”

“After completing his PhD, he pursued post-doctoral studies in the Arabic language at the Arabic Language Institute in Fez, the University of Utah’s Middle East Center, and the Qalam wa Lawh Center in Rabat.”

“Dr. Morrow has been an undergraduate and graduate faculty member at numerous universities, holding the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor, Program Head, and Department Head. He has taught at the University of Toronto, Park University, Northern State University, and Eastern New Mexico University, receiving student impact, performance, and leadership awards for outstanding teaching and service. “

“Dr. Morrow has also been a Visiting Researcher at Harvard University, Purdue University, and the University of Chicago. In the Fall of 2011, he served as professor of Spanish, English, and Religious Studies for the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea Program. A specialist in Hispanic, Native, and Arabic-Islamic Studies, he has lectured worldwide in his areas of expertise.”

“His research interests include the Amerindian influence on Spanish American poetry, the Arabic and Islamic influence on Spanish and French literature, Aljamiado literature, Arabic sociolinguistics, Islamic Studies, and herbal medicine. A prolific, internationally recognized researcher and writer, Dr. Morrow has hundreds of scholarly, literary and artistic publications to his credit, including: “The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World,” “Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on Sacred Symbolism,” “The Encyclopedia of Islamic Herbal Medicine,” “Amerindian Elements in the Poetry of Ernesto Cardenal,” “Islamic Insights: Writings and Reviews,” “Amerindian Elements in the Poetry of Rubén Darío,” “Arabic, Islam, and the Allah Lexicon,” ” The Book of Divine Unity,” “El islam shiita: ¿ortodoxia o heterodoxia?,” “Shiite Islam: Orthodoxy or Heterodoxy?,” and “Humanos casi humanos.”

Source: (https://www.litencyc.com/php/members/showprofile.php?contribid=49777)

Brother Kamal Southall and Brother Dr. John Andrew Morrow were having a really great back and forth conversation, sharing information. It is when the conversation became more free that there were some comments made about the Ibadi school that caught my attention.

The conversation begins at around @1:13:19

Brother Kamal was leading in with ISIS having what he believes to be a khariji tendency.

Dr. John Morrow: “and I believe it’s true it’s true and I’ve condemned the Khawarij a lot in the past as well but I’ve reconsidered my assessment of them. I mean there again it’s their enemies who wrote these narratives and demonized them. There are some good things about the Ibadis that you know I came to discover. Um so yeah!”

Brother Kamal: “That’s a good point!”

Dr. John Morrow: “Now, now for example, okay? So again the Khawarij, the Khawarij okay, their, their demonized by the Sunnis and by the Shi’a; and of course I did the same thing. I said you know what I’m going to study Ibadi literature. I’m going to connect with Ibadis and get to the bottom of this.” “They’re very moderate people by and large. They’re quite tolerant. They’re not very strict about hijab or things like that. Any how, so they they repudiate they repudiate the extreme Khawarij of the past. But in any event okay so these people revolted.
Nobody questions why they revolted. Okay so, okay why did they revolt? Alright, so you have Ali on one side and then you have Muawiya on the other side, and Aisha, and all of these people. Okay? So, on the side Muawiya they believe that the Caliphate belongs only to the tribe of Quraysh. This is like even in Sunni-you know doctrine and everything. It belongs to Quraysh that’s that. Okay, that’s a type of dynasty.”

Brother Kamal: “Right.”

Dr. John Morrow: “I’m sorry it’s very racist too. It’s supremacist, it’s a type of dynasty and monarchy and so on. On the other side you have Ali and he says nuh-uh my family only my family. But the funny thing about the Shi’a they can never agree as to who was part of this family or which member should be the successor. And each time an Imam died they would break up into even more factions; everyone fighting for this and that. Even within the same family. Okay they say oh Imam Jafir As-Sadiq was the successor. Well, his brother thought he was the successor too. And you had brothers fighting each other. It was just like any kingdom, they were fighting for power. So, okay and what was the point of the view of the Khawarij? Any just knowledgeable Muslim can aspire to leadership? Hello? Egalitarian.
Based on Shura, every democratic. It was not a dynasty, it wasn’t a monarchy. So, wait a second are these guys really so, so know I’ve compared Isis to the khawarij. But I was wrong. That’s not what they were fighting for. You know the other thing that revolted them? The marriage of 9-year-old girls. They thought that was the sickest thing they had ever heard of.”

Brother Kamal: “The Ibadis?”

Dr. John Morrow: “The Khawarij, the Ibadis.”

Dr. John Morrow: “This is one of the reasons they revolted. They said what the F? No way in hell! Now wait a second these are Tabi’un. Some of these people are sahabas. They had a radically different understanding of the message of this religion, and it’s practices. They didn’t buy this child marriage thing.”

Brother Kamal: “I don’t either.” Dr. John Morrow: “I don’t either.”

Prima-Qur’an comments:

There is a lot to unpack here. 

First and foremost, the good. I want to thank my brother, Dr. John Andrew Morrow (Imam Ilyas ‘Abd al-‘Alim Islam) for being humble enough to walk back associations of Isis with the Khawarij. (Though he is not entirely mistaken-will come to this).

I think that all of us, as lovers of truth and people who pursue truth, need to amend positions when mistaken. I was dismayed that the terms Ibadi and Khawrij were swapped out and interchangeable. However, we are getting there.  What I mean by ‘getting there’ is that there is a willingness to go beyond the Sunni paintbrush of their opponents. This I am grateful for. May Allah (swt) bless him for this.

To admit to making mistakes is a sign of true moral character and real moral strength. Not many people can do that. We must always be right. 

Points of concern and outright shock.

1. “They’re not very strict about hijab or things like that.”

I am not quite sure what brother, Dr. John Morrow based this on?

 If it was a book of jurisprudence, could he cite it? 

Did he have interactions with people who identified as ‘Ibadi’ and were flippant in regard to their dress code? 

I have to ask these questions because the ‘Ibadi’ school takes the Khimar, what Dr. John calls ‘the hijab’ very seriously. Modest dress for Muslim men and women is a very important matter for us. It is a matter of obeying Allah and his Messenger.

In fact, the Mufti of Oman says it is preferable for women to wear a niqab if possible.  Though he does not say it is proved by the Qur’an and Sunnah. 

One of our teachers that we have theology classes with, Shaykh Juma Al Mazruii, cleared up wide-eyed rumors and speculation circulating around Reddit.

The Ibadi school and the Niqab

Negligence with regard to a modest dress code is considered a sin by us. I personally have not known any of our scholars or teachers to be lax in regard to the ‘khimar’ or hijab.

So I am not sure what that statement is based upon.

Why did many of the companions and successors leave the army of Imam Ali? 

1.   “But in any event, okay, so these people revolted.
   Nobody questions why they revolted. Okay so, okay, why did they revolt?”

It is clear that brother, Dr. John Morrow is of the understanding that it was primarily done to who should lead the Muslims. I am here as an Ibadi to tell you that this is not the case at all. The primary reason for leaving the camp of Ali was his decision to arbitrate on matters in which Allah (swt) made his judgement clear.

This is explained in our article here:

What really happened at the battle of Siffin? The Ibadi perspective.

Now, we do say that one of the motivations for Ali attacking the Muslims at Nahrawan was from Al-Ash’ath bin Qais, an individual who did not want to see the Imamate leave the Quraysh. For Imam Abdul-Allah bin Wahab Ar-Rasbi Al-Azdi (r) appointed Imam was not from the Quraysh. But this was not ‘THE’ reason to leave the camp of Ali.

Let us think about this logically as well. If that was ‘THE’ reason, then why be in the camp of Ali to begin with?

Ibadi’s predecessors revolted against Ali because he was a supporter of 9-year-old child marriages?!!

1. “You know the other thing that revolted them? The marriage of a 9-year-old girl. They thought that was the sickest thing they had ever heard of.”
2. “This is one of the reasons they revolted. They said “What the F? No way in hell!” Now wait a second. These are Tabi’un. Some of these people are sahabas. They had a radically different understanding of the message of this religion and its practices. They didn’t buy this child marriage thing.”

Now I have seen some academics make mistakes -we all do. However, I have to be quite honest in saying these are some of the wildest assertions yet!

This is the wildest assertion attributed to our school that I have ever seen! I am going to attribute these statements to the free flow of the discussion and perhaps there were many thoughts swirling around and somewhere things got lost in the conversation. 

There are many thoughts here.

1. First and foremost is, what is the source of this?!
2. This actually goes against all those people who are arguing against child marriage! All those liberals, Hafs-only Quranists, modernists are now shaking their heads and wondering what on Earth? Because now what our brother, Dr. John Morrow has effectively done is to assert that this (child marriage) was indeed held by early Muslims, many of them companions and successors, and that Muslims had a major war over this!
3. Considering that the Ibadi predecessors were the muhakima that split from Ali’s camp and they (the Ibadi predecessors are portrayed as saying: “What the F No way in hell” this must mean that Ali and his supporters were gung ho for child marriages? How can one not draw this conclusion based upon the data given?
4. Considering that it is suggested that Ali and his supporters were gung ho for child marriages, should we then understand that Imami and Zaydi Shi’i are pro-child marriage?
5. Considering the person in question -Aisha (ra) was not anywhere near Siffin, how would she not play a role in any of that?

I have shared my concerns with Brother Kamal -who is a very good friend, close brother and sincere Muslim. May Allah bless him and bless his channel.

I have to write things like this because our school is terribly misunderstood and maligned. Brother Dr. John Morrow has shown his willingness to backtrack statements. Which is the sign of a sincere believer. May Allah love him.

I hope that maybe in the future he can clarify some of these statements. 

For those who are keen and interested in learning more about the Ibadi school from Ibadi sources, I would kindly direct your attention to our resource page here:

Ahl al-Haqq Wa-l istiqama Resource Page

I would highly recommend you read from the resource page:

Al-Khawarij Reality Or Legend 1

Alkhawarij Reality Or Legend 2

AL-KHAWARIJ REALITY OR LEGEND 3

Ibadhism: The Cinderella Story of Islam. This is an excellent book by the noble Sheikh Soud H. Al-Ma’awaly (May Allah continue to benefit us by him)

https://primaquran.com/2023/02/18/the-differences-between-ibadis-and-khawarij/

May Allah Guide the Ummah.

May Allah Forgive the Ummah.