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Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Ibâḍî Reformism in Twentieth-Century Algeria: The Tafsîr of Shaykh Ibrâhîm Bayyûḍ

 


Shaykh Ibrâhîm b. ‘Umar Bayyû of Wâdî Mzâb (1899-1981), leader of Ibâî reformism in Algeria after the death of Muammad b. Yûsuf Afiyyash (1820-1914), delivered a public commentary on the Qur’an from 1935-1980, which was recorded beginning with Sûra 17:70. Shaykh Bayyû claimed to follow the goals and methodology of Muammad ‘Abduh and Rashîd Riâ’s Tafsîr al-Manâr. This article analyzes Shaykh Bayyû’s commentary in comparison to, on the one hand, Afiyyash’s two Qur’an commentaries (Hamayân al-zâd ilâ dâr al-ma‘âd and Taysîr al-tafsîr), in order to determine its relationship to earlier modern Ibâî reformism, and, on the other hand, to Tafsîr al-Manâr, in order to determine its relationship to that strand of Sunni reformism. It finds that Bayyû’s commentary, like Tafsîr al-Manâr, promotes Islamic unity and eschews theological dogmatism, while attacking customs deemed antithetical to Islamic teaching and making sometimes lengthy digressions on topics of contemporary social and political importance. Nonetheless, Bayyû remains faithful to Ibâî doctrine on topics on which Ibâîs and Sunnis differ, and there is little evidence that he argued for Islam’s compatibility with liberal values; on the contrary, at several points in his commentary he states that modern ideas and customs constitute a real threat to Islam.

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