Jabir ibn Zayd

Jabir ibn Zayd, known by the teknonym Abu al-Sha'tha al-Azdi, was a scholar of Basra in southern Iraq during the early Umayyad period. He belonged to the tabi'un ("successors") — the generation that came after the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad — and was widely respected as a transmitter of hadith (reports of the Prophet's words and deeds) and a faqih (jurist). Tradition holds that his principal teacher was the Prophet's cousin Abd Allah ibn Abbas, and that he learned from other Companions; these teacher-links come from later biographical literature rather than contemporary record.

His origins are disputed. Ibadi sources, including the historian al-Salimi, hold that he was born in the village of Farq near Nizwa in Oman and later moved to Basra to study; the dates 18 AH (c. 639 CE) and 21 AH are both reported. Other accounts treat him simply as a Basran of the Azd tribe.

The Ibadiyya — today the third major branch of Islam, distinct from Sunni and Shia and dominant in Oman — regard him as their founding scholar and first imam (in a state of concealment). Modern historians such as John Wilkinson and Valerie Hoffman caution that no single organizer directed early Ibadism, and that the "founder" role may have been emphasized later. He is reported to have declined a judgeship offered by the governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. He died in Basra; reported death dates range across 91–104 AH, with 93 AH (711 CE) most often cited.