God? Is it in a thing of fresh start or in a previously decided thing?" he said, 'Nay, but in a previously decided thing.' Suraqah again said, 'What is the work for then, O Apostle of God?' He said, 'Work, for everyone is guided to that for which he was created'"45.

The first six Traditions are reported in mursal form; they were all reported by Jabir b. Zaid from the Prophet. The Companion is missing from the isnad in the Ibadhi collection. But these Traditions were reported by uninterrupted chains in the Sunni collections.46 al-Rabi b. Habib, after reporting those Traditions, commented, "These Traditions indicate that God created the actions of man, and man does not perform them on his own apart from God. He has decided them and knows to what end man will come"47.

The view that Man creates his own actions had already appeared in Basrah. A certain Ma'bad al-Juhani was the first to institute the discussion on qadar there48. This view was also propagated by his student Ghailan al-Dimashqi. It seems that this view found its way into the Ibadhi circles in Basrah and other places. It is reported that discussions on the question took place between Ghailan and the second Ibadhi Imam, Abu Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah49. However, some Ibadhis adopted the Qadarites' views but they were strongly opposed by Abu Ubaidah. Ibadhi sources named among those who adopted the Qadarites' views, Hamzah al-Kufi, al-Harith al-Ibadhi and Atiyah, the latter from Khurasan. Abu Ubaidah refuted their views and told Hamzah that he disagreed with Ghailan for his similar views. Hamzah and his colleagues were ostracised by the Ibadhis and were prevented from attending Ibadhi sessions (majalis)50.

The question of qadar, 'divine decree' was one of the main questions on which arguments and discussions took place between Ibadhis and their opponents, first the Qadarites, and later the Mu'tazilites. Those arguments existed even before Abu Ubaidah. Abu Sufyan Mahbub b. al-Rahil said, "Suhar al-Abdi, the teacher of Abu Ubaidah, used to say 'Argue with people (Qadarites) about the knowledge of God (al-ilm). If they accede to you, they are defeated, and if they refuse to accede to you, they become infidels"51.

Abu Ubaidah himself used to discuss this question of 'decree' following the same method as was laid down by his teacher Suhar. It is reported that a man came to Abu Ubaidah and talked to him about qadar. Abu Ubaidah said to him, 'Did God know what people will do, or to what end they will come before he created them?" The man said, "How quickly you sought help from 'knowledge' O, Abu Ubaidah, these are the arguments of the weak people." Abu Ubaidah said, "Pass beyond this weakness first," and the man gave no answer and each one went his way52.