The Ibadis, regarded as a moderate Kharijite sect, had originated in Iraq, but in the early eighth century, when the caliph's representative begins to suppress the Ibadis, many leave the area.
Their leader at the time, Jabir ibn Zayd, had come to Iraq from Oman, so he returns there in the mid-eighth century.
Jabir ibn Zayd's presence in Oman strengthens the existing Ibadi communities.
Oman's mountains and geographic isolation provide a refuge for the Ibadites, who proceed to convert the leading tribal clans to their sect, unifying Oman politically.
Their leader, Al Julanda ibn Masud, becomes the first Ibadi imam of Oman.
The introduction of Ibadism vests power in the imam, the leader nominated by tribal shaykhs and then elected by public acclamation.
The elected imam heads the Omani state, serving as both temporal and religious leader of the community.
In less than a century, the sect had taken over the country from the Sunni garrison that ruled it in the caliph's name.
In 752, the Abbasids, the new line of Sunni caliphs in Baghdad, conquer Oman and kill the Ibadi imam, Al Julanda.
Other Ibadi imams arise and reestablish the tradition in the interior, but extending their rule to the coastal trading cities meets opposition, where the sense of tribal community is weaker than that held by the Omani interior.
