Izala Society or Jama'atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (Society for the Removal of Bid'ah and Re-establishment of the Sunnah), also known as JIBWIS, is a Salafi organization originally established in Northern Nigeria to fight what it sees as the Bid'ah and Shirk practiced by the Sufi orders. It is one of the largest Sunni societies in Nigeria, Chad, Ghana, Niger, and Cameroon.
JIBWIS was established in 1978 in Jos, Nigeria by Sheikh Isma'ila Idris (1937-2000)[3] in reaction to the Sufi orders,[4] specifically the Qadiriyya and Tijjaniyya who practice Sufism. Today JIBWIS is one of the largest Salafi societies not only in Northern Nigeria, but also in the South and even in the neighbouring countries (Chad, Niger, and Cameroon). It is very active in Dawah (propagation of the faith) and especially in education. The Izala has many institutions all over the country and is influential at the local, state, and federal levels.[3]
The group has been called a Salafi organisation "that embraces a legalist and scripture centred upon understanding of Islam".[5] David Commins has described it as the fruit of missionary work by the Saudi Arabian funded and led by the World Muslim League.[6][7] "Essential texts" for members of the JIBWIS are "Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's treatise of God's unity and commentaries by his grandsons". Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was the founder of the Wahhabi mission, the official Islamic interpretation of Saudi Arabia. He saw Sufism as rife with Shirk.[8] The Izala Society has been considered the most nonviolent and educated Islamist group, among there activities include public preaching, Qur'anic recitation competition, lectures, seminar, workshop and other public insights.[9]
The League also sent missionaries to West Africa, where it funded schools, distributed religious literature and gave scholarships to attend Saudi religious universities. These efforts bore fruit in Nigeria's Muslim northern region with the creation of a movement (the Izala Society) dedicated to wiping out ritual innovations. Essential texts for members of the Izala Society are Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's treatise of God's unity and commentaries by his grandsons.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ... argued that the criterion for one's standing as either a Muslim or an unbeliever was correct worship as an expression of belief in one God. ... any act or statement that indicates devotion to a being other than God is to associate another creature with God's power, and that is tantamount to idolatry (shirk). Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab included in the category of such acts popular religious practices that made holy men into intercessors with God. That was the core of the controversy between him and his adversaries ...
