Ibadism, or the Ibadi school of Islam, which has followers in Oman and elsewhere, has been the subject of much academic study. Much of the earlier writings from within the Islamic world presented Ibadism as a heresy. Western academic interest in Ibadism began in the mid-19th century, when translations of Ibadi texts and other literature began to become available. French and Italian scholars focussed mainly on Ibadism in North Africa, while John C. Wilkinson and other British scholars have studied it in Oman, where few texts were accessible until the 1970s. Studies of Ibadism have adopted different perspectives. Some have been theologically based, locating Ibadi teachings among the different branches of Islam. Some have studied the origins of Ibadism in the context of early Islamic history. And some have set it in the context of Islamic jurisprudence. Regular conferences and publications since 2009 have helped bring Ibadism to wider attention. History of research During the stage of the systematisation of Oriental Studies starting in the 19th century, Ibadism became marginalised. Furthermore, Ibadism suffered from being misunderstood by other Islamic schools. Early Islamic heresiographical works, due to their nature, considered Ibadism to be one of the extremist divisions of the Kharijite (Khawarije) movement. These approaches influenced both Muslim and non-Muslim researchers who tried to understand Ibadism, because several researchers considered heresiographic literature as the main source for understanding Islam. Due to the reproduction of stereotypical ideas about Ibadism, it became difficult to distinguish between actual Ibāḍī doctrine and the superstructure of opinion and especially to see Ibadism and Ibāḍīs independent of the Kharijites. Orientalism and Ibadism The middle of the nineteenth century witnessed the expansion of European colonization in the Near East, which produced explorers’ accounts of the places they visited. During this period, travellers’ reports, politician’s writings and scholars’ works on geography, politics and social life spread and proliferated. The general historical framework of the literature on Ibāḍī history was expanded and enriched. Works of French and Italian scholars focused mainly on North Africa, where the Ibāḍī communities spread over scattered locations in the Sahara. The French Orientalists had a keener interest in Algeria and Tunisia, while the Italians focused their attention on Libya. In contrast, the scholars who focused on Oman were mostly British or American. This is of particular interest to those who apply Edward Said’s thesis on the relation between power and knowledge in post-Orientalism. For example,