Omani Azd used to travel to Basra for trade. Omani Azd were granted a section of Basra, where they could settle and attend their needs. Many of the Azd who settled in Basra became wealthy merchants and under their leader Muhallab bin Abi Sufrah started to expand the influence of power east towards Khorasan. Ibadi Islam originated in Basra with its founder Abdullah ibn Ibada around the year 650 CE, which the Azd in Iraq followed. Later, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the Umayyad governor of Iraq, came into conflict with the Ibadis, which forced them out to Oman. Among those who returned to Oman was the scholar Jabir ibn Zayd, an Omani Azdi. His return and the return of many other scholars greatly enhanced the Ibadi movement in Oman. The Imamate is estimated to have been established in 750 CE, shortly after the fall of the Umayyads.
