Abd Allah ibn Saba (c. 600 c.

. 670) is believed by followers of Sh a Islam to be a Jewish scholar who accepted Islam and resided in Medina at the time of Muhammad. The facts about his existence are, however, controversial. Sh a scholars refute the existence of ibn Saba. They consider the stories of ibn Saba to be a smear campaign by the Sunni establishment throughout Islamic history. Some Salafi Muslim scholars claim ibn Saba was a Jewish convert who, they believe, laid the foundations of Sh Islam. Modern scholars of Islam deny this; they record him as a representative of a ghuluww group from the city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (alMad 'in) who came to see Al in K fah. When ibn Saba proclaimed Al 's divinity, Al denied this angrily and sent him back to Seleucia-Ctesiphon.[1]
Contents
[hide]

1 Scholarly views

o o

1.1 Sh a views 1.2 Sunni views

2 Sayf ibn Umar 3 See also 4 Notes

[edit]Scholarly [edit]Sh

views

a views

In recent years some scholars have questioned the existence of Abdu l-L h ibn Saba'. Taha Hussein, a wellknown secularist Egyptian writer, noted that the absence of any record of ibn Saba being present at the battle of Siffin suggests that ibn Saba is a fictitious person.[2] He suggests that the "fabrication" of ibn Saba was done by the enemies of the Sh a; that the insertion of a "Jewish element" would discredit the Sh a.[2] Nibras Kazimi describes the story of ibn Saba as "Sunni propaganda" planted in an effort to create dissent within Sh a.[3] To support his argument he cites the work of another scholar, Yitzhak Nakash. On other hand, many respected Sh a scholars have agreed that Abdullah Ibn Saba existed. Among them are Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Musa al-Nubakhti,[4] Abu Amr bin Abdul Aziz al-Kash-shi,[5] Al-Hasan bin Ali alHilly,[6] al-Astra Abadi,[7]Al-Sadooq,[8] and Al-Nawbakhty.[9] These scholars assert that Abdullah bin Saba was of Jewish faith, then converted to Islam. Upon conversion, scholars believe, bin Saba either claimed prophethood himself and that Al was Allah, or claimed prophethood for Al . Al , fearing recrimination due to ibn Saba's beliefs, enjoined ibn Saba to retract his claims. When ibn Saba failed to do so, Al took action, bin Saba was either exiled or executed, depending on the interpretation. As each scholar's account is slightly different, the exact history is unknown. Jewish histories appear to support this interpretation.[10][11][12]

Most Sh a scholars believe that fabricated stories around the character of Abdullah Ibn Saba are the malicious production of Sayf Ibn Umar al-Tamimi. He was a story teller who lived in the second century after Hijrah. Sayf shaped his stories based on primary facts he found in the documented history of Islam available at that time. Sayf wrote a novel in which the role of Satan was a fictional character named Abdullah Ibn Saba.

[edit]Sunni

views
an . He pretended conversion to Islam during the caliphate of the

Abdullah ibn Saba was a Rabbi from

third Rightly Guided Caliph, Uthm n ibn Aff n. He was the son of Saba' ibn Sham n, a Jew residing in Medina at the time of the second Rightly Guided Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khatt b al-Far q, who conspired to kill the secondCaliph. His mother was a Habeshiwoman named Sauda. Ibn Saba' swore revenge against the third Caliph for executing his father's companions, Harmuzan, al-Maj si and Jafina al-Nasrani, while nurturing an exaggerated (ghul ) love for the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph (then Uthman's vizier) Al ibn Ab lib for

advising the execution of Ubaid Allah ibn Umar under the charges of murder against Harmuzan and Jafina. Tradition relates that when Al had assumed power, ibn Saba became an adherent of the emerging persuasion, and a strong supporter of Al . He is the first to introduce the concept ofthe Imamate. He called for the divinity of Al . Ibn Saba initially did not openly preach these beliefs, but he later abandoned his secret and started a vigorous campaign.[13]unreliable source?] However, when ibn Saba claimed that Al is himself God by addressing him with the words, "Thou art Thou!", Al declared him a heretic and burned some of his followers at the stake and expelled ibn Saba to al-Mad 'in.[citation needed] After Al 's assassination, ibn Saba is said to have taught that Al was not dead but alive and had never been killed, that a part of the Deity was hidden in him and that after a certain time he would return to fill the earth with justice. Until then the divine character of Al was to remain hidden in the Imams, who temporarily filled his place.[14] According to Sunni historical references, ibn Saba enticed the Muslims to kill Uthman.[15][unreliable source?] He also made mischief in the armies of Al and his opponents in the Battle of Camel, forcing the battle to start, although both parties did not want it. Ibn Saba is thus considered by some Sunni writers as the originator of Sh Islam,[16][unreliable source?] although on account of his extremism this is considered by Shi'a Muslims as a baseless accusation.[17] The Apostle Paul and ibn Saba have been said to be "Jewish agents" who infiltrated Christianity and Islam to destroy them from within.[18][unreliable source?] Multiple Sunni scholars state that Sayf Ibn Umar, who wrote extensively about ibn Saba, was untrustworthy, thus rejecting his accounts of ibn Saba. For example, al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) has quoted from the book of Sayf in his History. In "al-Mughni fi al-Dhu'afa'" al-Dhahabi wrote:"Sayf has two books which have been unanimously abandoned by the scholars."[19]

[edit]Sayf

ibn Umar

Sayf Ibn Umar(ar) al-Dhabbi al-Usayyidi al-Tamimi l (8th century AD ce 750 AD) wrote two books[unreliable
source?]

which were available even during the reign of the Umayyads. al-Fotooh wa al-Riddah is the history of the

period before the death of the Prophet Muhammad until the third Caliph Uthman resumed office as the ruler of Muslim world. al-Jamal wa Maseeri Aisha wa Ali is the history from the murder of Uthman to the battle of Jamal (the fight that happened between Ali ibn Abi Talib and some companions spearheaded by Hazrat Aisha, Hazrat Talha and Zubair).[unreliable source?] The Sh a believe that both works are fabricated. Prominent early Sunni scholars have generally thought the same[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] including al-Hakim,[31] Abu Dawud,[32] al-Suyuti[33] and al-Nisa'i[34] The Sh a point out that although al-Dhahabi mentions Sayf ibn Umar as a weak narrator, stating "Sayf has two books which have been unanimously abandoned by the scholars",[19] he also accepts the story of Abdullah ibn Saba relayed from Sayf ibn Umar in his book. However, these are not the only scholars of Baghdad citing that Sayf's sources are not reliable. Sh a believe Sayf Ibn Umar distorted the biographies of the companions of Mohamed to please the government of his time, to distort the history of Shia, and to ridicule Islam. Sayf was a staunch advocate of the Umayads, who were known throughout history to be one of the worst enemies of Ahlul-Bayt, and as such, it was in his best interest to invent such stories to degrade the Shia. In his stories however he followed many other goals one of which was to cleverly elevate the status of his tribe over others by inventing some imaginary companions form his tribe. However many Sunni scholars found numerous unjustifiable heresies in his reports which was not limited to the issue of Abdullah Ibn Saba, and consequently they abandoned his reports, and accuse him as a man of forgery and lies. Yet Sayf's works are supported by a minority of Sunnis to this date.

[edit]See

also
 
Ghulat Dhammiyya Shia

[edit]Notes

1.

^ Heinz Halm, Shi'ism 2nd Edition p 155, (1987) 2004 Columbia University Press ISBN 978-0-231-13587-0

2. 3.

a b

al-Fitnat al-Kubra, Vol. II, p.90

^ p.58,Yitzhak Nakash, "Zarqawi's anti-Shi'a Legacy: Original or Borrowed? Nibras Kazimi" found in Current trends in Islamist Ideology, volume 4, Hudson Institute, Inc 2006. (Nakash work is Yitzhak Nakash,Reaching for

Power: The Shia in the Modern Arab World, (Princeton University Press, 2006, p.45 ) 4. 5. ^ Book Firaq al-Shi'a: Nubakhti, pp.43,44 ^ Rijaal al-Kash-shi: Abu 'Amr bin Abdul Aziz al-Kash-shi, p.101 alMamaqaani, author of "Tanqeeh al-Maqaal", who is an authoritative Shi'i biogrophist quoted the like in his said book, p.184 6. ^ Kitaab al-Rijaal: al-Hilly, p.469, printed in Tehran, Iran 1383 h. From AshShi'a wat-Tashayyu', p.56 7. ^ Manhaj al-Maqaal: al-Astar Abadi, p.203, from: Ash-Ashia wat-Tashayyu', p.56 8. 9. ^ Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih 1/229 ^ Al-Shia page 19-20.

10. ^ Bibliography: Shatrastani al-Milal, pp. 132 et seq. (in Haarbrcken's translation, i. 200-201); Weil, Gesch. der Chalifen, i. 173-174, 209, 259 11. ^ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view_page.jsp?artid=189&letter=A&pid =0 12. ^ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2&letter=K 13. ^ Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 25, p. 286 14. ^ Bibliography: Shatrastani al-Milal, pp. 132 et seq. (in Haarbrcken's translation, i. 200-201); Weil, Gesch. der Chalifen, i. 173-174, 209, 259. 15. ^ Othman bin 'Affaan 16. ^ Who invented the Shia's sect? What is the origin of the Shi'ism (Shi3a)? This site is dedicated to answer those questions 17. ^ Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi`i Islam, Yale University Press, 1985;p. 46 18. ^ Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'at. "Historical Background of the Religion of Shiism". Archived from the original on 2009-10-24. 19. ^ a b al-Mughni fi al-Dhu'afa', by al-Dhahabi, p292 20. ^ Yahya Ibn Mueen (d. 233 AH) wrote: "Sayf's narrations are weak and useless." 21. ^ Abu Hatam (d. 277 AH) wrote: "Sayf's Hadith is rejected." 22. ^ Ibn Abi Hatam (d. 327 AH) wrote: "Scholars have abandoned Sayf's narrations."

23. ^ Ibn Habban (d. 354 AH) wrote: "Sayf attributed fabricated traditions to the good reporters. He was accused of being a heretic and a liar." 24. ^ Ibn Abd al-Barr (d. 462 AH) mentined in his writing abut al-Qa'qa: "Sayf reported that al-Qa'qa Said: I attended the death of the Prophet Muhammad."Ibn Adb al-Barr continued: "Ibn Abu Hatam said: Sayf is weak. Thus, what was conveyed of the presence of al-Qa'qa at the death of the Prophet is rejected. We mentioned the Sayf's traditions for knowledge only." 25. ^ al-Darqutini (d. 385 AH) wrote: "Sayf is weak". 26. ^ Firuzabadi (d. 817 AH) in "Towalif" mentioned Sayf and some others by saying: "They are weak." 27. ^ Ibn al-Sakan (d. 353 AH) wrote: "Sayf is weak." 28. ^ Safi al-Din (d. 923 AH) wrote: "Sayf is considered weak." 29. ^ Ibn Udei (d. 365 AH) wrote about Sayf: "He is weak. Some of his narrations are famous yet the majority of his narrations are disgraceful and not followed." 30. ^ Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH) wrote after mentioning a tradition:"Many reporters of this tradition are weak, and the weakest among them is Sayf." 31. ^ al-Hakim (d. 405 AH) wrote: "Sayf is accused of being a heretic. His narrations are abandoned." 32. ^ Abu Dawud (d. 316 AH) wrote: "Sayf is nothing. He was a liar. Some of his Hadiths were conveyed and the majority of them are denied." 33. ^ al-Suyuti (d. 900 AH) wrote: "Sayf's Hadith is weak." 34. ^ al-Nisa'i (d. 303 AH) wrote: "Sayf's narrations are weak and they should be disregarded because he was unreliable and untrustworthy."

Categories: Islamic history | Shi'a Muslims | Converts to Islam