This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since December 2008. It is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. Tagged since December 2008. It may need copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. Tagged since December 2008. It contains too many quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Tagged since April 2009. It may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since December 2008.

‘Abd Allah ibn Saba' (ca. 600-670?), The facts about his existence are, however, controversial. He should not be confused with an identically-named Jewish scholar who resided in Medina at the time of Muhammad.

Shī‘ī current scholars refute even the existence of ibn Saba' and consider the stories of this character to be a smear campaign by the Sunni establishment throughout Islamic history. Some Salafi Muslim scholars claim ibn Saba' was a Jewish convert whom they believe laid the foundations of Shī‘ī Islam. Modern scholars of Islam deny this; they record him as a representative of a ghuluww ("Exaggerator") group from the city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (al-Madā'in) who came to see ‘Alī in Kūfah. When ibn Saba' proclaimed ‘Alī's divinity, ‘Alī denied this angrily and sent him back to Seleucia-Ctesiphon.^[1]

[edit] Scholar's View

In recent years some scholars have questioned the existence of ‘Abdu l-Lāh ibn Saba'. Taha Hussein, a well-known secularist Egyptian writer, wrote,

The fact that the historians make no mention of Ibn al-Sawda' i.e., ‘Abdullah ibn Saba being present at the battle of Siffin together with his followers proves at the very least that the whole notion of a group of people led by him is a baseless fabrication. It is one of those inventions that acquired currency when the conflict between the Shi'is and other Islamic groups intensified. In order to underline their hostility, the enemies of the Shi'ah tried to insert a Jewish element into the origins of their sect. If the story of ‘Abdullah ibn Saba' had any basis in historical fact, his cunning and guile could not have failed to show itself at the battle of Siffin.

I can think of only one reason for his name not occurring in connection with that battle: that he was an entirely fictitious person, dreamed up by the enemies of the Shi'ah in order to vilify them.^[2]

Nibras Kazimi describes the story of ibn Saba':

... long-standing accusation, employed by Sunni propagandists for centuries, that Shi'ism was founded by a Jewish convert to Islam Abdullah Ibn Saba' who plotted to sow dissent among the early Muslims by championing the 'Ali cause. He goes on to cite another scholar, Yitzhak Nakash, as tracing "the Ibn Saba myth to medieval times" and later "revived by Wahhabi propaganda in the 1920 during Ibn Saud's early overtures for taking on the mantle of Islamic leadership.^[3]

On other hand, many respected Shi'a scholars have agreed that Abdullah Ibn Saba' existed. Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Musa al-Nubakhti wrote:

'Abdullah bin Saba', was one of those who slandered Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and the Companions and disowned them. He claimed that it was Ali who enjoined this on him. Ali arrested him, and upon interrogation, admitted to the charge, and (Ali) ordered him to be executed. The People cried 'O Chief of Believers ! Do you execute a man calling to your love, Ahlul-Bayt, to your allegiance, and disowning your enemies?' He (Ali) then exiled him to al-Mada'in (Capital of Iran back then). Some of the knowledgeable companions of Ali [as] narrated that Abdullah bin Saba' was a Jew who embraced Islam and sided with Ali. That he was of the opinion, at the time when he was a Jew, claiming that Yousha' bin Noon is after Moses. After his submission to Islam, after the demise of the Prophet, he claimed the same for Ali. He was the first to publicly mandate the Imamah of Ali, disowning his enemies, and debated his opposers. From thence, those who oppose Shi'ism say: The origin of Shi'ism is rooted in Judaism. When Abdullah bin Saba' heard of the demise of Ali while in (his exile at) al-Mada'in, he said to the announcer of the news: 'You are a liar, if you are to bring his head in seventy bags, and brought seventy witnesses testifying to his death, we'll insist that he did not die nor murdered, and (he) shall not die till he rules the globe".^[4]

Abu Amr bin Abdul Aziz al-Kash-shi wrote:

Some people of knowledge mentioned that Abdullah bin Saba' was a Jew, who embraced Islam and supported Ali. While he was still a Jew, he used to go to extremism in calling Yousha' bin Noon as the appointee (successor) of Moses, thus after embracing Islam - after the demise of the Messenger of Allah - he said the like about Ali. It was him who first publicly announced the mandatory Iamamah for Ali, rejected and disowned his enemies, debated his opponents and called them Kafirs. Hence, those who oppose the Shi'ites often say: The Shi'ites and Rejectors (Rafidah) have their roots in Judaism".^[5]

Another famous Shi'a biographist Al-Hasan bin Ali al-Hilly wrote:

Abdullah bin Saba' returned to disbelief and showed extremism. He claimed prophethood, and that Ali was Allah (in the flesh). Ali, for three (consecutive) days asked him to repent but he failed, thereupon, he burned him (alive) with seventy other men who attributed divinship to him"^[6]

Another Shi'a biogrophist, al-Astra Abadi wrote:

Abdullah bin Saba' claimed prophethood and that Ali is himself Allah the Most Exalted. Upon hearing this charge, Amirul-Mu'mineen called and inquired it from him. When he admitted, he said to him: back off from this say and repent, may your mother lose you. However;(Ibn Saba') refused, and (Ali) held him for three days, and, still refusing to repent, he therefore burned him (alive)"^[7]

[edit] Sunni View

‘Abd Allah ibn Saba' was a Rabbi from Ṣan‘ā’. He pretended conversion to Islam during the caliphate of the third Rightly Guided Caliph ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān. He was the son of Saba' ibn Shamūn, a Jew residing in Medina at the time of the second Rightly Guided Caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb al-Farūq who conspired to kill the second Caliph. His mother was a Habeshi woman named Sauda. Ibn Saba' swore revenge against the third Caliph, for executing his father's companion's, Harmuzan al-Majūsi and Jafina al-Nasrani while nurturing an exaggerated (ghulū) love for the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph (then ‘Uthman's vizier) ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib for advising the execution of ‘Ubaid Allah ibn ‘Umar under the charges of murder against Harmuzan and Jafina.

Tradition relates that when ‘Alī had assumed power, ibn Saba' became an adherent of the emerging persuasion, and a strong supporter of Ali.He is the first one who introduced the concept of the Imamate. He called for the divinity of ‘Alī. Ibn Saba' initially did not openly preach these beliefs, but he later abandoned his secret and started a vigorous campaign.^{[8][unreliable source?]} However, when ibn Saba' claimed that ‘Alī is himself God by addressing him with the words, "Thou art Thou!", ‘Alī declared him a heretic and burned some of his followers to the stake and expelled him to al-Madā'in.^{[citation needed]}

After ‘Alī's assassination, ibn Saba' is said to have taught that ‘Alī 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 ‘Alī was to remain hidden in the Imams, who temporarily filled his place.^{[citation needed]} It is easy to see that the whole idea rests on that of the Messiah in combination with the legend of Elijah the prophet.^{[neutrality disputed][9]}

According to Sunni historical references, ibn Saba enticed the Muslims to kill ‘Uthman.^{[10][unreliable source?]} He also made mischief in the armies of ‘Alī and his opponents in the battle of Camel, forcing the battle to start, although both parties did not want it.

As mentioned above, ibn Saba' is thus considered by some Sunni writers as the originator of Shī‘ī Islam itself,^{[11][unreliable source?]} although on account of his extremism this is considered by Shi'a Muslims as a baseless accusation.^[12] The Apostle Paul and ‘Abdallah ibn Saba' have been said to be "Jewish agents" who infiltrated Christianity and Islam to destroy them from within.^{[13][unreliable source?]}

[edit] Shi'a view

[edit] Existence

Lots of shia scholars told stories about Ibn Saba, for example, Al-Nawbakhty, 3rd Hijri century Shi'a scholar, narrated:

a Sabaism are the first to calims of Ali's Imamah, and they said it's from Allah. they are the companions of Abdullah Ibn Saba which was the first to rejects Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Sahaba. and Ibn Saba calimed that he had been ordered that from Ali. Then, Ali asked him about it and he confessed. then Ali ordered the execution of Ibn Saba.

—Al-Nawbakhty, ^[14]

a Narration from the book Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih, written by Al-Sadooq, a Shi'a scholar,:

and Ali said: when somone ends his pray, he have to rise his hand, and then Abdullah Ibn Saba said, for what ? isn't Allah in every where...

—Al-Sadooq, ^[15]

[edit] Non-existence

The Shi'a now generally believes that Abdullah ibn Saba didn't exist or if he did, he was made a scapegoat. They believe he was a lie concocted in order to cast doubt on the origins of Shi'a Islam. They cite that all narrations that mention ibn Saba are weak and make the point that if Abdullah ibn Saba had played such a large role in Uthman's demise, then there should be most then only 14 narrations that mention him. They claim that all the stories regarding Abdullah ibn Saba are the production of Sayf ibn Umar al-Tamimi^{[unreliable source?]}

[edit] Sayf ibn Umar

Sayf Ibn Umar al-Dhabbi al-Usayyidi al-Tamimi lived in the second century of the Muslim era (8th century AD) and died after the year 170 AH (750 AD). al-Dhahabi said that Sayf died during the rule of Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad (Iraq). During his life, Sayf wrote the following two books^{[unreliable source?]}which were available even during the reign of the Umayyads:

- 'al-Fotooh wa al-Riddah' which 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' which 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).^{[unreliable source?]}

The Shi'a believe that both works are fabricated. Promient early Sunni scholars have generally thought the same^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]} including al-Hakim^[27], Abu Dawud^[28], al-Suyuti^[29] and al-Nisa'i^[30] The Shi'a point out that although al-Dhahabi mentions Sayf ibn Umar as a weak narrator in which he states 'Sayf has two books which have been unanimously abandoned by the scholars'^[31], 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.

[edit] Abdullah Ibn Sab'a according to Jewish Encyclopedia

Jewish Encyclopedia states:

A Jew of Yemen, Arabia, of the seventh century, who settled in Medina and embraced Islam. Having adversely criticized Calif Othman's administration, he was banished from the town. Thence he went to Egypt, where he founded an antiothmanian sect, to promote the interests of Ali. On account of his learning he obtained great influence there, and formulated the doctrine that, just as every prophet had an assistant who afterward succeeded him, Mohammed's vizier was Ali, who had therefore been kept out of the califate by deceit. Othman had no legal claim whatever to the califate; and the general dissatisfaction with his government greatly contributed to the spread of Abdallah's teachings. Tradition relates that when Ali had assumed power, Abdallah ascribed divine honors to him by addressing him with the words, "Thou art Thou!" Thereupon Ali banished him to Madain. After Ali's assassination Abdallah is said to have taught that Ali 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. Till then the divine character of Ali was to remain hidden in the imams, who temporarily filled his place. It is easy to see that the whole idea rests on that of the Messiah in combination with the legend of Elijah the prophet. The attribution of divine honors to Ali was probably but a later development, and was fostered by the circumstance that in the Koran Allah is often styled "Al-Ali" (The Most High).^[32][33]

[edit] Notes