Shia Strength: Muslim Unite Sunni and Shia WHO WAS ABDULLAH BIN SABA

WAS ABDULLAH IBN SABA A REAL PERSON OR JUST A FICTITIOUS NAME?

Note: This long article is a collection of many findings done by a number of authors. I have only put this information together for the benefit of our readers, who may be interested in this topic. The purpose of this article is to give readers a base of information and encourage them to go and do their own reading on the topic. All references are clearly cited.

Syed-Mohsin Naquvi 27^th of December 2012

INTRODUCTION

Most Muslims as well as non Muslims consider the Sunni and the Shi'a as two groups within the world Muslim community having different schools of FIQH, or the code of practice which determines their lifestyles as Muslims, both in religious acts of worship and prayer as well as worldly matters. However, there is a hardcore group of extremist Muslims who have always treated the Shi'a as heretics. They have given them derogatory names such as Rafidis (meaning the rejecters). They have tried to prove the Shi'a as non Muslims and even tortured and killed them. In groups and as individuals. This is exactly what is going on in Pakistan today. That is exactly what Saddam Husain had done to the Shi'a majority of Iraq during the 30 years of his rule.

Among those hateful activities is the propagation of the false notion that the Shi'a group was created by a Jew named Abdullah ibn Saba who is supposed to have existed in the early period of Islam. This article analyses that issue at length. It brings out the internal workings of that conspiracy theory. Both classical Islamic scholars as well as recent writers trained in Europe and America have been cited here for reference.

A more thorough discussion on the issue will be found at this link:

http://www.al-islam.org/encyclopedia/chapter10/1.html

Historicity

According to M. G. S. Hodgson, it is not clear what historical person or persons lay behind this figure.^[1] According to Hodgson Abdullah Ibn Saba may have been actually several figures.^[6] He also suggests that Ibn Saba' and Ibn al-Sawada' should be considered as two separate individuals.^[1] According to Leone Caetani, Ibn Saba in origin was a purely political supporter of Ali, "around whom later generations imagined a religious conspiracy like that of the Abbasids."^[1] Modern Muslim writers tend to discredit Tabari's account of Ibn Saba as "sheer fiction".^[4] Taha Hussein and Ali al-Wardi maintain that Ibn Saba' was the creation of Umayyad propaganda.^[7] According to Bernard Lewis modern critical scholarship has successfully cast doubt on his historical existence.^[8] Ibn Saba is called a semi-legendary figure by Moojan^[9] and a legendary figure by MariaMassi Dakake.^[10] Israel Friedlander concludes that Ibn Saba' and the Sabi'iyya did, in fact, exist. The episode about his role in killing of Uthman has been fabricated, however. His work has also been attested to by Sabatino Moscati.^[2]

Ali Al-Wardi after affirming that Ibn Saba is fictional name, suggests that Ammar Yaser may actually be the historical figure lay behind Ibn Saba figure. He noted at similarities of Ammar Yaser life to Ibn Saba. Ammar was also from Yemen. He was called Ibn Sawda (son of a black woman). He was zealous supporter of Ali's right for caliphate. He went to Egypt to rouse Muslims against Uthman. He obstructed the peace effort between Ali and Aisha, ....^[4]

^Note_{: All this about Abdullah ibn Saba being the same as Ammar Yasir, should be taken as Ali al-Wardi's personal and individual opinion. It is just an opinion. One thing that comes out from the above passage is that Ali Al-Wardi is discrediting the role played by Abdullah ibn Saba as narrated by Sayf ibn Umar. Besides, Ammar Yasir was a very senior Companion of the Prophet. He had fought at Siffeen alongside Imam Ali and was martyred at the Battlefield fighting against Muwaiyah. Ammar Yasir's personality is very prominent in the early history of Islam, it is not easy to fudge his memory and distort his life story.}

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Examining Ibn-e-Saba's role in Uthman's Killing

According to M. G. S. Hodgson, "surer sources" than Tabari and Sayf ibn Umar seem to exclude Ibn Sabaʾ from playing any major role in the political events that led to Uthman's killing.^[1]

Wilferd Madelung after reviewing the accounts of Sayf ibn Umar on the alleged role of Abdullah ibn Saba' in the rebellion against Uthman and emergence of Shi'a asserts ''few if any modern historians would accept Sayf's legend of Ibn Saba''^[15]

Taha Hussein asserts that the "fabrication" of ibn Saba' was done by the enemies of the Shī'a; that the insertion of a "Jewish element" would discredit the Shī'a.^[16] He 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.^[16]

Israel Friedlander, Julius Wellhausen, and most particularly, Leone Caetani, assert that Sayf fabricated the episode about killing of Uthman to "exonerate the people of Medina from participation in the caliph's murder"^[4]

Friedlander adds that it (the fabrication about Ibn Saba) was for the purpose of finding a "scapegoat for the troubles surrounding Uthman" and any complicity in the strife resulting in the death of third caliph.^[2]

Tucker asserts that although it may have been the case, there is no concrete evidence supporting this theory. Tucker also states that even Sayf's accounts of Ibn Saba' was a fabrication, he appears to be only the transmitter of the story and not the ultimate source. He pointed out that accusations of bias could equally be leveled at other akhbārīs contemporaries to Sayf.

Israel Friedlander, Julius Wellhausen, and Leone Caetani, note that that sources older than al-Tabari are silent on Ibn Saba' and his role in the agitation against Uthman. "They aver that the movement for supporting Ali as heir and testamentary trustee of the prophet did not exist in the time of Uthman as Ibn Saba' had alleged. Therefore they refuse to accept the authenticity of Ibn Saba's claim that Ali was the heir of prophet".^[2]^[4] Caetani noted that a religious conspiracy may have been created around the person of Ibn Sabaʾ even though he may have been just a political supporter of Ali.^[1]

W. F. Tucker notes that some scholars argued that Tabari's account of Ibn Saba conspiracies against Uthman is a fabrication of Sayf Ibn Umar. and should be generally considered unreliable.

The Shi'a believe that the fabricated stories around the character of Abdullah Ibn Saba' are the malicious production of Sayf Ibn Umar al-Tamimi.^[18]

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."^[25]

Tabari's narration on Ibn Saba' goes back to Sayf Ibn Umar. There are two other historians mentioned Ibn Saba' accounts which is said to have independent sources. However, if we follow the chains of Isnad of those two reports, they both end up at Sayf Ibn Umar.^[26]

The Shī'a believe that both works are fabricated. Prominent early Sunni scholars, have generally thought the same^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37] including al-Hakim,^[38] Abu Dawud,^[39] al-Suyuti^[40] and al-Nisa'i^[41] The Shī'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",^[25] 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.

The existence of a person in the name of Abdullah Ibn Saba' in the early history of Islam is seriously under question, even if such a person existed, the stories propagated about this person are legendary, false, fabricated, and fictitious.^[18]

Some Shia' traditions say that Ali ordered Abdullah Ibn Saba' and his followers burned because they assumed Ali God.^[1] This report has to be discredited on the grounds that such an event cannot be believed in view of Imam Ali's life and his practices. A person such as Imam Ali would not subject any human being to such an inhuman punishment however bad a crime he may have committed. Additionally, in the collection known as Nahjul Balagha, which contains all the speeches, letters and statements of Imam Ali as well as his letters, there is no mention of Abdullah ibn Saba.

Shī'a views believe that fabricated stories around the character of Abdullah Ibn Saba' are the malicious production of Sayf Ibn Umar al-Tamimi.^[18] He was a story teller who shaped his fictional stories based on primary facts he found in the documented history of Islam available at that time.^[18]

For the Shi'a he sometimes figured as type of the extremist, the ghali. It is said that Imam Jafar as-Sadiq, the sixth Shia' Imam and the founder of Shi'a Islamic fiqh, cursed him. That report should be taken in the context that the Imam J'afar as-Sadiq has said those things with the premise that, "If Abdullah ibn Saba existed, we curse him thoroughly."

Most Shi'a scholars who have said anything about Abdullah ibn Saba, have spoken in terms of defending the position of the Shi'a ideology and thus, sometimes have become defensive.

I personally believe that the Shi'a do not have to be defensive about it. It is a totally fabricated report propagated by one man, Sayf ibn Umar. It has been thoroughly discredited. And there is no need to try to justify the Shi'a position vis-à-vis Abdullah ibn Saba.

The Shi'a beliefs have all come from Qur'anic verses and from authentic Hadeeth reports which can also be found in the Sunni collections.

For example, Shī'a scholars such as Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Musa al-Nubakhti,^[19] Abu Amr bin Abdul Aziz al-Kash-shi,^[20] Al-Hasan bin Ali al-Hilly,^[21] al-Astra Abadi,^[22]Al-Sadooq,^[23] and Al-Nawbakhty.^[24] gave the stories and narrations of Ibn Saba. But most of these reports are just re-collection of all those fabricated reports that we have mentioned above.

ABOUT SAYF IBN UMAR, The lone reporter who fabricated the report about Abdullah ibn Saba

The following comments collected from the classical scholars of Hadeeth and history are sufficient to discredit Sayf ibn Umar and all his reports, including that about Abdullah ibn Saba.

1. Yahya Ibn Mueen (d. 233 AH) wrote: "Sayf's narrations are weak and useless."

2. Abu Hatam (d. 277 AH) wrote: "Sayf's Hadith is rejected."

3. Ibn Abi Hatam (d. 327 AH) wrote: "Scholars have abandoned Sayf's narrations."

4. Ibn Habban (d. 354 AH) wrote: "Sayf attributed fabricated traditions to the good reporters. He was accused of being a heretic and a liar."

5. 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."

6. al-Darqutini (d. 385 AH) wrote: "Sayf is weak".

7. Firuzabadi (d. 817 AH) in "Towalif" mentioned Sayf and some others by saying: "They are weak."

8. Ibn al-Sakan (d. 353 AH) wrote: "Sayf is weak."

9. Safi al-Din (d. 923 AH) wrote: "Sayf is considered weak."

10. 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."

11. 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."

12. al-Hakim (d. 405 AH) wrote: "Sayf is accused of being a heretic. His narrations are abandoned."

13. 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."

14. al-Suyuti (d. 900 AH) wrote: "Sayf's Hadith is weak."

15. al-Nisa'i (d. 303 AH) wrote: "Sayf's narrations are weak and they should be disregarded because he was unreliable and untrustworthy."

16. al-Darqutini (d. 385 AH) wrote: "Sayf is weak".

NOTES in references:

1. Hodgson, M. G. S. (1960). "ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabaʾ". Encyclopaedia of Islam. 1 (2nd ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. p. 51. ISBN 90-04-08114-3.

2. Tucker, William Frederick (2008). Mahdis and millenarians: Shī'ite extremists in early Muslim Iraq. Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–12. ISBN 978-0-521-88384-9.

3. Al-Samarrai, Qasim (2000-09-19), "Sayf ibn ʿUmar and ibn Sabaʾ: A new approach", in Tudor Parfitt, Israel and Ishmael: studies in Muslim-Jewish relations, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 52–58, ISBN 978-0-312-22228-4, http://books.google.com/books?id=aquivWYhzZcC&pg=PA52

4. Moosa, Matti (1987). Extremist Shiites: the ghulat sects. Syracuse, New York, USA: Syracuse University Press. pp. 580. ISBN 0-8156-2411-5, 9780815624110.

5. Bibliography: Shatrastani al-Milal, pp. 132 et seq. (in Haarbrücken's translation, i. 200-201); Weil, Gesch. der Chalifen, i. 173-174, 209, 259.

6. Robert L. Canfield, Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 2002, Page 159, ISBN 0-521-52291-9, ISBN 978-0-521-52291-5

7. Bernard Lewis; Peter Malcolm Holt (1962). Historians of the Middle East Volume 4 of Historical writing on the peoples of Asia, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. Oxford University Press.

8. Lewis, Bernard (2002). Jews of Islam. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 103. ISBN 1-4008-1023-X, 9781400810239.

9. Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi`i Islam, Yale University Press, 1985;p. 46

10. Massi Dakake, Maria, The Charismatic Community: Shi'ite Identity in Early Islam, 2007, 978-0-7914-7033-6, page 262

11. Jewish Encyclopedia External Link

12. Hodgson, M. G. S. (1965). "GHULĀT". Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2 (2nd ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 1093–1095.

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

14. Halm, Heinz (December 15, 2001). [URL http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/golat "ḠOLĀT"]. In Ehsan Yarshater. Encyclopedia Iranica (Online ed.). URL http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/golat. Retrieved October 20, 2011.

15. The Succession to Muhammad p. 2

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

17. Landau-Tasseron, Ella (1990-01). "Sayf Ibn 'Umar in Medieval and Modern Scholarship". Der Islam 67: 1–26. ISSN 1613-0928 0021-1818, 1613-0928. "But Linda D. Lau and A. R. Armush, in what seem to be independent studies, reached the conclusion that Sayf's explanation is not only the sole existing one, but is also governed by inner logic so that there is no reason to reject it."

18. Abdullah Ibn Saba, Al-Islam.org

19. Book Firaq al-Shi'a: Nubakhti, pp.43,44

20. Rijaal al-Kash-shi: Abu 'Amr bin Abdul Aziz al-Kash-shi, p.101 al-Mamaqaani, author of "Tanqeeh al-Maqaal", who is an authoritative Shi'i biogrophist quoted the like in his said book, p.184

21. Kitaab al-Rijaal: al-Hilly, p.469, printed in Tehran, Iran 1383 h. From Ash-Shi'a wat-Tashayyu', p.56

22. Manhaj al-Maqaal: al-Astar Abadi, p.203, from: Ash-Ashia wat-Tashayyu', p.56

23. Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih1/229

24. [1] page 19-20.

25. al-Mughni fi al-Dhu'afa', by al-Dhahabi, p292

26. Fischer, Michael M. J.; Mehdi Abedi (1990). Debating Muslims: cultural dialogues in postmodernity and tradition. Univ of Wisconsin Press. pp. 124–25. ISBN 0-299-12434-7, 9780299124342.

27. Yahya Ibn Mueen (d. 233 AH) wrote: "Sayf's narrations are weak and useless."

28. Abu Hatam (d. 277 AH) wrote: "Sayf's Hadith is rejected."

29. Ibn Abi Hatam (d. 327 AH) wrote: "Scholars have abandoned Sayf's narrations."

30. Ibn Habban (d. 354 AH) wrote: "Sayf attributed fabricated traditions to the good reporters. He was accused of being a heretic and a liar."

31. 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."

32. al-Darqutini (d. 385 AH) wrote: "Sayf is weak".

33. Firuzabadi (d. 817 AH) in "Towalif" mentioned Sayf and some others by saying: "They are weak."

34. Ibn al-Sakan (d. 353 AH) wrote: "Sayf is weak."

35. Safi al-Din (d. 923 AH) wrote: "Sayf is considered weak."

36. 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."

37. 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."

38. al-Hakim (d. 405 AH) wrote: "Sayf is accused of being a heretic. His narrations are abandoned."

39. 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."

40. al-Suyuti (d. 900 AH) wrote: "Sayf's Hadith is weak."

41. al-Nisa'i (d. 303 AH) wrote: "Sayf's narrations are weak and they should be disregarded because he was unreliable and untrustworthy."

AUTHORS' INTROS:

Marshall Goodwin Simms Hodgson (April 11, 1922 – June 10, 1968), was an Islamic Studies academic and a world historian at the University of Chicago. He was chairman of the interdisciplinary Committee on Social Thought in Chicago. He was also a practicing Quaker.

Though he did not publish extensively during his lifetime, he has become arguably the most influential American historian of Islam due to his three-volume The Venture of Islam; Conscience and History in a World Civilization. The work is universally recognized as a masterpiece that has radically reconfigured the academic study of Islam and the Civilization of Muslims

Leone Caetani (September 12, 1869 – December 25, 1935), Duke of Sermoneta (also known as Prince Caetani), was an Italian scholar, politician and historian of the Middle East. He was born of an Italian father, a prince of a principality, and an English mother.

Caetani is considered a pioneer and founding father in the application of the Historical method on the sources of the early Islamic traditions which he subjected to minute historical and psychological analysis. He had emigrated to Canada in 1921.

Bernard Lewis (born May 31, 1916) is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. He specializes in the history of Islam and the interaction between Islam and the West, and is especially famous in academic circles for his works on the history of the Ottoman Empire.

Lewis is a widely read expert on the Middle East, and is regarded as one of the West's leading scholars of that region. His advice has been frequently sought by policymakers, including the George W. Bush administration. In the Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing Martin Kramer, whose Ph.D. thesis was directed by Lewis, considered that, over a 60-year career, he has emerged as "the most influential postwar historian of Islam and the Middle East." Lewis is known for his controversial views on the Armenian genocide. He is also famous for his public debates with the late Edward Said concerning the latter's book Orientalism (1978), which criticized Lewis.

Israel Friedlander, also spelled Friedlaender (8 September 1876 – 5 July 1920) was a rabbi, educator, translator, and biblical scholar. He was the creator, together with Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, of the Young Israel movement of Modern Orthodox Judaism.

Sabatino Moscati (November 24 1922 – September 8 1997) was an Italian archaeologist and linguist known for his work on Phoenician and Punic civilizations. In 1954 he became Professor of Semitic Philology at the University of Rome where he established the Institute of Studies of the Near East.

Wilferd Ferdinand Madelung (born 26 December 1930) is a scholar of Islam. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany, where he completed his early education at Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium.

His family moved to the United States in or, after 1947, and he studied at Georgetown University. In 1952, he went to Egypt and stayed there for a year. During his stay the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, initiated by the Free Officers, occurred. He also met Ihsan Abbas, the famous scholar of Islamic History, there.

On leaving Egypt he went back to Germany and completed his Ph.D in 1957, working with Spuler. In 1958 he was sent to Iraq by the German government to work at its embassy there. Shortly after his arrival in Baghdad, Brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim overthrew the regime in the bloody military coup known as the 14 July Revolution. Madelung stayed in Iraq two more years. Subsequently, he taught at the University of Chicago.

Madelung was Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford from 1978 to 1998. He has written extensively on the early history of Islam, as well as on Islamic sects such as the Shi'a and the Ismailis. He has served on the editorial boards of several academic journals including the Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies. He is currently a Senior research fellow at the Institute for Ismaili Studies in London.

Ali al-Wardi (b. 1913 – d. 1995) was an Iraqi scholar of Islamic studies. He had studied at the University of Texas where he had achieved a Ph.D. in 1950.

علي حسين محسن الوردي (1913- 13 تموز 1995 م)، وهو عالم اجتماع عراقي، أستاذ ومؤرخ وعرف باعتداله وموضوعيته وهو من رواد العلمانية في العراق

Taha Hussein (November 15, 1889—October 28, 1973) (Arabic: طه حسين‎) was one of the most influential 20th century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a figurehead for the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab World.

Taha Hussein was born in the village of Izbet el Kilo in Minya Governorate in central Upper Egypt. He went to a kottab (an Egyptian primary school for Qur'an teaching), and thereafter was admitted to Al-Azhar University, where he studied Religion and Arabic literature. From an early age, he was reluctant to take the traditional education to his heart. Hussein became blind at the age of three, the result of faulty treatment by an unskilled practitioner, a condition which caused him a great deal of anguish throughout his entire life.

Hussein met and married Suzanne Bresseau while attending the University of Montpellier in France. She was referred to as "sweet voice". This name came from her ability to read to him as he was trying to improve his grasp of the French language. Suzanne became his wife, best friend and the mother of his two children and was his mentor throughout his life.

When the secular Cairo University was founded in 1908, he was keen to be admitted, and despite being blind and poor he won a place. In 1914, he became the first graduate to receive a Ph.D., with a thesis on the skeptic poet and philosopher Abu-Alala' Al-Ma'ari. He went on to become a professor of Arabic literature there. In 1919, he was appointed a professor of history at Cairo University. Additionally, he was the founding Rector of the University of Alexandria. Although he wrote many novels and essays, in the West he is best known for his autobiography, al-Ayyam (الايام, The Days) which was published in English as An Egyptian Childhood (1932) and The Stream of Days (1943). However, it was his book of literary criticism On Pre-Islamic Poetry (في الشعر الجاهلي) of 1926 that bought him some notoriety in the Arab world. In this book, he expressed doubt about the authenticity of much early Arabic poetry, claiming it to have been falsified during ancient times due to tribal pride and rivalry between tribes. He also hinted indirectly that the Quran should not be taken as an objective source of history. Consequently, the book aroused the intense anger and hostility of the clerics at al-Azhar and many other traditionalists, and he was accused of having insulted Islam. However, the public prosecutor stated that what Taha Hussein had said was the opinion of an academic researcher and no legal action was taken against him, although he lost his post at Cairo University in 1931. His book was banned but was re-published the next year with slight modifications under the title On Pre-Islamic Literature (1927).

Julius Wellhausen (May 17, 1844 – January 7, 1918), was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, noted particularly for his contribution to scholarly understanding of the origin of the Pentateuch/Torah. He is credited with being one of the originators of the documentary hypothesis. One of his well-known works is: Muhammed in Medina, a translation of Al-Waqidi (Berlin, 1882)