Abd Allah ibn Saba'

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabāʾ al-Ḥimyarī , sometimes also called Ibn Sabāʾ, Ibn al-Sawdāʾ, or Ibn Wahb, was a 7th-century figure in Islamic history associated with a group of followers called the Sabaʾiyya .

According to Sunni and Shia tradition, Abd Allah ibn Saba' was a Yemenite Jew from the Arab Himyar tribe who converted to Islam during Uthman's reign. His Jewish origin has also been contested. Some modern historians assert that Sayf ibn Umar fabricated the episode about the killing of Uthman to "exonerate the people of Medina from participation in the caliph's murder" and the movement to support Ali as a successor to Muhammad did not exist in the time of Uthman. But modern historians differed on the historicity of Ibn Saba. M.G.S. Hodgson doubts that Ibn Saba' was a Jew, and suggests that Ibn Saba' and Ibn al-Sawda' should be considered as two separate individuals. 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".

However, some historians affirm the existence of Ibn Saba' or his followers. Israel Friedlander concludes that Ibn Saba' and the Saba'iyya did, in fact, exist. His work has also been attested to by Sabatino Moscati. G. Levi Della Vida also rejects his Jewish origin and maintains that Ibn Saba' was an Arab. Israel Friedlander suggested that he may have been a son of an Ethiopian Falasha woman, which explains why he was called "ibn al-Sawdāʾ". W. F. Tucker, after examining the different arguments, concludes that "Whatever is the case regarding his ethnic identity, it is quite probable that Ibn Saba' was a Yemenite, and that he came from a Jewish milieu".

Heinz Halm records him as a representative of a Ghulat group from the city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (al-Madā'in) who came to see ‘Alī in Kūfah. When Ibn Saba' proclaimed divinity, then ‘Alī denied this angrily and exiled him back to Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Heinz Halm adds that Islamic writers such as Ašʿari in Maqālāt, Baḡdādi in Feraq have said that Ibn Saba' was the first person who idolized Ali ibn Abi Talib. He preached that ʿAli was God (al-elāh). After ʿAli's death, he is said to maintain this idea that "a devil in ʿAli's appearance had been murdered" and ʿAli had ascended to heaven and that his return (rajʿa) was imminent.

Examining his roles 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.

Taha Hussein asserts that the "fabrication" of ibn Saba' was done by the enemies of the Shias; that the insertion of a "Jewish element" would discredit the Shias.

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" 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.

Sunni views According to Tabari, based on traditions collected by Sayf ibn Umar, Ibn Saba' was a Yemenite Jew who embraced Islam. During the time of Ali ibn Abi Taleb, he introduced a number of concepts that later were ascribed to more extreme factions of Shia Islam, or ghulat. According to these traditions, the exaltation of Ali, his divine appointment by the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a successor, the concept of occultation (ghayba) and return (rajʿa) were first formulated and expressed by Ibn Sabaʾ and his followers (the Sabaʾiyya). He and his followers are sometimes said to be the ones who enticed the Egyptians against Uthman on the ground of Ali's special right of succession, and participated in further instigation at later conflicts.

In Sunni polemics, Ibn Saba' plays the same role of seeking to destroy the message of Islam from within (by introducing proto-Shi'ite beliefs) as Paul would play in seeking to deliberately corrupt the early teachings of Jesus.

Shia views

In traditional Shia sources, Abd Allah ibn Saba' is viewed as an extremist (Ghali) that was cursed and killed by Ali ibn Abi Talib (1st Shia Imam), and cursed by Ali ibn Husayn (4th Shia Imam), Muhammad al-Baqir (5th Shia Imam) and Ja'far al-Sadiq (6th Shia Imam). Nevertheless, Ibn Sabaʾ became the subject of a tradition used by different Shia factions to both attack and defend extreme Shia groups.

Shia scholars such as Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Musa al-Nawbakhti, Abu Amr bin Abdul Aziz al-Kash-shi, Al-Hasan bin Ali al-Hilly, al-Astra Abadi, Al-Sadooq, and Al-Nawbakhty talked about the stories and narrations of Ibn Saba. Al-Maamiqaaniy has asserted the existence of Abd Allah ibn Saba'.

It is narrated different traditions from Shia Imams in the book about the belief of Abd Allah ibn Saba' (i.e. divinity of Ali and prophethood of himself), and also cursing of him by different Shia Imams. One such example includes:

quote|Abu Ja’far, the 5th Shia Imam said: Abd Allah ibn Saba' used to claim being a prophet and claimed that The commander of believers (i.e. Ali) is God. Allah is Higher than such claim. This news reached to The commander of believers (i.e. Ali), so he called him and questioned him. But he repeated his claims and said: "You are Him (i.e. God), and it has been revealed to me that you are God and I am a prophet." So the commander of believers (i.e. Ali) said: "How dare you! Satan has made a mockery of you. Repent for what you said. May your mother weep at your death! Quit [your claim]." But he refused, so Ali imprisoned him and asked him three times to repent, but he didn't. Thus he burnt him (i.e. his corpse after killing him

Al-Maamqaani from his work Tanqih al-Maqaal Fi Ilm al-Rijaal (2/183-184):

From Sa'd ibn Abd Allah al-Ash'ari al-Qummi who was speaking of the Sab'iyyah (in al-Maqaalaat wal-Firaq p. 20):

Regarding to this saying of Sa'd bin Abd Allah al-Ash'ari al-Qummi, Shia scholars say that he did not mention any chain of authorities nor did he mention from whom (or which book) he got the story and what his source was. Moreover, al-Ash’ari al-Qummi has narrated many traditions from Sunni authorities. al-Najjashi (d. 450) in his "al-Rijal" said that al-Ash’ari al-Qummi traveled to many places and was well known for his relation with Sunni historians and heard many stories from them. So, he surely wrote this report from what he heard from Sunnis, which was indeed based on the stories of Sayf ibn Umar.

Ni'matullah al-Jazaa'iree, another of Shi'ite famous scholars from his book al-Anwaar al-Nu'maaniyyah (2/234):

The first part of the saying of Ni'matullah al-Jazaa'iree is the Shia belief about Abd Allah ibn Saba' which is based on the authentic traditions. But the second part of his saying ( i.e., And it is said that he was a Jew who accepted Islam ... ) is about the story which was made by Sayf ibn Umar. Usually, in Islamic books, using from the term 'قيل' ( Ghila, i.e., It is said ... ) before mentioning a matter by the author, implies the belief of the author about the weakness of the saying which is mentioned after it. So, using the term 'Ghila' by Ni'matullah al-Jazaa'iree shows that he believed that the saying is weak.

Famous Shia scholar Nau Bakhti writes,

Muhammad Ali al-Mual'lim, a present-day Shi'ite, also affirmed the existence of Abd Allah ibn Saba' in his book Abdullah bin Saba: The Unknown Reality. This book was a refutation of those who denied the existence of Abd Allah ibn Saba' giving the excuse of "false narrations".

Modern Shia historians often cite a number of Sunni scholars who considered Sayf ibn Umar as unreliable on matters of prophetic hadith. For example, al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) has quoted from the book of Sayf in his History, but wrote in "al-Mughni fi al-Dhu'afa'" that: "Sayf has two books which have been unanimously abandoned by the scholars." They point out to a number of prominent Sunni scholars concur regarding his narration of hadith. including al-Hakim, Abu Dawud, al-Suyuti and al-Nisa'i. However, some modern historians have pointed out that this view of Sayf should be limited to his hadith scholarship, and thus it does not detract from his general reliability as a transmitter of historical information.

Some early Jewish literature also exists on Ibn Saba. He was largely regarded as an apostate from Judaism.