subject: Abdullah Ibn Saba : One Of The Most Important Characters In Islam [print this page] Abd Allah ibn Saba is believed by followers of Sunni 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. Shia 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 Shii Islam.
Modern scholars of Islam deny this; they record him as a representative of a ghuluww group from the city of Seleucia Ctesiphon (al Madain) who came to see Ali in Kufah. When ibn Saba proclaimed Ali's divinity, Ali denied this angrily and sent him back to Seleucia-Ctesiphon.
In recent years some scholars have questioned the existence of Abdu l Lah ibn Saba. Taha Hussein, a well-known 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. He suggests that the "fabrication" of ibn Saba was done by the enemies of the Shia; that the insertion of a "Jewish element" would discredit the Shia.
Nibras Kazimi describes the story of ibn Saba as "Sunni propaganda" planted in an effort to create dissent within Shii To support his argument he cites the work of another scholar, Yitzhak Nakash.
On other hand, many respected Shii scholars have agreed that Abdullah Ibn Saba existed. Among them are Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Musa al-Nubakhti, Abu Amr bin Abdul Aziz al-Kash shi, Al Hasan bin Ali al Hilly, al-Astra Abadi,Al-Sadooq, and Al-Nawbakhty.
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 Ali was Allah, or claimed prophethood for Ali, Ali, fearing recrimination due to ibn Saba's beliefs, enjoined ibn Saba to retract his claims. When ibn Saba failed to do so, Ali 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.
Most Shii 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.
Abdullah ibn Saba was a Rabbi from Sana. He pretended conversion to Islam during the caliphate of the third Rightly Guided Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan. He was the son of Saba' ibn Shamun, a Jew residing in Medina at the time of the second Rightly Guided Caliph, Umar ibn al Khattab al Faruq, 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 companions, Harmuzan, al Majusi and Jafina al Nasrani, while nurturing an exaggerated love for the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph (then Uthman's vizier) Ali ibn abi Talib for advising the execution of Ubaid Allah ibn Umar under the charges of murder against Harmuzan and Jafina.
Tradition relates that when Ali had assumed power, ibn Saba became an adherent of the emerging persuasion, and a strong supporter of Ali. He is the first to introduce the concept of the Imamate. He called for the divinity of Ali. Ibn Saba initially did not openly preach these beliefs, but he later abandoned his secret and started a vigorous campaign.
However, when ibn Saba claimed that Ali is himself God by addressing him with the words, "Thou art Thou!", Ali declared him a heretic and burned some of his followers at the stake and expelled ibn Saba to al MadainAfter Ali assassination, ibn Saba 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. Until then the divine character of Ali was to remain hidden in the Imams, who temporarily filled his place.
According to Sunni historical references, ibn Saba enticed the Muslims to kill Uthman. He also made mischief in the armies of Ali 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 Shii Islam, although on account of his extremism this is considered by Shi'a Muslims as a baseless accusation. The Apostle Paul and ibn Saba have been said to be "Jewish agents" who infiltrated Christianity and Islam to destroy them from within.
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."
