Sabians
Encyclopedia
The Sabians of Middle Eastern tradition were a monotheistic Abrahamic religious group mentioned three times in the Quran: "the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians." In the Hadith they are nothing but converts to Islam, while their identity in later Islamic literature became a matter of discussion and investigation.
provide further details as to who they were as people of the book:
. The "Zaboor" is identified by many modern scholars as the Biblical book of Psalms
. Most of what is known of them comes from Ibn Wahshiyya
's The Nabatean Agriculture, and the translation of this by Maimonides
.
Other classical Arabic sources include the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim
, (c. 987), who mentions the Mogtasilah ("Mughtasila," or "self-ablutionists"), a "sect" of "Sabians" in southern Mesopotamia who counted El-Hasaih as their founder and the vast majority of academics agree that they are probably the enigmatic "Sobiai" to whom Elchasai
preached in Parthia. According to Daniel Chwolsohn (1856) they appear to have gravitated around the original pro-Jewish Hanputa of Elchasai out of which the miso-Judaic prophet Mani
seceded and are identified therefore as the pro-Torah Sampsaeans but also less accurately with the anti-Torah Mandaeans
. They were said by Khalil Ibn Ahmad
(d.786) to believe that they "belonged" to the prophet Noah
.Khalil Ibn Ahmad
(d. 786-787 AD), who was in Basra before his death, wrote: “The Sabians believe they belong to the prophet Noah, they read Zaboor, and their religion looks like Christianity.” He also states that "they worship the angels."
Some supposed that they influenced the practices of the Hellenic Godfearers theosebeis while their angelology (based around the movements of the Sun
, Moon
, Mars
, Mercury
, Jupiter
, Venus
and Saturn
) found its greatest development in the community which was based in the Harran
region of south-eastern Anatolia
and northern Syria
. Ibn al-Qayyim
distinguished them as the Sabians of Harran from the south Mesopotamian Sābi'ūna Hunafā.
They are not to be confused with the Sabaeans of Sheba
whose etymology is unrelated being spelled with an initial Arabic letter "Sin (ﺱ)" instead of the initial letter "Sad (ص)".
(1963) argued that the term Sābi'ūn derives from the Syriac root S-b-' , referring to conversion through submersion
.
The Syriac (and Hebrew) nouns derived from this root refer to proselyte
s, both "Judaisers" — non-converts who followed certain basic rules of Judaism
— and early Christian
converts of non-Jewish origin and practice. These latter were called Theosebeians "God-fearer
s", Sebomenoi "Believers", or Phobeomenoi "pious ones" in Greek sources. The Greek etymology of sebomai , applied to the proselytes, is in the word eusebian , meaning a kind of godliness and reverence or worshipfulness.
Proselytization has also long been associated with submersion
and although the Greek etymology of the Sabian appellation is more than likely the original (there being no record of any similar people prior to the Hellenic era). According to Islamic scholars, the word Sābi'ūna (Sabian) is derived from the verb saba’a, which refers to the action of leaving one religion and entering another.
Sabians practiced initiation through submersion in water, intended to harken to the inundation of the world during the deluge of the time of Noah which cleansed man's sinful nature from the face of the earth.
. Most of this knowledge was translated in 904 AD from Syriac sources into the book called "The Nabatean Agriculture" by Ibn Wahshiyya
; Maimonides
considered it an accurate record of the beliefs of the Sabians, whose role as a pre-Judaic monotheistic movement he commented on at length.
Despite substantial and clear documentation about both kinds of Sabians spanning many centuries from sources as diverse as Greek Christian
, Arabic
Muslim, Arabic and Persian Bahá'í, as well as Jewish sources, the actual nature of the Sabians has remained a matter of some heated debate among Orientalists. Therefore, "Sabian" has been used mistakenly in many literary references for decades and though, the spelling "Sabian" usually refers to one of the People of the Book
mentioned in the Qur'an
, it has also been used by the Mandaeans as an appellation adopted to appease local Muslim
authorities. The variation "Sabean" has been employed in English to distinguish the ancient Harranian group, but the usage is not universal.
The confusion of Sabaeans and Sabians began with Marmaduke Pickthall
's spelling mistake in his translation of the Qur'an
. The word "Sabaeans
" comes from a completely different root spelling, beginning with the Arabic letter "Sin" instead of the Arabic letter "Sad". The Sabaeans were in fact the people of ancient Saba
in Yemen
who have been discredited by scholars as to having any connection to the Sabians of the Qur'an except for their Ansar tribe, which practiced Qur'ānic Sabianism.
Al-Biruni
(writing at the beginning of the eleventh century A.D.) said that the '"real Sabians'" were "the remnants of the Jewish tribes who remained in Babylonia
when the other tribes left it for Jerusalem in the days of Cyrus and Artaxerxes
. According to Ethel Drower (1937) these remaining tribes ... adopted a system mixed up of Magism and Judaism
.'
out of the original Arabic.
The Sabians existed before Muhammad
, and are said to have read from a book called the Zabur
("Psalms"). They came under Islamic rule about 639 AD. At that time in history they were described as Greek
immigrants but were grouped together with the Nabataeans
.
Many Islamic writers from the period of about 650 CE onward gave further descriptions of the Sabians. They wrote that the Sabians lived in Iraq
around Sawad
, Kutha
and Mosul
and they "wash themselves with water", had "long hair", and "white gowns". They had a monotheistic faith with religious literature (the Zabur
) and acknowledged the prophets. Their theology
resembled that of Judaism
and Christianity
yet were neither, nor were they Magians.
With regard to their beliefs, Ibn al-Qayyim
said: "The people differed greatly concerning them, and the imams were unsure about them because they did not have enough knowledge of their beliefs and religion." Al-Shaafa’i said: "Their case is to be examined further; if they resemble the Christians in basic matters but they differ from them in some minor issues, then the jizya
is to be taken from them. But if they differ from them in basic issues of religion then their religion cannot be approved of by taking the jizya from them." And he elaborated elsewhere: "They are a kind of Christian," a view consistent with a comment about some of them mentioned in Bahá'i
writings.
Ibn al-Qayyim said: "The Sabians are a large nation among whom are both blessed and doomed. They are one of the nations who are divided into believers and disbelievers, for the nations before the coming of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allāh be Upon Him) were of two types, kāfir
nations all of whose people were doomed and among whom were none who were blessed, such as the idol-worshippers and the Magians; and others who were divided into those who were blessed and those who were doomed, namely the Jews
, Christians and Sabians."
According to Islamic scholars, they did not reject the Prophets of Islam
but neither did they regard it as obligatory to follow them. Whoever followed (the Prophets) may be blessed and saved, but whoever follows a path similar to that of the Prophets by virtue of one's own reasoning is also blessed and saved, even if one did not follow the Prophets in specific terms. In their view the call of the Prophets was true but there was no one specific route to salvation. They believed that the universe had a Creator and Sustainer, Who is Wise and above any resemblance to created beings, but many of them, or most of them, (i.e. the Sabians of Harran) said: we are unable to reach Him without intermediaries, so we have to approach Him through the mediation of spiritual and holy Bud Asaf who are pure and free of any physical elements and who are above place and time, rather they are created pure and holy.
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Zayd (d. 798 AD) wrote: "The Sābi'ūn say that their religion is a religion to itself and they live near Mosul
(jazirat al-mawsil) and believe in only one God." He also wrote that they have: "no cult though their main belief is 'La ilaha il Allāh
'." He also remarked that: "the Sābi'ūn did not believe in the Prophet Muhammad (in the same way as his followers did), yet the polytheists were known to say of the Prophet and his companions 'these are the Sabians' comparing them to them."
Wahb Ibn Munabbih
(d 728-732 AD), who was originally from Iran, wrote: "The Sabians believe 'La ilaha il Allāh' but they do not have canonical law."
Mujahid ‘ibn Jarir (d 722 AD) wrote: "The Sabians have no distinctive religion but is somewhere between Judaism
and Magianism." following the Din of Noah
as a sect who read the Zabur
Abul ‘Ailya said: “The Sabis are a sect of people of the Scripture who recite the Zaboor.”Abu Hanifah (d.767 AD) who is the founder of the Hanafite school of Islamic Law
wrote: "The Sabians read Zaboor and are between Judaism and Christianity." akin to Christianity.‘Abd ‘Allah ‘ibn al-‘Abbas (lived about 650 AD) wrote: "The religion of the Sabians is a sect of Christianity." They appear to be between Judaism and Magianism‘Ibn Abi Nujayh (d749) wrote: "The Sabians were between Judaism and Magianism."Suddi (d745 AD) also wrote: "The Sabian religion is between Judaism and Magianism." but are in fact closer to Judaism.‘Awza’ (d.773 AD) a representative of the ancient Syrian school of religious studies wrote: "The Sabians are between Judaism and Christianity."Malik ‘ibn ‘Anas (d795) wrote: "The Sabians are between Judaism and Christianity..."
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
(d. 855 AD) the Iman of Baghdad wrote: "The Sabians are a sect of Christianity or Judaism." Sābi'ūn recognise the practice of the prophet Muhammad in going to the caves prior to his inspiration, as in accordance with the Sabi quest for Tawheed Hunafa' and, in general, many similarities with the Sabians meant Muhammad and his companions were often considered to have been Sabians.
Ibn Jurayi (who lived in the 8th century) also wrote: The Sabians are in Sawad
and are between the Magians, Christians, or Jews. He also wrote that the polytheists said of Mohammed: “He is a Sabian”.
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Zayd (d798 AD) wrote: "The prophet and his companions are referred to as 'these are the Sabians' comparing Mohammed to the Sabians." Most specifically this was because of the Sabian shahada “La ilaha ila Allāh”.‘Abd al-Rahman ‘ibn ‘Zayd (d.798 AD) wrote: "The polytheists used to say of the prophet and his companions ‘these are the Sabians’ comparing them to them, because the Sabians who live Jaziartal-Mawsil (today known as Iraq) would say ‘La ilaha ila Allah’."
Rabiah Ibn Ubbad (who lived at the same time as Mohammed) wrote:
"I saw the prophet when I was a pagan. He was saying to the people, ‘if you want to save yourselves, accept that there is no God but Allāh’ At this moment I noticed a man behind him saying ‘he is a sabi.’ When I asked somebody who he was he told me he was ‘Abu Lahab, his uncle."
Both Ibn Jurayi (d. 767) and Ata Ibn Abi Rabah
(d.732) wrote: "I saw the prophet when I was a pagan. He was saying to the people, ‘If you want to save yourselves, accept that there is no God but Allāh.’ At this moment I noticed a man behind him saying ‘He is a sabi.’ When I asked somebody who he was he told me he was ‘Abu Lahab, his uncle' Of the relationship between the Sabians who lived in Sawad (in Iraq) and Muhammad it is mentioned that the polytheists of Mecca were heard to say of Muhammad "he has become a Sabian."
The root-meaning of the word "Sabian" (deriving from their religion Seboghatullah) means proselyte
, and is identical in usage with the Greek words for Godfearers sebomenoi, theosebes, phobeomenoi.Abu Abdultah said: "The word saba’a means “The one who is a Proselyte.”"
ans and they worship angels." each of whom they believe dwell in different stars, which has led to the erroneous beliefs among some that Sābi'ūn worship angels while others derogatorily call them star-worshipers (and so it is said in Arabic saba'at al-nujūm, meaning "the stars appeared"). Sābi'ūn read from the Zaboor (as with the Slavonic Subbotniki or Psaltirschiki) and use the sun for a qiblah, facing the equator at mid day.Abul Ailya said: “The Sabis are a sect of people of the Scripture who recite the Zabur
.”Hasan al-Basri (d728 AD) wrote: "They read the Zaboor and pray facing a qiblah."Qatadah ‘ibn Di’amah (d736 AD) wrote:"they pray towards the sun." Their fundamental teaching is La ilahah il Allah (there is no god but Allah),‘Abd al-Rahman ‘ibn Zayd (d. 798 AD) wrote: "The Sābi'ūn say that their religion is a religion to itself and they live near Mosul
(jazirat al-mawsil) and believe in only one God." He also wrote that they have: "… no cult though their main belief is “La ilaha il Allah”." He also remarked that: "the Sābi'ūn did not believe in the Prophet Mohammed (in the same way as his followers did), yet the polytheists were known to say of the Prophets and his companions “these are the Sabians” comparing them to them." but besides this ardent unitarianism, Sābi'ūn are quite akin to Christians.Al-Shaafai said: "Their case is to be examined further; if they resemble the Christians in basic matters but they differ from them in some minor issues, then the jizya
is to be taken from them. But if they differ from them in basic issues of religion then their religion cannot be approved of by taking the jizya from them." And he elaborated elsewhere: "They are a kind of Christian
." Hanif
Sabians are more universal, looking to Noah
as their prophet of the Dīn
.Sābi'ūn have five daily prayersQatadah ‘ibn Di’amah (d736 AD) wrote: "The Sabians worship angel
s, read Zaboor, pray five ritual prayers." (though Zohar can join Asr while Ma'ariv can join Isha giving the appearance of three). They believe in all prophets, reiterating the Din of Noah and, not in the same way as the Muslims, believe in the Seal of the prophets
.Ziyad ‘ibn ‘Abihi (d. 672 AD) who was the governor of Iraq during the first Umayyad caliph Mur awiyah wrote: "The Sabians believe in the prophets and pray five times daily." They also fast for 30 days.‘Abdul al-Zanad (d.747 AD) wrote: "The Sabians are from “Kutha
” in Iraq
, they believe in prophets, fast 30 days in a year, and pray 5 times daily towards the Yemen
." (NB "towards the Yemen" is equivalent to facing south)
wrote about the Sabians, . Based upon a book called The Nabataean Agriculture which Maimonides translated, Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed describes the Sabians in quite some detail. They were questioned by Caliph
al-Ma'mun
of Baghdad
in 830 CE, according to Abu Yusuf Absha al-Qadi, about what protected religion they belonged to. Not being Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Magian, the caliph told them they were infidels and would have to become Muslims or adherents of one of the other religions recognized by the Qur'an by the time he returned from his campaign against the Byzantines or he would kill them. The Harranians consulted with a lawyer who suggested that they find their answer in the Qur'an II.59 which made it clear that Sabians were tolerated. It was unknown what was intended by Sabian and so they took the name.
These newly-dubbed Harranian Sabians acknowledged Hermes Trismegistus
as their prophet and the Corpus Hermeticum as their sacred text, being a group of Hermeticists
. Validation of Hermes as a prophet comes from his identification as Idris
(i.e. Enoch
) in the Qur'an (19.57 and 21.85).
The Harranian Sabians played a vital role in Baghdad and the rest of the Arab world from 856 until about 1050; playing the role of the main source of Greek philosophy
and science
as well as shaping the intellectual life. The most prominent of the Harranian Sabians was Thabit ibn Qurra
.
, Nicolas Siouffi in his Études sur la religion des Soubbas ou Sabéens, leurs dogmes, leurs moeurs (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1880) claimed to have identified 4,000 Sabians in the Soubbhas. This was well received by the Theosophist G. R. S. Mead
, but received critical reviews from scholars.
. These references are brief for the most part, once describing a group who believe in Jesus
"they do expect the manifestation of Jesus" (á'ín-i Sábi'ín by Ruhu'llah Mihrabkhani)). `Abdu'l-Bahá
has one brief reference where he describes Seth as one of the "sons of Adam". Bahá'u'lláh
in a Tablet
identifies Idris with Hermes. He does not, however, specifically name Idris as the prophet of the Sabians.
. These pagan "Sabians" are mentioned in the Nabataean corpus of Ibn Wahshiyya
.
"The Sabians, who were pagans in the Middle East, were identified with two groups, the Mandaeans and the Harranians. The Mandaeans lived in Iraq during the 2nd century A.D. As they continue to do today, they worshipped multiple gods, or "light personalities." Their gods were classified under four categories: "first life," "second life," "third life" and "fourth life." Old gods belong to the "first life" category. They summoned deities who, in turn, created "second life" deities, and so forth.
The other group, considered as Sabians, were the Harranians. They worshipped Sin, the moon, as their main deity, but they also worshipped planets and other deities. The Sabians were in contact with Ahnaf, an Arabian group which Mohammed joined before claiming to be a prophet. Ahnaf sought knowledge by going to Northern Iraq, where there were many communities of Mandaeans. They also went to the city of Harran in the al-Jazirah district in northern Syria on the border between Syria, Iraq and Asia Minor.
In the Quran
The Qur'an briefly announces the Sabians in three places and the HadithHadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
provide further details as to who they were as people of the book:
In later Islamic sources
According to Muslim authors, Sabians followed the fourth book of Abrahamic tradition, the Zaboor, which was given to the Prophet King David of Ancient Israel according to the Qur'anQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. The "Zaboor" is identified by many modern scholars as the Biblical book of Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
. Most of what is known of them comes from Ibn Wahshiyya
Ibn Wahshiyya
Ibn Wahshiyya was an Iraqi alchemist, agriculturalist, farm toxicologist, egyptologist and historian born at Qusayn near Kufa in Iraq.Ibn Wahshiyya was one of the first historians to be able to at least partly decipher what was written in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, by relating them to the...
's The Nabatean Agriculture, and the translation of this by Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
.
Other classical Arabic sources include the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim
Ibn al-Nadim
Abu'l-Faraj Muhammad bin Is'hāq al-Nadim , whose father was known as al-Warrāq was a Shia Muslim scholar and bibliographer. Some scholars regard him as a Persian, but this is not certain. He is famous as the author of the Kitāb al-Fihrist...
, (c. 987), who mentions the Mogtasilah ("Mughtasila," or "self-ablutionists"), a "sect" of "Sabians" in southern Mesopotamia who counted El-Hasaih as their founder and the vast majority of academics agree that they are probably the enigmatic "Sobiai" to whom Elchasai
Elcesaites
The Elcesaites, Elkasaites, Elkesaites, or Elchasaites were an ancient Jewish-Christian sect, possibly related to the Ebionites, in Sassanid southern Mesopotamia.Some early scholars differentiate Ebionites from Essenic Ebionite-Elchasites...
preached in Parthia. According to Daniel Chwolsohn (1856) they appear to have gravitated around the original pro-Jewish Hanputa of Elchasai out of which the miso-Judaic prophet Mani
Mani (prophet)
Mani , of Iranian origin was the prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a gnostic religion of Late Antiquity which was once widespread but is now extinct...
seceded and are identified therefore as the pro-Torah Sampsaeans but also less accurately with the anti-Torah Mandaeans
Mandaeism
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism is a Gnostic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist...
. They were said by Khalil Ibn Ahmad
Khalil ibn Ahmad
Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahmān al-Khalīl ibn Ahmad al-Farāhīdī , more commonly known as al-Farahidi, was a philologist from southern Arabia . His best known contributions are Kitab al-'Ayn , the current standard for Harakat , and the invention al-'arud . He moved to Basra, Iraq, he was Ibadi...
(d.786) to believe that they "belonged" to the prophet Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
.Khalil Ibn Ahmad
Khalil ibn Ahmad
Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahmān al-Khalīl ibn Ahmad al-Farāhīdī , more commonly known as al-Farahidi, was a philologist from southern Arabia . His best known contributions are Kitab al-'Ayn , the current standard for Harakat , and the invention al-'arud . He moved to Basra, Iraq, he was Ibadi...
(d. 786-787 AD), who was in Basra before his death, wrote: “The Sabians believe they belong to the prophet Noah, they read Zaboor, and their religion looks like Christianity.” He also states that "they worship the angels."
Some supposed that they influenced the practices of the Hellenic Godfearers theosebeis while their angelology (based around the movements of the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
, Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
and Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
) found its greatest development in the community which was based in the Harran
Harran
Harran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...
region of south-eastern Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and northern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Ibn al-Qayyim
Ibn al-Qayyim
Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr...
distinguished them as the Sabians of Harran from the south Mesopotamian Sābi'ūna Hunafā.
They are not to be confused with the Sabaeans of Sheba
Sheba
Sheba was a kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures and the Qur'an...
whose etymology is unrelated being spelled with an initial Arabic letter "Sin (ﺱ)" instead of the initial letter "Sad (ص)".
Etymology
There has been much speculation as to the origins of the religious endonym from this practice. SegalJudah Segal
Judah Benzion Segal MC, FBA, often known as Ben was Professor of Semitic Languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies....
(1963) argued that the term Sābi'ūn derives from the Syriac root S-b-' , referring to conversion through submersion
Mikvah
Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...
.
The Syriac (and Hebrew) nouns derived from this root refer to proselyte
Proselyte
The biblical term "Proselyte", derives from the Koine Greek προσήλυτος/proselytos, as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism from Paganism...
s, both "Judaisers" — non-converts who followed certain basic rules of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
— and early Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
converts of non-Jewish origin and practice. These latter were called Theosebeians "God-fearer
God-fearer
A God-fearer or Godfearer was a class of non-Jewish sympathizer to Second Temple Judaism mentioned in the Christian New Testament and other contemporary sources such as synagogue inscriptions in Diaspora Hellenistic Judaism...
s", Sebomenoi "Believers", or Phobeomenoi "pious ones" in Greek sources. The Greek etymology of sebomai , applied to the proselytes, is in the word eusebian , meaning a kind of godliness and reverence or worshipfulness.
Proselytization has also long been associated with submersion
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and although the Greek etymology of the Sabian appellation is more than likely the original (there being no record of any similar people prior to the Hellenic era). According to Islamic scholars, the word Sābi'ūna (Sabian) is derived from the verb saba’a, which refers to the action of leaving one religion and entering another.
- TabariMuhammad ibn Jarir al-TabariAbu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar and exegete of the Qur'an from Persia...
said: as-Sābi'ūn is the plural of Sābi, which means "proselyte" (such as an apostate from IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
) who has left his original religion, or anyone who has left the religion that he used to follow and joins another. The Arabs called such a person Sābi'.
Sabians practiced initiation through submersion in water, intended to harken to the inundation of the world during the deluge of the time of Noah which cleansed man's sinful nature from the face of the earth.
Overview
In the later ninth century AD, Arab authors focused upon the origins of the "Abrahamic" Sabians from the "Hellenistc" Sabians and went into much detail on the Harranian period before the time of AbrahamAbraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
. Most of this knowledge was translated in 904 AD from Syriac sources into the book called "The Nabatean Agriculture" by Ibn Wahshiyya
Ibn Wahshiyya
Ibn Wahshiyya was an Iraqi alchemist, agriculturalist, farm toxicologist, egyptologist and historian born at Qusayn near Kufa in Iraq.Ibn Wahshiyya was one of the first historians to be able to at least partly decipher what was written in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, by relating them to the...
; Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
considered it an accurate record of the beliefs of the Sabians, whose role as a pre-Judaic monotheistic movement he commented on at length.
Despite substantial and clear documentation about both kinds of Sabians spanning many centuries from sources as diverse as Greek Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
Muslim, Arabic and Persian Bahá'í, as well as Jewish sources, the actual nature of the Sabians has remained a matter of some heated debate among Orientalists. Therefore, "Sabian" has been used mistakenly in many literary references for decades and though, the spelling "Sabian" usually refers to one of the People of the Book
People of the Book
People of the Book is a term used to designate non-Muslim adherents to faiths which have a revealed scripture called, in Arabic, Al-Kitab . The three types of adherents to faiths that the Qur'an mentions as people of the book are the Jews, Sabians and Christians.In Islam, the Muslim scripture, the...
mentioned in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, it has also been used by the Mandaeans as an appellation adopted to appease local Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
authorities. The variation "Sabean" has been employed in English to distinguish the ancient Harranian group, but the usage is not universal.
The confusion of Sabaeans and Sabians began with Marmaduke Pickthall
Marmaduke Pickthall
Marmaduke Pickthall was a Western Islamic scholar, noted as an English translator of the Qur'an into English. A convert from Christianity, Pickthall was a novelist, esteemed by D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and E. M. Forster, as well as a journalist, headmaster, and political and religious leader...
's spelling mistake in his translation of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. The word "Sabaeans
Sabaeans
The Sabaeans or Sabeans were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who lived in what is today Yemen, in the south west of the Arabian Peninsula.Some scholars suggest a link between the Sabaeans and the Biblical land of Sheba....
" comes from a completely different root spelling, beginning with the Arabic letter "Sin" instead of the Arabic letter "Sad". The Sabaeans were in fact the people of ancient Saba
Sheba
Sheba was a kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures and the Qur'an...
in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
who have been discredited by scholars as to having any connection to the Sabians of the Qur'an except for their Ansar tribe, which practiced Qur'ānic Sabianism.
Al-Biruni
Al-Biruni
Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-BīrūnīArabic spelling. . The intermediate form Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī is often used in academic literature...
(writing at the beginning of the eleventh century A.D.) said that the '"real Sabians'" were "the remnants of the Jewish tribes who remained in Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
when the other tribes left it for Jerusalem in the days of Cyrus and Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes may refer to:The throne name of several Achaemenid rulers of the 1st Persian Empire:* Artaxerxes I of Persia, Artaxerxes I Longimanus, r. 465–424 BC, son and successor of Xerxes I...
. According to Ethel Drower (1937) these remaining tribes ... adopted a system mixed up of Magism and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
.'
Islamic reference
The recent debate on who the Sabians were is directly connected to how to best translate the following verses from the Qur'anQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
out of the original Arabic.
The Sabians existed before Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, and are said to have read from a book called the Zabur
Zabur
Zabur is, according to Islam, the holy book of Dawud , one of the holy books revealed by God before the Qur'an, alongside others such as the Tawrat of Musa and the Injil of Isa ....
("Psalms"). They came under Islamic rule about 639 AD. At that time in history they were described as Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
immigrants but were grouped together with the Nabataeans
Nabataeans
Thamudi3.jpgThe Nabataeans, also Nabateans , were ancient peoples of southern Canaan and the northern part of Arabia, whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus , gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea...
.
Many Islamic writers from the period of about 650 CE onward gave further descriptions of the Sabians. They wrote that the Sabians lived in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
around Sawad
Sawad
Sawad is a village in western central Yemen. It is located in the San‘a’ Governorate.-External links:*...
, Kutha
Kutha
Kutha, Cuthah, or Cutha was an ancient city of Sumer on the right bank of the eastern branch of the Upper Euphrates, north of Nippur and around 25 miles northeast of Babylon...
and Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
and they "wash themselves with water", had "long hair", and "white gowns". They had a monotheistic faith with religious literature (the Zabur
Zabur
Zabur is, according to Islam, the holy book of Dawud , one of the holy books revealed by God before the Qur'an, alongside others such as the Tawrat of Musa and the Injil of Isa ....
) and acknowledged the prophets. Their theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
resembled that of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
yet were neither, nor were they Magians.
With regard to their beliefs, Ibn al-Qayyim
Ibn al-Qayyim
Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr...
said: "The people differed greatly concerning them, and the imams were unsure about them because they did not have enough knowledge of their beliefs and religion." Al-Shaafa’i said: "Their case is to be examined further; if they resemble the Christians in basic matters but they differ from them in some minor issues, then the jizya
Jizya
Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim citizens, who meet certain criteria...
is to be taken from them. But if they differ from them in basic issues of religion then their religion cannot be approved of by taking the jizya from them." And he elaborated elsewhere: "They are a kind of Christian," a view consistent with a comment about some of them mentioned in Bahá'i
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
writings.
Ibn al-Qayyim said: "The Sabians are a large nation among whom are both blessed and doomed. They are one of the nations who are divided into believers and disbelievers, for the nations before the coming of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allāh be Upon Him) were of two types, kāfir
Kafir
Kafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
nations all of whose people were doomed and among whom were none who were blessed, such as the idol-worshippers and the Magians; and others who were divided into those who were blessed and those who were doomed, namely the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, Christians and Sabians."
According to Islamic scholars, they did not reject the Prophets of Islam
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
but neither did they regard it as obligatory to follow them. Whoever followed (the Prophets) may be blessed and saved, but whoever follows a path similar to that of the Prophets by virtue of one's own reasoning is also blessed and saved, even if one did not follow the Prophets in specific terms. In their view the call of the Prophets was true but there was no one specific route to salvation. They believed that the universe had a Creator and Sustainer, Who is Wise and above any resemblance to created beings, but many of them, or most of them, (i.e. the Sabians of Harran) said: we are unable to reach Him without intermediaries, so we have to approach Him through the mediation of spiritual and holy Bud Asaf who are pure and free of any physical elements and who are above place and time, rather they are created pure and holy.
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Zayd (d. 798 AD) wrote: "The Sābi'ūn say that their religion is a religion to itself and they live near Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
(jazirat al-mawsil) and believe in only one God." He also wrote that they have: "no cult though their main belief is 'La ilaha il Allāh
Shahada
The Shahada , means "to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed"/testification; it is the name of the Islamic creed. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet...
'." He also remarked that: "the Sābi'ūn did not believe in the Prophet Muhammad (in the same way as his followers did), yet the polytheists were known to say of the Prophet and his companions 'these are the Sabians' comparing them to them."
Wahb Ibn Munabbih
Wahb ibn Munabbih
'Wahb ibn Munabbih' was a Muslim traditionist of Dhimar in Yemen; died at the age of ninety, in a year variously given by Arabic authorities as 725, 728, 732, and 737 C.E....
(d 728-732 AD), who was originally from Iran, wrote: "The Sabians believe 'La ilaha il Allāh' but they do not have canonical law."
Mujahid ‘ibn Jarir (d 722 AD) wrote: "The Sabians have no distinctive religion but is somewhere between Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Magianism." following the Din of Noah
as a sect who read the Zabur
Zabur
Zabur is, according to Islam, the holy book of Dawud , one of the holy books revealed by God before the Qur'an, alongside others such as the Tawrat of Musa and the Injil of Isa ....
Abul ‘Ailya said: “The Sabis are a sect of people of the Scripture who recite the Zaboor.”Abu Hanifah (d.767 AD) who is the founder of the Hanafite school of Islamic Law
Islamic law
Islamic law can refer to:*Sharia: The code of conduct enjoined upon Muslims in the Quran*Fiqh: Muslim jurisprudence...
wrote: "The Sabians read Zaboor and are between Judaism and Christianity." akin to Christianity.‘Abd ‘Allah ‘ibn al-‘Abbas (lived about 650 AD) wrote: "The religion of the Sabians is a sect of Christianity." They appear to be between Judaism and Magianism‘Ibn Abi Nujayh (d749) wrote: "The Sabians were between Judaism and Magianism."Suddi (d745 AD) also wrote: "The Sabian religion is between Judaism and Magianism." but are in fact closer to Judaism.‘Awza’ (d.773 AD) a representative of the ancient Syrian school of religious studies wrote: "The Sabians are between Judaism and Christianity."Malik ‘ibn ‘Anas (d795) wrote: "The Sabians are between Judaism and Christianity..."
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani was an important Muslim scholar and theologian. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh...
(d. 855 AD) the Iman of Baghdad wrote: "The Sabians are a sect of Christianity or Judaism." Sābi'ūn recognise the practice of the prophet Muhammad in going to the caves prior to his inspiration, as in accordance with the Sabi quest for Tawheed Hunafa' and, in general, many similarities with the Sabians meant Muhammad and his companions were often considered to have been Sabians.
Ibn Jurayi (who lived in the 8th century) also wrote: The Sabians are in Sawad
Sawad
Sawad is a village in western central Yemen. It is located in the San‘a’ Governorate.-External links:*...
and are between the Magians, Christians, or Jews. He also wrote that the polytheists said of Mohammed: “He is a Sabian”.
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Zayd (d798 AD) wrote: "The prophet and his companions are referred to as 'these are the Sabians' comparing Mohammed to the Sabians." Most specifically this was because of the Sabian shahada “La ilaha ila Allāh”.‘Abd al-Rahman ‘ibn ‘Zayd (d.798 AD) wrote: "The polytheists used to say of the prophet and his companions ‘these are the Sabians’ comparing them to them, because the Sabians who live Jaziartal-Mawsil (today known as Iraq) would say ‘La ilaha ila Allah’."
Rabiah Ibn Ubbad (who lived at the same time as Mohammed) wrote:
"I saw the prophet when I was a pagan. He was saying to the people, ‘if you want to save yourselves, accept that there is no God but Allāh’ At this moment I noticed a man behind him saying ‘he is a sabi.’ When I asked somebody who he was he told me he was ‘Abu Lahab, his uncle."
Both Ibn Jurayi (d. 767) and Ata Ibn Abi Rabah
Ata ibn Abi Rabah
Ata ibn Abi Rabah was a prominent Tabi'i, a Mufassir, Muhaddith , faqih and Mufti of Mecca. He was born in Yemen of Nubian parents and raised in Mecca as a client of the Abi Khuthaym family...
(d.732) wrote: "I saw the prophet when I was a pagan. He was saying to the people, ‘If you want to save yourselves, accept that there is no God but Allāh.’ At this moment I noticed a man behind him saying ‘He is a sabi.’ When I asked somebody who he was he told me he was ‘Abu Lahab, his uncle' Of the relationship between the Sabians who lived in Sawad (in Iraq) and Muhammad it is mentioned that the polytheists of Mecca were heard to say of Muhammad "he has become a Sabian."
The root-meaning of the word "Sabian" (deriving from their religion Seboghatullah) means proselyte
Proselyte
The biblical term "Proselyte", derives from the Koine Greek προσήλυτος/proselytos, as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism from Paganism...
, and is identical in usage with the Greek words for Godfearers sebomenoi, theosebes, phobeomenoi.Abu Abdultah said: "The word saba’a means “The one who is a Proselyte.”"
Characteristics of the Sabi religion
Sābi'ūn knew God as the Rabb al-'alihah (lord of gods) and ilah al-'alihah (god of gods) and speak to angels in their meditations,Hasan al-Basri (d.728 AD) wrote: "the Sabian religion resembles the MagiMagi
Magi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BC, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which...
ans and they worship angels." each of whom they believe dwell in different stars, which has led to the erroneous beliefs among some that Sābi'ūn worship angels while others derogatorily call them star-worshipers (and so it is said in Arabic saba'at al-nujūm, meaning "the stars appeared"). Sābi'ūn read from the Zaboor (as with the Slavonic Subbotniki or Psaltirschiki) and use the sun for a qiblah, facing the equator at mid day.Abul Ailya said: “The Sabis are a sect of people of the Scripture who recite the Zabur
Zabur
Zabur is, according to Islam, the holy book of Dawud , one of the holy books revealed by God before the Qur'an, alongside others such as the Tawrat of Musa and the Injil of Isa ....
.”Hasan al-Basri (d728 AD) wrote: "They read the Zaboor and pray facing a qiblah."Qatadah ‘ibn Di’amah (d736 AD) wrote:"they pray towards the sun." Their fundamental teaching is La ilahah il Allah (there is no god but Allah),‘Abd al-Rahman ‘ibn Zayd (d. 798 AD) wrote: "The Sābi'ūn say that their religion is a religion to itself and they live near Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
(jazirat al-mawsil) and believe in only one God." He also wrote that they have: "… no cult though their main belief is “La ilaha il Allah”." He also remarked that: "the Sābi'ūn did not believe in the Prophet Mohammed (in the same way as his followers did), yet the polytheists were known to say of the Prophets and his companions “these are the Sabians” comparing them to them." but besides this ardent unitarianism, Sābi'ūn are quite akin to Christians.Al-Shaafai said: "Their case is to be examined further; if they resemble the Christians in basic matters but they differ from them in some minor issues, then the jizya
Jizya
Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim citizens, who meet certain criteria...
is to be taken from them. But if they differ from them in basic issues of religion then their religion cannot be approved of by taking the jizya from them." And he elaborated elsewhere: "They are a kind of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
." Hanif
Hanif
Hanif is a term that refers to those who maintain the pure monothestic Muslim beliefs of the patriarch Ibrahim. More specifically, in Islamic thought it refers to the people during the period known as the Age of Ignorance, who were seen to have rejected idolatry and retained some or all of the...
Sabians are more universal, looking to Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
as their prophet of the Dīn
Dīn
is an Arabic word commonly associated with Islam, but also used in Arab Christian worship. The term is sometimes translated as "religion", but as used in the Qur'an, it refers both to the path along which righteous Muslims travel in order to comply with divine law, or Shari'a, and to the divine...
.Sābi'ūn have five daily prayersQatadah ‘ibn Di’amah (d736 AD) wrote: "The Sabians worship angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s, read Zaboor, pray five ritual prayers." (though Zohar can join Asr while Ma'ariv can join Isha giving the appearance of three). They believe in all prophets, reiterating the Din of Noah and, not in the same way as the Muslims, believe in the Seal of the prophets
Seal of the Prophets
Seal of the Prophets is a title given to the Islamic prophet Muhammad by a verse in the Qur'an. Muslims traditionally agree upon that Muhammad received the final revelation in the form of the Qur'an for all mankind, for all time....
.Ziyad ‘ibn ‘Abihi (d. 672 AD) who was the governor of Iraq during the first Umayyad caliph Mur awiyah wrote: "The Sabians believe in the prophets and pray five times daily." They also fast for 30 days.‘Abdul al-Zanad (d.747 AD) wrote: "The Sabians are from “Kutha
Kutha
Kutha, Cuthah, or Cutha was an ancient city of Sumer on the right bank of the eastern branch of the Upper Euphrates, north of Nippur and around 25 miles northeast of Babylon...
” in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, they believe in prophets, fast 30 days in a year, and pray 5 times daily towards the Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
." (NB "towards the Yemen" is equivalent to facing south)
Maimonides
Although too late to be of relevance in identifying the sect mentioned by Muhammed, MaimonidesMaimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
wrote about the Sabians, . Based upon a book called The Nabataean Agriculture which Maimonides translated, Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed describes the Sabians in quite some detail. They were questioned by Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
al-Ma'mun
Al-Ma'mun
Abū Jaʿfar Abdullāh al-Māʾmūn ibn Harūn was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 813 until his death in 833...
of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
in 830 CE, according to Abu Yusuf Absha al-Qadi, about what protected religion they belonged to. Not being Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Magian, the caliph told them they were infidels and would have to become Muslims or adherents of one of the other religions recognized by the Qur'an by the time he returned from his campaign against the Byzantines or he would kill them. The Harranians consulted with a lawyer who suggested that they find their answer in the Qur'an II.59 which made it clear that Sabians were tolerated. It was unknown what was intended by Sabian and so they took the name.
These newly-dubbed Harranian Sabians acknowledged Hermes Trismegistus
Hermes Trismegistus
Hermes Trismegistus is the eponymous author of the Hermetic Corpus, a sacred text belonging to the genre of divine revelation.-Origin and identity:...
as their prophet and the Corpus Hermeticum as their sacred text, being a group of Hermeticists
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
. Validation of Hermes as a prophet comes from his identification as Idris
Idris
Idris may refer to:* Idris, a fictional dragon in Ivor the Engine* Idris, the TARDIS personified in the Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Wife"* Idris , giant and astronomer of Welsh tradition...
(i.e. Enoch
Enoch (ancestor of Noah)
Enoch is a figure in the Generations of Adam. Enoch is described as Adam's greatx4 grandson , the son of Jared, the father of Methuselah, and the great-grandfather of Noah...
) in the Qur'an (19.57 and 21.85).
The Harranian Sabians played a vital role in Baghdad and the rest of the Arab world from 856 until about 1050; playing the role of the main source of Greek philosophy
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
as well as shaping the intellectual life. The most prominent of the Harranian Sabians was Thabit ibn Qurra
Thabit ibn Qurra
' was a mathematician, physician, astronomer and translator of the Islamic Golden Age.Ibn Qurra made important discoveries in algebra, geometry and astronomy...
.
A Yezidi writer
The Yezidi, and later French citizen and Vice-Consul at MosulMosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
, Nicolas Siouffi in his Études sur la religion des Soubbas ou Sabéens, leurs dogmes, leurs moeurs (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1880) claimed to have identified 4,000 Sabians in the Soubbhas. This was well received by the Theosophist G. R. S. Mead
G. R. S. Mead
George Robert Stowe Mead was an author, editor, translator, and an influential member of the Theosophical Society as well as the founder of the Quest Society.-Birth and family:...
, but received critical reviews from scholars.
In the Bahá'í writings
The Sabians are also mentioned in the literature of the Bahá'í FaithBahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
. These references are brief for the most part, once describing a group who believe in Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
"they do expect the manifestation of Jesus" (á'ín-i Sábi'ín by Ruhu'llah Mihrabkhani)). `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
has one brief reference where he describes Seth as one of the "sons of Adam". Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
in a Tablet
Tablet (religious)
A tablet, in the religious context, is a term traditionally used for religious texts.Jews and Christians believe that Moses brought the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. According to the Book of Exodus, God delivered the tablets twice, the first set having been...
identifies Idris with Hermes. He does not, however, specifically name Idris as the prophet of the Sabians.
Modern critical scholarship
Possible identifications for the Sabians include Mandaeans and Harranians. Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (2002, 2006) notes that in the marsh areas of Southern Iraq there was a continuous tradition of Mandaean religion, but also another pagan, or "Sabian," centre in the tenth-century Islamic world centred on HarranHarran
Harran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...
. These pagan "Sabians" are mentioned in the Nabataean corpus of Ibn Wahshiyya
Ibn Wahshiyya
Ibn Wahshiyya was an Iraqi alchemist, agriculturalist, farm toxicologist, egyptologist and historian born at Qusayn near Kufa in Iraq.Ibn Wahshiyya was one of the first historians to be able to at least partly decipher what was written in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, by relating them to the...
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"The Sabians, who were pagans in the Middle East, were identified with two groups, the Mandaeans and the Harranians. The Mandaeans lived in Iraq during the 2nd century A.D. As they continue to do today, they worshipped multiple gods, or "light personalities." Their gods were classified under four categories: "first life," "second life," "third life" and "fourth life." Old gods belong to the "first life" category. They summoned deities who, in turn, created "second life" deities, and so forth.
The other group, considered as Sabians, were the Harranians. They worshipped Sin, the moon, as their main deity, but they also worshipped planets and other deities. The Sabians were in contact with Ahnaf, an Arabian group which Mohammed joined before claiming to be a prophet. Ahnaf sought knowledge by going to Northern Iraq, where there were many communities of Mandaeans. They also went to the city of Harran in the al-Jazirah district in northern Syria on the border between Syria, Iraq and Asia Minor.