The Caliph and the Heretic: Ibn Sabaʾ and the Origins of Shīʿism

368 Pages·2011·2.94 MB·English

by  Sean Anthony

The Caliph and the Heretic
Islamic History
and Civilization
Studies and Texts
Editorial Board
Sebastian Günther
Wadad Kadi
VOLUME 91
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/ihc
The Caliph and the Heretic
Ibn Sabaʾ and the Origins of Shīʿism
By
Sean W. Anthony
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2012
Cover image: The Disputation of the Household of Prophet (ahl al-bayt) with the Christians
of Najran.
Source: al-Biruni’s Al-Ātā̱ r al-bāqiya ʿan al-qurūn al-ḫāliya, f. 86 recto.
Courtesy: Bibliothèque national de France.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Anthony, Sean W.
The caliph and the heretic : Ibn Sabaʾ and the origins of Shiʿism / by Sean W. Anthony.
p. cm. — (Islamic history and civilization ; v. 91)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-20930-5 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. ʿAbd Allah ibn Sabaʾ, 7th cent.
2. Shiʿah—History. 3. Muslim heretics. I. Title.
BP80.A21975A85 2012
297.8’2092—dc23
2011035779
ISSN 0929-2403
ISBN 978 90 04 20930 5 (hardback)
ISBN 978 90 04 21606 8 (e-book)
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Fees are subject to change.
For Susu Sweets, Little Red Ray Ruka, Jay Jay the Jetplane,
and most of all for Catherine the Great

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ............................................................................ ix
Abbreviations ..................................................................................... xi
Introduction ........................................................................................ 1
1. Ibn Sabaʾ and the Sayfian Corpus .............................................. 9
2. Sayf ibn ʿUmar and the Sabaʾīya (I): The Caliphate of
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān ...................................................................... 19
3. Sayf ibn ʿUmar and the Sabaʾīya (II): ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and
the Battle of the Camel ................................................................ 105
Excursus: The Sayfian Corpus in the Riwāya of Nasṛ ibn
Muzāḥim .................................................................................... 135
4. Ibn Sabaʾ and the Heresiographers ........................................... 139
5. The Execution of Ibn Sabaʾ ......................................................... 161
6. The Parousia of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ............................................ 195
Excursus 1: ʿAlī in the Clouds ............................................... 226
Excursus 2: The Letter of ʿAlī Given to ʿAbd Allāh ibn
Wahb al-Hamdānī ................................................................... 231
7. The Sabaʾīya of the Umayyad Period ........................................ 241
Conclusion .......................................................................................... 313
Bibliography ........................................................................................ 319
Index .................................................................................................... 335
Qurʾānic References ........................................................................... 353
Biblical References ............................................................................. 354

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book represents a revised version of my 2009 University of Chi-
cago dissertation. I must, of course, acknowledge those foundations
and institutions that provided considerable financial support during
the writing of this work: the Martin Marty Center at the Divinity
School of the University of Chicago and also the Mrs. Giles Whiting
Foundation. However, it is the faces of the scholars and colleagues
who aided and encouraged me along the way that are dearest to me.
Indeed, it was my great fortune to have labored on this project from
the very outset under an amazing group of scholars who dedicated
a truly humbling amount of their time and energies to the project’s
refinement. Firstly, Professor Wadād al-Qāḍī’s indefatigable dedica-
tion to the project accompanied and inspired me throughout, from
its inception until its current form. In my mind and heart, she will
always be without a peer as my advisor, editor, and (most of all) men-
tor. A great deal of thanks is also due to Professor Fred Donner, who
contributed a great deal to the project as one its principal readers
and, in particular, as a fellow compatriot in fighting the good fight
to decipher the less-than-ideal Arabic prose of Sayf ibn ʿUmar. I was
also quite honored to benefit from the guidance, critiques, and formi-
dable erudition of Professor Wilferd Madelung, who kindly offered his
considerable insights as a reader on my dissertation committee while
serving as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago.
Many others deserve many thanks as well, such as Professor Taheera
Qutbuddin, who aided me in the project as it got off the ground, and
Professor Patricia Crone, who was always generous with both her
insights and work during our conversations and correspondences.
Matthew Pierce aided me immensely to improve the final version of
the book. A special note of thanks and appreciation must be offered
to the 2007–2008 fellows at the Marty Martin Center, with whom I
shared my work and who shared their work with me in fruitful and
stimulating discussions. In this regard, I must express special appre-
ciation for and gratitude to the seminar’s irreplaceable and brilliant
master of ceremonies, Professor William Schweiker. A note of thanks
must be directed to Professor Margaret Mitchell, who encouraged me
for her seminar on early Christian history to write a study on Sayf
x acknowledgements
ibn ʿUmar’s curious account of the Paul the Apostle, an account that
would inexorably lead me to down the path towards ʿAbdallāh ibn
Sabaʾ.
My wife Catherine has been a constant source of support through-
out the creation of this book and sacrificed much to see that my labors
came to fruition. Her love and the orneriness of our children—Sawim,
Suraya, and Julius—kept me sane throughout the times of leanness
and hardship and kept me focused throughout times of plenty.