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Page 1

THE 'ISAWIYYA REVISITED

In the first scholarly exposition of the subject, Heinrich Graetz

suggested that the Jewish "Sektenstifter" Abfi 'Isi al-Isfahini (d.
ca. 750) believed himself to be the Messiah ben Joseph. (1) At the
turn of the century, Israel Friedlaender reassessed the state of
research on this Jewish messianic pretender, in the only sustained
piece of original scholarship ever attempted on the neglected

'Isfwiyya. (2) It is striking that Friedlaender's work has not been

superseded, despite the fact that Abfi 'Isi was by far the most
significant Jewish prophet-figure of early Islam. Indeed, Abfi 'Isi
was the most influential Jewish "prophet" between Bar Cochba in
the second century and Shabbetai Tzvi in the seventeenth
century. In fact, this charismatic sectarian played on Jewish
messianic expectations in an almost-successful attempt to create a
new political Judaism along the lines of Shi'ism. His political

creation, the 'Isfwiyya, was nothing less than the most important
Jewish sect (after the Karaites), in the millennium from the rise of
Islam until the tenth/sixteenth century. And the impact of this
group was registered in dozens of works of medieval Muslim
literature as well as in all substantial works of modern Jewish

historiography dealing with Judaism under early Islam. In these

works, Abi 'Isa remains notorious for his relativization of
 (1) This essay is dedicated to the memory of Israel Friedlaender. The present
work is concerned exclusively with the study of the history of the 'Isawiyya: for the
numerous Muslim theological refutations of the 'Isawiyya, see my Species of
Misbelief- A History of Muslim Heresiography of the Jews (PhD dissertation,
University of Toronto, 1985).
Heinrich Graetz, Geschichte der Juden V (2nd ed., 1872) p. 438-441, Note 15.
(2) "Jewish-Arabic Studies," JQR n.s. I (1910-1911) 183-215; II (1911-1912) 481-
517; III (1912-1913() 235-300.

Page 2

58 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

revelations-the doctrine that Muhammad and Jesus were

genuine prophets, but only to their own communities.

But there has been no history written of this group as such. In
this article I will review the available evidence for such a

history. Towards this end, I will discuss the name, and the da
of the originator Abfi 'Isii. I will then assess the history of t
movement which he started, from the time of Abfi 'Isi hims
until the apparent demise of his sect. I also will compare the
Isawiyya with a contemporaneous proto-Shri group, the
Mansfiriyya. Thus, by reassessing the full range of sources for the
first time since Friedlaender, I hope to show that the impact of the
'Isawiyya both on Jews and on Muslims was broader and more
sustained than it heretofore has been considered to be.

THE DATE OF THE ORIGIN OF THE 'ISAWIYYA

Only two sources explicitly state the date of the origins of the
'Isswiyya, and they directly contradict each other. The great
fourth/tenth century Karaite polymath Qirqishni locates Abu 'Isi
during the reign of 'Abd al-Malik, the fifth Umayyad Caliph
(67/68-586/705). () (Maimonides' comment, in his Lettller to
Yemen, that a Jewish false messiah arose in Isfahan at the
beginning of the Umayyad dynasty, probably follows Qirqisini's
tradition. (4)) Shahrastfni, the greatest premodern historian of
religion in any language, tells us that Abi 'Isi began his mission
in the reign of the last Umayyad Caliph, Marwin ibn Muhammad
(126/744-132/750). (5)
Several arguments may be adduced in support of the dating
found in the Jewish sources (i.e. Qirqisini and Maimonides), which

(3) Kildb al-Anwdr wa al-Mardqib (ed) Leon Nemoy, 5 vols. in 4 (New York,
1939-1943) vol. I, p. 12; Nemoy, "Al-Qirsisini's Account of the Jewish Sects and
Christianity," HUCA VII (1930) 317-397; retranslated and annotated by B. Chiesa
 (introductory essay) and W. Lockwood (trans.), Ya'qab al-Qirqisdn( on Jewish Sects
and Christianity [Book I of Kilab al-Anwar] (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1984), esp.
pp. 102-103.
(4) A convenient English translation is found in I. Twersky, A Maimonides
Reader (New York, 1972), pp. 458-459.
(5) Species of Misbelief (n. 1 above) 184-194, text and translation on pp. 388-
401. For an assessment of the new translations of Shahrastini see my review-
article, "Islamicate History of Religions?" HR 27 (1988) 405-411.

Page 3

THE TSALWIYYA REVISITED 59

would place the uprising in the Caliphate of 'Abd al-

Mann suggested that this dating could be suppor
messianic ferment which was stirred by the clash
Umayyads and Byzantium over Constantinople at that
time. (6) Mahler argued that the earlier dating was synchronous
with the rise of the Khawarij during the time of 'Abd al-Malik,
which several scholars have suggested was perhaps a related
movement. (7) Finally, there may be some connection with the
rebellion initially led by MukhtAr (in 685-687), which controlled
both Isfahfn as well as Abu 'Is5's hometown of Nisibis, and which
was marked by several superfically "Judaic" elements. (8)
However, in the only monograph devoted exclusively to a close
study of the 'Isfwiyya, Israel Friedlaender argues persuasively for
the later dating, that provided by Shahrastfni. (9) His argument
is based on circumstantial evidence, and on grounds of general
probability. Friedlaender suggests that the fifteen similarities
between the 'Ishwiyya uprising and those of the proto-Shfite ghuldt
("extremists") may be due to a common historical context, that of
the revolts of the mid-second Islamic century. This hypothesis
best accounts for all the facts as presently known. That being
said, it also remains correct that, as Pines put it, "on the available

(6) JAOS XLVII (1927) p. 364.

(7) HaKaraim [Heb.] (Merchavia, Israel, 1949) p. 106. Among those linking the
'IsAwiyya with the KhArijites are Salo Baron, A Social and Religious History of the
Jews vol. V, p. 187; Michael Morony, "Conquerers and Conquered: Iran," in Studies
on the First Century of Islamic History, (Ed.) G.H.A. Juynboll, pp. 73-89, at
p. 84. (Carbondale, Illinois, 1982); and Josef van Ess, "Yazid b. Unaisa und Abi
'sa al-Isfahini. Zur Konvergenz zweier sektierischer Bewegungen," in Renato
Traini (ed.), Studi in onore di Francesco Gabrielli nel suo ottanesimo compleano,
(Rome, 1984) vol. I, pp. 305-315.
(8) KhwArizmi asserts that Abfi 'IsA originated in Nisibis: see Liber Mafatih al-
Olum, [Mafdtzh al-'Ul~m] (ed) G. Van Vloten (Leiden, 1895) p. 34. For Mukhtar in
Isfahan see M. Morony's Iraq after the Muslim Conquest (Princeton, 1984), p. 328
n. 108. For Mukhtar's control of Nisibis see W. al-Qadi, "The Development of the
Term Ghuldt in Muslim Literature with Special Reference to the Kaysaniyya,"
Aklten des VII Kongreses fOr Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft. (Ed.) A. Dietrich,
Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Gottingen, Phil./Hist. KI *98
(1976) pp. 295-319, at p. 297 and 301. On the possible Judaic elements of
Mukhtar's movement, see the treatment of Mukhthr in Morony's Iraq, esp. pp. 495-
496.
 (9) See n. 2 above. Some of the sources were collected in B. Z. Dinur, Yisrael
baGolah (2 vols., 6 books, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 1958-1972) pt. 1, bk. 2, pp. 228-
234; and by A. S. Aescoly, HaTenuot haMeshihiot Be Yisrael (Jerusalem, 1956) 117-
132.

Page 4

60 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

evidence no definitive solution can be f

dating the origins of the movement. (10

VARIANT APPELLATIONS

In the vast majority of Muslim sources the sectarian leader is

called "Abfi 'Isi al-Isfahini." There are only a few significant
variants. The Karaites Qirqisini and Yehudah Hadassi call him
"Ovadiah," but also known him as Abfi Isi al-
Isfahini. (11) KhwarizmT calls him "'Isi al-Isfahfini", which may
be of some evidence for the Christianizing tendencies of his
schism.(12) Ibn Hazm calls him "Muhammad ibn 'Isa," which
sounds like the ultimate appelative for a Jew who taught that
Muhammad and Jesus ('Isi) were prophets; but this may well be an
error: Steinschneider, Poznanski and Nemoy point out that no Jew
could be called Muhammad, and the ' Iswiyya were indubitably
seen as Jewish.(13) Finally, Mahler observes that by calling
himself Abfi 'Isa, "Father of Jesus," he placed himself in the
Davidic, hence messianic, lineage. This suggestion possibly may
be corroborated by the report of Maimonides. (14)
Finally, in a report apparently derived from Abi 'Isi al-Warraq,
the author of Baydn al-Adydn calls the sectarian leader "Ishiq ibn
Ya'qfib".(15) Probably also drawing on Abu 'Isi al-Warraq,
Shahrastfni calls the heresiarch "Abfi 'Isfi Ishiq ibn Ya'qfib al-
Isfahini, known as 'Ufid Allfihim, that is [in Arabic], 'Abid
Allih". (16) Besides demonstrating a knowledge of Hebrew (which

(10) "'"sawiyya," Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, vol. IV, p. 96.

(11) For Qirsisani see n. 3 above; Yehuda Hadassi, Eshkol haKofer (Eupatoria,
1836) 41b.
(12) Mafdath al-'l7m (cited in n. 8 above) p. 34.
(13) This issue has been discussed by Nemoy in his study "Attitudes of the Early

Karaites Toward Christianity," Salo Wittmayer Baron Jubilee Volume (Jerusalem,

1974) vol. II 697-715, at 701 n. 14. See also Samuel Poznanski, "Le nom de 'IsA
port6 par les juifs," REJ 54 (1927) pp. 276-279, at p. 277, and Goldziher,
"Gesetzliche Bestimmungen Oiber Kunya-Namen im Islam, ZDMG LI (1897) 256-
266, on the popularity of the name AbO 'Isi among Muslims, despite theological
objections.
(14) Mahler, HaKaraim (n. 7, above) p. 107 n. 56.
(15) Chapter five of Abi al-Ma'dli's Baydn al-Adydn was recovered and studied
by Guy Monnot, Islam et Religions (Paris, 1985), in his chapter, "Les religions dans
le miroir de 1'Islam," pp. 97-125, where the text-history is discussed.
 (16) See n. 5 above.

Page 5

THE 'ISA.WIYYA REVISITED 61

was most probably translated and transliterated for him) Shahras-
tani here provides a parallel form of Ovadiah, "Servant of
God." (For the sake of completeness, it should also be noted that
a few late Karaites split his name into two names, in their
genealogical lists of Karaite leaders; they place these two, "Abfi
Nissi" and "Ovadiah HaMaskil," at the head of their lists, as the
bifurcated progenitor(s) of Karaism. (17))
The full significance of Shahrastdni's report on Abfi 'Isa's name
has not heretofore been recognized. Shahrastani clearly states
that the heresiarch possessed two names (or sets of names). On
the one hand, his Arabic name is given as "Ishiq ibn Ya'qfib al-
Isfahani." Abfi 'Isa may have been an honorific kunya, probably
a messianic title. This latter name, it seems, was Abfi 'Isd's
"exoteric" name, and it was the name by which he is known to
posterity. His second name, on Shahrastdni's account, 'Oved
'El6him or Ovadiah (two Hebrew forms of the name "Servant of
God") appears to be an "esoteric name." The dual naming of
divine and quasidivine beings, prophets, angels, imams and others,
was a common feature of both Jewish and Muslim

traditions. (18) It was true of both Muhammad and Jesus

also typical of the proto-Shlite sectarians contemporan
Abfi 'Is. (19)
As for his specific esoteric name, it may be possible that it is
linked to his alleged ascension to heaven. (20) Moses, who also was

(17) For the name "Abfi 'Is" apparently split into as the purported Karaite
progenitors, see Nemoy "Elijah ben Abraham and his Tract Against the
Rabbanites," HUCA LI (1980) pp. 63-87, at p. 79.
(18) I. Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkabah Mysticism (Leiden, 1980) p. 175,
n. 4; C. H. Kaplan, "The Hidden Name," JSOR 13 (1929) pp. 181-184; J. Z. Smith,
Map is not Territory (Leiden, 1978) p. 31 n. 13; J. van Ess, "Der Name Gottes im
Islam," in Der Name Golles (ed.) H. von Stietencron (Dusseldorf, 1975) 173 ff.
(19) See, for example, E. Kohlberg, "From ImAmiyya to Ithni'Ashariyya,"
BSOAS 39 (1976) 521-534, at 522, n. 9. In the context of the study at hand, it is
significant that the ghadl Abfi Mansir was said to have been given the name "al-
kisf" ("the meteor"): W. Tucker, "Abu Mansior al-'Ijli and the Mansiriyya: a study
in medieval terrorism," Der Islam 54 (1977) 66-76, at 70. For more on this
sectarian, see nn. 73-87 below.
(20) Maqdisi, Kildb al-Bad' wa al-Ta'rikh (ed. and trans. C. Huart) 4 vols. (Paris,
1899-1919) vol. 4., p. 35: "The IsbahAniyya [(sic) = 'Iswiyya] are followers of Abli
'|Is al-Isbahini, who proclaimed himself a prophet. [He claimed] that he had
ascented to heaven, where God anoited him on the head, and that he had seen
Muhammad in heaven and believed in him. The Jews of IsbahAn claim that the

DajjAl is one of them and will emerge from their area."

Page 6

62 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

held to have ascended, was known as 'OvMd

Josh. 13, 15; Ex. 14, 31), and this title w
early Christians as well.(21) But, more
purposes at hands, the angel Metatron, a
among Jews under early Islam, bore the
'El6him. (22) In this regard, it is interestin
of Abfi al-Ma'MlI on the 'Isawiyya begins,
angel: God knows!" (23) The angel Metatro
the revealer figure of the eighth-centur
Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a tex
observed that "the influence of the ['Isawiyyal] is
discernible." (24) In short, the dualnaming of a sectarian prophet,
as reported by Shahrastani, could have had some plausible basis in
Jewish practice.
In conclusion, the best sense to be made of the reports
concerning his name is that he was called Abfi 'Isa in Arabic and
Ovadiah, or 'Eved El6him, in Hebrew, and that the Arabic name
Abfi 'Is5 was an honorific, probably prophetic and perhaps
messianic title. (25)

THE UPRISING

Very little is known of his uprising itself. The most detailed

and, indeed, virtually the only coherent narrative of these events is
that provided by Shahrastani :

(21) Apposite here may be Mal. 3: 18: "Then shall ye return and discern between
the righteous and the wicked, between him that served God (oved elohim) and him
that did not serve him." This verse is cited by P.R. Weis as evidence for his
wrongheaded attempt to attribute the Habbukuk Scroll found at Qumran to Abfi
lsi: "The Date of the Habbukuk Scroll," JQR 125-154, at 140-141.
(22) The angel Metatron is called "Eved 'El6him" in Hekhalot Rabbati, for
which see H. Odeberg, 3 Enoch (Cambridge, 1928; repr., New York, 1973) 97-98.
(23) Baydn al-Adydn, trans. Monnot (n. 15 above).
(24) Jews and Arabs (New York, 1970) 170. Graetz was the first to assert this
connection between the piyyul and the sect: he was widely followed in this regard,
for example by a popularizer like J. H. Greenstone, The Messiah Idea in Jewish
History (Philadelphia, 1906: reprint, 1948) 122-123. For an annotated translation
of the poem, accompanied by another interpretation along these lines, see B. Lewis,
"An Apocalyptic Vision of Islamic History, BSOAS 13 (1950) 308-338.
(25) This name, of course, is one of the bits of evidence for Pines' "Jewish-
Christian" thesis, which I hope to treat fully in my forthcoming Between Muslim
and Jew: the Problem of Symbiosis.
Page 7

THE 'ISiWIYYA REVISITED 63

Many Jewish people followed him, and claimed signs and [u

miracles for him: they claimed that when he was embattled
line around his followers with a myrtle stick, saying 'Stay
line and no enemy will reach you with weapon.' And the en
charge at them, but turn back upon reaching that line, fea

might have
beyond placed
that line, alonea and
talisman or `az.ma
on horseback, andthere.
foughtThen
and k Abf
Muslims. He went out to the Banfi Mfisd b. 'Imrfn,
beyond the sandy river, to preach to them the Word of Go
that when he fought against the followers of Mansfir at Ray
companions were killed.(26)

Some of the motifs in Shahrastini's narrative, such as th

with a myrtle twig of an apotropaic circle around himse
followers (as protection in battle), can be seen as reflect
"Muslim" or "Arab" folkbeliefs as they do "Jewish." (
But most of the features of Shahrastini's account ar
Jewish. For example, in the denouement of his accoun
tini tells us that the rebel "went out to the Bandi Mfisi
who live beyond the sandy river, to preach to them t
God." (28) Here we seem to find reference to those B
known in Jewish tales, retold by Eldad haDani in the ninth
century, in which they are said to dwell beyond the legendary
"sandriver" Sambatyon, which rushes with a cacaphonic din
during six days and rests on the Sabbath.(29) Friedlaender
pointed out that, according to Josippon, their land is called Ares
'Ovdei 'Eldhim, the "land of the servants of the Lord."(30) It
seems farfetched, however, to extrapolate from these few scraps of
information that Abfi'Isi proceeded to proselytize the Khazars and

(26) See n. 5 above.

(27) On the employment of a myrtle in the magical praxis of Jewish Merkaba
mysticism, see Lawrence Schiffman, "The Recall of Rabbi Nehuniah ben haQanah
from Ecstasy in the Hekhalot Rabbati," ASJR I (1976) pp. 269-281 at p. 276-277; for
apotropaic power of encirclement by a myrtle branch, see J. Z. Lauterbach "The
Origin and Development of Two Sabbath Ceremonies," HUCA XV (1940) pp. 367-
424, at p. 410. In a work deriving from the eighth-century Kufan ghuldt, Kitdb al-
Haft wa al-Azilla (ed.) 'Arif TAmir, p. 114, 'Ali's brother, chased by enemies,
encircles his animals with an apotropaic circle. This is all to say, with
A. Marmorstein, that "It is well known to all who have studied comparative
religious history that the myrtle has a chthonic character." The Doctrine of Merits
in Old Rabbinic Literature, New York, 1968), p. 18 n. 616).
(28) See n. 5 above.
(29) Israel Friedlaender, "The Jews of Arabia and the Rechabites," JQR I (1910-
1911) pp. 252-257.
(30) Ibid. p. 255.
Page 8

64 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

other tribesmen of Central Asia, as Dinu

and as I shall argue more fully below--t
narrative arguably may be explained by th
from the 'Isawiyya themselves.

THE THREE STAGES OF THE MOVEMENT

It is his uprising again, on behalf of, and not as opposed to Jews

to find what may be the special significance of this movement. I
will now try to show how "the first Jewish Mahdi" (in the phrase of
Friedlander) and his followers can be understood in the context of
early Islamic history, in order to demonstrate that they constitute
a rare militant Jewish reaction to Islamicization.

I would argue more specifically that the 'Isdwiyya rebellion

represents a failure of accommodation. This attempted accom-
modating to the new regime should not be seen as contradicted
by their armed rebellion. The prophet-inspired uprisings of the
first and second Islamic centuries were often in conflict with

certain ruling houses, governors and generals, but were not, so

far as the evidence allows--and pace the outbursts of the
heresiographers - anti-Islamic as such. This holds true for both
Muslim and dhimm( insurgencies. The pattern of this attempted
accommodation, and its failure, can be traced in the history of
the 'Isfwiyya in three broad phases: accommodation, apoca-
lypticism and reconciliation.
The first two phases may not be in fact separable. But we
would assume that, as with other such movements in the history of
religions about we are informed, there must have been a history of
the group, a development, before the cathartic climax of its actual
rebellion. In this phase, I would assert, their doctrine was
formulated. In this phase, Abfi 'Isi would have worked out his
vision of himself as prophet (nabr) and apostle (rasiil) of the
awaited Messiah, "the most excellent of the five harbingers of the
Messiah." And it would have been at this stage that this
apostolic stature invested his ritual innovations with divine
authorization.

This first period, then, was one of expansion and consolidation of

gains. The sources agree that the eventual uprising was suppor-

(31) Yisrael baGolah, (see n. 9 above) pt. 1, book 2, p. 274 n. 47.

Page 9
 THE 'ISA.WIYYA REVISITED 65
ted by substantial numbers of followers. A few references roughl
indicate the extent of the accomodationist character of this

spreading movement. There is, first of all, the background

evidence of the Qur'an, which indicates that there were already
some Jews who were willing to recognize Muhammad as a prophet
and still retain their Judaism. (32) Traces of these conciliatory
Jews also survive in hadith: The Jewish youth who is cast as a
prophesying rival to Muhammad, ibn Sayydd, is willing to
recognize Muhammad as a prophet to the nations which have not
received Scriptures (rasil al-ummiytn). (33)
This movement, then, must have been well entrenched by the
second Islamic century, as a variety of other sources testify. The
bestknown of these is the Jewish apocalypse, the "Secrets of
Shimon bar Yochai," in which apocalypse Muhammad is characte-
rized as a true prophet. As I have already noted, Goitein has
stated that in this text "the influence [of the 'Isiwiyya] is
discernible." (34) The student of the jurist Abu I;Ianifa, Shaybani,
writing ca. 184/800, says that "Today the Jews in the areas of Iraq
recognize that there is no god but God and Muhammad is the
Prophet of God, but they claim that he was sent as a prophet only
to the Arabs, and not to the Jews..." (35) This, written a century
after Abu 'Is%'s rebellion, is more good evidence for the widespread
movement among Jews to get around conversion, by such an
interpretation of the Shahida.
Later writers would seem to corroborate this picture of the
situation. The mid-tenth-century Karaite Salm6n ibn Yeruhlim,
for example, states: "I have learned that when the Jews of
Samarqand and the region say "God is One" (alldh wdhid), [people
who hear this] testify that by [saying] this they have become
Muslims." (36) The early fifth/eleventh century Baghdadi, further-

(32) Stillman discusses such a possible reading in The Jews of Arab Lands
(Philadelphia, 1979) p. 10.
(33) D. J. Halperin, "Ibn Sayyad Traditions and the Legend of al-Dajjal,"
JAOS 97 (1976) 213-225, at p. 216. On Muhammad as prophet to the nations, see
now Y. Goldfeld, "'The Illiterate Prophet' (NabF Ummt)", Der Islam 57 (1980) 58-
67.

(34) Jews and Arabs (New York, 1970) p. 170.

(35) Goldziher, "Usages juifs d'aprbs la litterature religieuse des musulmans,"
REJ XXVIII (1894) 75-94, at pp. 91-92.
(36) See his commentary on Lamentations I, edited by S. Feurstein (Cracow,
1898) p. xiii, cited and translated by H. Ben-Shammai, "Attitudes of Some Early
Karaites Towards Islam," Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature, vol. II

Page 10

66 STEVEN WASSERSTROM
 more, devotes several passages to this
this lenient interpretation of the credo
groups. In a later chapter, he discuss
considered as Believers anyone "who
character of Muhammad even if he did not join his
religion." (37) Ibn Hazm tells of some Khirijites who held related
doctrines. (3s)
Here, then, is a situation in which both the 'Ishwiyya and
several Muslim groups share, to a certain extent, a developing
doctrine of accommodation. Thus, two groups of the Kharijites
protected Peoples of the Book, and allowed the aforementioned
doctrine.(39) A son of 'Ali, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, an
influential proto-Shi'ite of one school, held that anyone who said
the Shahada is a mu'min, "believer." (40) Perhaps most signifi-
cantly, the Murji'ites were famous for their emphasis on faith over
works, some of them believing that "anyone who called himself a
Muslim was saved." (41)
The 'Ishwiyya were, then, playing both sides against the middle.
They could be recognized as Jews by [Rabbanite and Karaite] Jews
because they seemed Judaically orthoprax, and could be recognized as

(ed.) I. Twersky (Cambridge, Mass., 1984) 341, at p. 10: I have somewhat altered
his translation.

(37) In his Farq bain al-Firaq (ed. Muhammad Badr, Cairo, 1911; Eng. trans.,
A. Halkin, Moslem Schisms and Sects, New York, and Tel Aviv, 1935) Baghdadi
argues that the 'Isawiyya and their congeners the "Shadhaniyya" should be
considered Muslims only if one follows the erroneous argument of the Karramiyya,

that anyone who enunciates the Shahida is a Muslim (p. 220; Halkin, pp. 37-
38). And, against the Yazidi Kharijites, who allow the same, he adduces the case
of the 'Isawiyya and the "Ray'aniyya": "There is nothing which can allow anyone
who regards Jews as Muslims to be counted as one of the sects of Islam." (p. 263;
Halkin, p. 104).
(38) Ibn Hazm discusses Zayd ibn Abi Unaisa, who, he says, held that "even if
there were Jews and Christians who said 'There is no god but God and Muhammad
is the Apostle of God, to the Arabs and not to the Jews', [he held] that they are still
believing friends of God": Kildb al-Fisal fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwd' wa al-Nihal (1963
reprint of the Cairo 1317-1321 edition, 5 vols. in 2) vol. IV, p. 188.
(39) E. A. Salem, Political Theory and Institutions of the Khawdrij (Baltimore,
1956) p. 40; Morony, Iraq (n. 8 above), p. 471, p. 473, n. 26.
(40) Van Ess, "The early Development of Kalam," Studies in the First Century of
Islamic Society (ed.) G. H. A. Juynboll (Carbondale, Illinoisn, 1982) 109-125, at
p. 117.
(41) See the discussion, for example, in J. A. Williams (Ed.) Islam (New York,
1961, 3rd printing, 1969) p. 160. For the tradition that "The Jews are the Murji'a
of this Umma," see S. M. Stern, Studies in Early Isma'ilism (Leiden, 1983) p. 43.

Page 11

THE 'ISAWIYYA REVISITED 67

believers by [Khdrijile and Sh(fle] Muslims

Islamically orthodox. This was, perhaps,
 spurious symmetry: at least, in retrospect
halfstep.
We are at a loss in reconstructing the next steps that the
'Isfwiyya took, which were to lead to the eventual debacle of their
breakaway. Why, if the machinery of accommodation was being
successfully forged from both sides, was it not sustained? The
reason that the 'Ishwiyya led into the second phase, the
apocalyptic phase, may lie with the extremity of the
times. Throughout the early Islamic century, the Umayyad
dynasty was coming undone. Ghuldt, "extremists," were leading
uprisings among the partisans of the house of 'AIi. Anti-
Umayyad uprisings wracked Isfah~n at least four times during
their rule. (42) These anti-Umayyad movements, on the part of
the ghuldl and the 'Abbasids, were ultimately orchestrated by the
successful insurgent Abui Muslim, who skillfully manipulated
apocalyptic imagery to stir revolutionary sentiment.
The Jews were caught up in this situation. The Secrets of
Shimon bar Yochai reflects a certain ardent hope raised in the
hearts of Jews in these years. I would argue that it is precisely
this hope, and its disappointement, which forced Abfi 'si into his
messianic delusion. This hope, we know, has its roots in ancient
Jewish eschatology. There was, as I have already shown, a
considerable resurgence of Jewish messianism among the Jews of
Arabia just before and after the rise of Islam. (43) This is also seen
in the Ibn Sayyad story. And we also find this motif in the text
which describes the Jews of Isfahfn dancing and making music in
expectation of imminent salvation at the hands of the approaching
Arab conquerors. (44)

(42) "Isfahan," EI, New Edition, vol. 4, pp. 97-105 at p. 97

(A. K. S. Lambton). It should also be noted that Isfahan was part of the thaghr
(administrative satellite) of Kfifa, which may help explain the apparent preponde-
rance of ghuldt doctrine and practice among the 'ishwiyya. See H. Djait, "Kfifa",
EI, New Edition, vol. V, p. 350, for a helpful discussion.
(43) "Vestiges of the Messiah in Arabia in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries," [Heb.]
Sefer haZikaron IeVayl haMidrash leRabanim beVina (Jerusalem, 1946) pp. 112-124.
(44) Abi Nu'aim, Dhikr Akhbdr Isfahtin, (Ed.) S. Dedering (Leiden, 1931), vol. I,
p. 22-23. For the same report related concerning Nih5wand, see Albrecht Noth,
"Isphah5n-Nihiwand: Eine quellenkritische Studie zur friihislamischen
Historiographie," ZDMG 118 (1968) 274-296. I thank Fred M. Donner for
suggesting this last reference.

Page 12

68 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

There was, then, a strong and highly ramified prophetic

expectation among the Jews under early Islam. Some Jews
converted, under the influence of the Prophet Muhammad. Some
others attempted a compromise. But, as the first two Islamic
centuries progressed, the Messiah did not come and the new
 Prophet's community proved to be merely "tolerant" of the
Jews. The last years of the crumbling Umayyad house, then,
may have evoked a resurgence of hope among the Jews: the hope,
now, that there was a way out from under the disillusioning and
unaccommodating Caliphate.
We do not know precisely what precipitated the final break of
Abu 'Isd. Several sources, both Jewish and Muslim, do tell us
that he had an ascension experience: Maqdisi reports that he
ascended to heaven, where God "stroked him on the head"
(famasaha al-rabb rd'isihi). (45) He was said to be an illiterate
tailor who wrote books by inspiration.(46) We know that the
parallel Muslim ghuldt movements also called upon the disaffected
for support: the illiterate, women, weavers, mawdlf, are frequently
mentioned. (47) The picture that emerges here is one of the Jews,
along with other marginalized groups, made increasingly miserable
by the breakdown of imperial cohesion in the mid-second/eighth
century, eagerly following charismatic leaders who offered them
promises of supernatural redemption. We see the same picture in
the imagery of the Dajjdl or Anti-Messiah: his following is said to
comprise Jews and mawadl. (4) This imagery of the followers of
Abfi '%Is, a Jew of Isfahan, and the followers of the Dajjil,
moreover, seems be conflated in the famous had(th which reads
"the Dajjal will be followed by 70,000 Jews of Isfahan wearing
Persian shawls." (49)
It is interesting to note that accounts of ibn Sayylid, the Jewish
youth identified in some Muslim traditions as the Dajjal, share
certain features in common with the reports concerning Abfi

(45) See n. 20 above, and n. 75 below.

(46) Chiesa and Lockwood (n. 3 above) p. 144.
(47) See my forthcoming Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosos,
chapter I, for a study of despised professions among the Jews of the eighth
century. For now see R. Brunschvig, "M6tiers vils en Islam," SI 16 (1962) 41-60.
(48) Steven Wasserstrom, "The Moving Finger Writes: Mughira b. Sa'Td's
Islamic Gnosis and the Myths of its Rejection," HR 25 (1985) 129.
(49) See, for example, Vajda, "Juifs et musulmans selon le hadit, JA 1937
pp. 57-127, at p. 133, for variants.

Page 13

THE 'iSAWIYYA REVISITED 69

'Is5. Thus, both are said to: 1) have ascended to heaven;

that Muhammad is a Prophet to the Gentiles; 3) been ide
the Dajjal; 4) been associated with certain motifs charact
the Jewish mystical Merkaba traditions. (5) Since Maqd
that the Jews of Isfah~n thought that Abfi 'Is5 was th
suggest that there may have been, at least in the eyes
beholders, some (coincidental) "antimessianic" association
 these two figures.
The messianic uprising of Abfi 'Isi was not only powerfu
to be echoed permanently in Muslim tradition, but also
substantial mark on the Jews of the day. Shahrastini
large numbers of followers. Maimonides even specifies
were 10,000. When Friedlaender analyzed these descrip
compared them to the explosive spread of the Sabbatian
heresy. (51) Of the initial impact of that later movement, Scholem
writes: "The appearance of Sabbatai Zevi and the growth of
popular faith in his mission caused [an] inner sense of freedom, of a
'world made pure again,' to become an immediate reality for
thousands." (52) It must, unfortunately, remain a matter of
speculation whether the 'Is~wiyya had a similar impact. But the
report given by Maimonides does emphasize that the suppression
resulting from their revolt was both severe and sustained.
After the Caliphal forces put down the insurrection, after the
apocalypse, as it were, the movement moved into its last
phase. A series of successors, notably the obscure Yfidghin/
Yfidh'5n and Mfishkin/Sharikin, continued the movement in
Persia. Yfidghin/Yfidh'n, we are told, emphasized allegorical
interpretation (ta'wil), while his successor, Mfishkin/Sharikan,
is said to have renewed the military option. The several decades
of agitation among the Persian Jews were registered not only in
Jewish apocalypses such as the Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
but also in Christian apocalypses. Thus, in the eighth-century
Christian apocalypse known as the Apocalypse of Peter, we read:
"When you see the children of Ishmael mixing with the children
of Persia, and when you see the Jews learning the art of warfare...
know, 0 Peter, that the end of the Kingdom of Ishmael is at

(50) Halperin, "Ibn Sayyid," (n. 33 above).

(51) "Jewish-Arabic Studies," passim, for comparisons with the Sabbatians.
(52) The Messianic Idea in Judaism (New York, 1971, 2nd printing, 1972) pp. 87-
88.

Page 14

70 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

hand." (53) This may be seen as additional evidence for a

substantial impact felt by observers of these developments.
The movement was strong enough to surmount several military
defeats, and to survive into 'Abbasid times. Under Yfidghin/
Yfidh'5n of Hamadin, Abfi 'Is's teachings rose again out of the
ashes of the battlefield.(54) This reaction by Yfidghan/Yfidh'n
parallels a development among the Muslim proto-Shiite extre-
mists, who, after the executions of their prophet-leaders, continued
to refine theology, largely through allegoresis. The Yfidghaniyya/
Yfidh'5niyya are said to have seen the holidays and fasts of
 Judaism as not binding on those in exile, and to have held that
they serve only as symbols.(55) The "cognitive dissonance"
engendered by the disconfirmation of prophecy-the defeat of
Abfi 'Isi--must have accelerated the shift into esoteric inter-
pretation.
The subsequent uprising led by Mfishkin/Shirikin, in which, we
are told, only nineteen men participated, may be seen in retrospect
as an atavistic moment of last resistance to the

inevitable. (56) This subsection of the 'Ishwiyya, however

large enough to have been noticed by several Jewish a
scholars. Saadia Gaon, for example, apparently mentions a
sectarian ritual innovation of theirs. (57) The IsmiTli author Abfi
Hitim al-Rfzi mentions the Jewish sectary "S'dkh" in connection
with the ghuldt.(58) And Baghdidi, in particular, discusses how
many of the Muslim rituals this group observe and yet remain
Jewish.(59) These reports, however, are the last we hear of the
end of phase three, after their military defeat: the rationalization
of collapse, the shift into symbol, the second accommodation to
events.

(53) Apocalypse of Peter (trans.) A. Mingana in Woodbroke Studies 3 (Cambridge,

1931) p. 272.
(54) See I. Breur, "Yudghanites," JE vol. 12, pp. 624-625.
(55) For the sources see Dinur, Yisrael baGolah (n. 9 above) pp. 232-234, and
notes thereon.

(56) See Friedlaender, "Jewish-Arabic Studies," I, p. 207 n. 93, and III, p. 289,
for the sources. See also n. 59 below.

(57) Poznanski, in his bibliographic additions to Graetz, REJ LX pp. 306-312, at

p. 311, cites Harkavy's Russian language article (in Woskhod February, 1900, p. 85)
to this effect.

(58) S. M. Stern, Studies in Early Ismd'ilism (Leiden, 1983) p. 41.

(59) Al-Farq Bain al-Firaq (see n. 37 above) p. 9.

Page 15

THE 'ISAWIYYA REVISITED 71

THE PROTO-SHItI MILIEU: THE MANSU

By contrast to the yet-inconclusive sear

background as a key to understanding the o
(the thesis of Pines, which I hope to treat
profitable analysis consists in contempora
that is, in placing the 'Ishwiyya in the cont
neous ghuldt, or proto-Shrite extremists
sustained study ever undertaken of the 'Isawiyya, that of
Friedlaender, already appropriately noted fifteen "Shi'itic element-
 s" in the 'Ishwiyya. (60) Therefore, rather than review or replicate
his (still-valuable) work here, I shall refine its focus.
To be precise, in the following, I shall detail the ramified and
manifest relationship between the accounts concerning Abf 'Isi
and those concerning one proto-Shi'ite "extremist" (ghdl), Abfi
Mansfir al-'IjlT (d. 738-44), his exact contemporary. These paral-
lels, as a return to the insights of Friedlaender, and as a
specification and focusing of his pioneering work, should leave
little doubt concerning the precise formative milieu of Abf 'Isi. I
want to emphasize thereby that a sustained return to Friedlaende-
r's lapsed investigation of this proto-Shrite milieu will be far more
profitable that any other approach to the study of the 'lshwiyya,

most especially by contrast to Pines' analysis of the 'Isiwiyya as

an "Jewish-Christian" sect.

In sum, the features shared in common between the reports

concerning Abi 'Isi and those concerning Abf Mansfir include:
1) date; 2) heavenly ascent; 3) illiteracy; 4) prophetology; 5) tem-
porary leadership status; 6) taxraising; 7) role of Christ; 8) role of
the desert; and 9) militarism.

1) Dating. The 'Isiwiyya may be dated to the events devolving

from what I would call "the second Purge," of 736-737. The
interalated uprisings following Muhammad al-B1qir and Muham-
mad ibn al-IHanafiyya led by Mughira b. Sa'id, Bayin b. Sam'An
and Abfi Mansfir al-'Ijli were crushed at that time.(61) As

(60) See n. 2 above.

(61) Steven Wasserstrom, "The Moving Finger Writes: Mughira b. SaTd's
Islamic Gnosis and the Myths of its Rejection," HR 25 (1985) 129; the only

Page 16

72 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

Friedlaender demonstrated, the 'Isawiyya

to these groups.
2) Heavenly ascent. The ascension repor
and Abfi Mansfir are nearly identical,
ascension is reported of no other ghalf.
claimed to have "patted" or "stroked" (m
the head. As Friedlaender observed, the m
this use of the Semitic cognate m-s-h are
3) Illiteracy. Both leaders claimed to au
though they were said to be illiterate. (64)
4) Prophetology. Both leaders of a se
including themselves, which precede, and s
the eventual arrival of the final redeeme
attributable to Abfi 'Is5 al-Warrdq (as fou
al-Ma'liT) on Abfi 'Is5 would seem to imply
 that reported of Abfi Mansfir: that five
himself as a sixth, would herald the ultima
be the final redeemer.(65)

sustained study of Abfi Mansfir is that of William

the Mansiriyya: a Study in medieval terrorism," D
that Ibn IHazm and Baghdidi both discuss the 'Is
ghuldt, for which see the following.

(62) See Tucker, Ibid, for the sources and a brief

Kashshdf fi Istildhdt al-Funan (eds.) 'Abd alhaqq
(Calcutta 1853-1855) II, p. 1385; and Geo Widengre
God and his Ascension (Uppsala, 1955), p. 29-30.
(63) "Jewish-Arabic Studies," JQR III (1912-191
concur with Friedlaender (p. 275) that "the words
meant to convey that God had poured holy oil
consecrating him as the Mashiahl, 'the Anoited one,'
redeemer of Israel."

(64) For a rich study of such "inspiration" in this regard see Ibid., pp. 275-
280. Nawbakhti, Kitdb Firaq al-Shifa (ed.) H. Ritter (Istanbul, 1931 p. 35,
describes Abfi Mansfir as being illiterate (ummi); see also Qummi, Kildb al-Maqdldt
wal-Firaq (ed.) M. G. Mashkur (Teheran, 1963) 46-47; These sources also are
discussed and translated by Heinz Halm, Die islamische Gnosis (Zurich and Munich,
1982) 86-89.
(65) "Jewish-Arabic Studies" III (1912-1913) 258-261. For more on AbO

Manstir,
'ayn seeMustaffi,
(ed. K. Tucker, Cairo,
"Abfi1367/1948)
Mansfir," (n.
pp.19 above);Friedlaender,
168-169; Nashwin al-IHimyari, Al-h.r
"Heterodoxies of al-
the Shiites," JAOS 29 (1908) pp. 89-90; Kashshi, Rijdl (1962) 257, where Abo
Mansoir is castigated as being "Rasol Iblis", i.e., the "Apostle of Satan," and then
listed among seven "lying Satans"; and Widengren, Muhammad the Apostle of God
and his Ascension (n. 75 above), p. 35, on the chain of seven prophets reported by
Tabari.

Page 17

THE 'ISAWIYYA REVISITED 73

5) Temporary leadership status. Both leader

tional nature of their own authority, that a
ultimate savior. An important report on
that he is the first teacher of the doctrine o
the temporary, or repository, imdm: signif
the analogy of Joshua's deputyship to arg
authority. (")
6) Tax-Raising. In both cases, a khums
raised, not just for the present leader him
future leader. According to Abi al-Ma'tli,
tax of 2/5: 1/5 for the Community, and anot
of the Messiah (in such a manner that it r
until manifestation of the Messiah)." (67) Ac
"After the death of Abfi Mansfir, [his follow
of the goods taken from those they kil
breaking their skulls) to al-IHusayn, the so
7) Role of Christ. Abfi Mansfir's possible
 may be compared to that of Abfi 'Is,
above. Abi Mansfir originates in the Ba
Christianized before Islam. (") He swears by the "Logos"
(kalima). (70) And he teaches that Jesus was the firstborn of
Creation. (71)
8) Role of the Desert. A social clue may be provided by the
detail that both sectarians are associated with desert areas. Abfi
Mansfir is said to have been raised in the desert (sawdd); Abfi 'Isd
escapes to the "Banfi Mfisd, Banfi'Amrdn, who live beyond the
sandriver [i.e. Sambatyon]". (72)

(66) This doctrine is discussed with full reference to the sources concerning Abfi

Manstir in the Gimaret/Monnot annotated translation of ShahrastAni, Livre des

religions et des secles I (Paris, 1986) p. 443, n. 40. For this doctrine associated with
the Jews, see p. 596.
(67) See n. 15 above, and A. A. Sachedina, "Al-Khums: The Fifth in the Imami
Shii Legal System," JNES 39 (1980).
(68) Friedlaender, "The Heterodoxies of the Shi'ites," JAOS 28 (1907) p. 63.
(69) Fred M. Donner, "The Bakr b. Wi'il Tribes and Politics in Northwestern
Arabia on the Eve of Islam," SI LI (1980) -38, at p. 26, 30-32.
(70) al-Ash'ari, Maqdldt I, 74. See Tucker, "Abfi MansOr", p. 74, n. 65.
(71) Ibid., p. 72 n. 47, also citing al-Ash'ari, Maqdldt I, 74.
(72) Abii al-Ma'5li helpfully supplements Shahrastdni's mention of the "sandyri-
ver": see Baydn al-Adydn (n. 15 above). See also Friedlaender, "The Jews of
Arabia and the Rechabites," JQR 1 (1910-1911) 252-257.

Page 18

74 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

9) Militarism. Both heresiarchs lead p

ry escapades. Abfi 'lIs "protects" his
magic, and then singlehandedly gal
troops. (73) Abu Mansfir's rebel follow
sticks and stones. (74)

DOCTRINES OF THE (ISAWIYYA

It remains to review the evidence concerning the doctrines of the

'Isdwiyya. Of all his teachings, his prophetology earned him
eternal notoriety. His most famous teaching, one that gained him
centuries of calumniation in Muslim dialectical texts, was that
Jesus and Muhammad were indeed true prophets, but only to their
own communities, not to all peoples everywhere. In fact, this
continues to be a feature of the reports concerning the 'Is5wiyya in
traditional Muslim universities (such as al-Azhir) until quite recent
days. (75)
Qirqisini and Shahrastini supply us with the only other
substantial information on Abu 'Isi's doctrine. According to
 these writers, he was said to have forbad divorce; required either
seven or ten prayers a day; retained the Rabbinic forms of the
Shemoneh Esre and the Shema; exalted Rabbis almost as high as
prophets; and forbad the consumption of meat, fowl and
wine. (78) Shahrastini may not be mistaken when he says that

(73) Qirqisfni and Shahrastfni provide the only substantial details of the
'Isawite rebellion, for which see above, nn. 26-31.
(74) Tucker, "Abfi Mansfir," discusses Abfi Mansfir as "terrorist". The most
interesting account in regard to Abf Mansfir a a "strangler" (khanndq)is that of
Jahiz, (Kildb al-Hayawan VI, 388 ff.) who describes the hideout of the group,
complete with two entrances to facilitate quick getaways. See also A.S. Tritton,
"Muslim Thugs," Journal of Indian History VIII pt. 1 (1929) 41-44; and Witold
Rajkowski, Early Shiism in Iraq (unpublished PhD dissertation, University of
London, 1955) p. 186 n. 1, for a full discussion, and also 718-719.
(75) These all concern the purported 'Isawiyya doctrine of naskh
"abrogation". See, for example, the discussions of Jewish sects, including the
'Isawiyya, in the following modern al-Azhir texts: Muhammad 'Abd al-'Azim al-
ZurqAni, Manahil al-'Irfan f 'Ulm al-Qur'dn, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1943) vol. 2, pp. 98-
105; Mustafi Zayd, Al-Naskh ft al-Qur'dn al-Karim, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1383, 1963)
vol. I, pp. 130; and 'Ali Hasan al-'Arid, Fath al-Manndn ff Naskh al-Qur'an (Cairo,
1973) pp. 143 ff.
(76) Perhaps the fullest discussion of these doctrines is found in the Russian-
language Jewish Encyclopedia entry on Abu 'Isa by Poznanski. See Evrenskaia

Page 19

THE 'iSAWIYYA REVISITED 75

Abfi 'Isi "opposed the Jews in many of the precepts o

Law mentioned in the Torah," for Abfi 'Isa may i
diverged programmatically from tradition on certain p
Hadassi calls the 'Ishwiyya "the Sect of the Interpreta
Law (kal pesher dat)." (77) However, as I have tried to
evidence suggests that that exegetical variance in fa
towards pietistic and ascetic increases in ritual obser
Abfi 'Isd himself apparently saw his teachings as lying
Jewish tradition. And the Rabbis agreed with him
reports that the 'Ishwiyya were allowed to marry R
because they observed the same holidays.(78) It mi
added that ibn Hazm and Nu'mfni, both of whom ma
personal contact with 'Isawites, seem to indicate that th
used the same text of the Torah as the Rabbanites. (7
Still, this "Jewishness" was apparently blended wit
proto-Sh'ite doctrines, as I tried to show above. In t
an early, important source on the doctrine of the
recently come to light, seems particularly significant. I
n al-Adydn of Abfi al-Ma'dl! (wr. 485/1092), two report
are found. In the long-lost chapter five, we read thes
unparalleled details:

He imposed ten ritual prayers in every 24 hour period.

 to whom a nocturnal emission occurs and does not perfo
will not be pure for seven days.' He established a tax of
one-fifth for the Community and another for the treasury
(in such a manner that it remains in the treasury until the
of the Messiah). (so)

The doctrine of the 'Isfwiyya, then, was hardly an

though it was syncretistic. Their "prophet" enjoined

Entsiklopedia, vol. I, (Mouton, 1969) pp. 171-174. I am grateful

Grau of Toronto for a translation from the Russian.

(77) Eshkol haKofer (Eupatoria, 1836) p. 41b. See the text and discussion in
Dinur, Yisrael baGolah, p. 229 and notes thereon. For pietistic increases in ritual
practices at this time, see Steven M. Wasserstrom, "The Delay of Maghrib: A Study
in Comparative Polemics," Logos Islamikos, Studia Islamica in Honorem Georgii
Michaelis Wickens (eds.) R. M. Savory, D. A. Agius (Toronto, 1984) 269-287, at
p. 278, with reference to the sources.
(78) Chiesa and Lockwood, QirqisdnT, pp. 144-145.
(79) Nu'mini, Kitlb al-Ghayba (Beirut, 1964), p. 65; Ibn Hazm (see n. 101 below)
vol. I, p. 93.
(80) See n. 15 above.

Page 20

76 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

prayers and studied the same Torah as did

some of his divergences are paralleled in Talmudic
tradition. Harkavy and Poznanski, for example, suggest that,
although his proscription of wine and meat may have been
influenced by the passage about the Rechabites in Jeremiah (25:
210), these rules were more likely derived from such Rabbinic
traditions as those found in Baba Balra 60b, "that meat and wine
ought not be indulged in by Jews so long as they live in
exile." This admonition was taken literally by the contempora-
neous "Avele Sion," "Mourners of Zion," traces of whose practice,
these scholars suggest, can be found in earliest Karaism, a
contemporaneous movement. (81)
In addition to their apparent family resemblance to the quasi-
Karaitic ascetic cultus of the Avele Sion, the 'Isfwiyya also bear at
least superficial similarities to early Karaites like 'Anan, who also
proscribed consumption of meat and wine. It was largely based
on these pietistic similarities that most students of this subject,
including the perspicuous pioneers Schreiner and Harkavy, sugges-
ted that Abfi 'Is's innovations influenced the origins of
Karaism. (82) But all these "parallels" only tell us that Abfi 'Isa,
simply put, was a pietist, a type with which contemporaneous
Jewish history was replete. In addition to the Avele Sion and the
Karaites, there were also Jewish pietists under early Islam, who,
Goitein suggests, may have influenced the origins of
 Sufism. (83) In short, there is no evidence and no reason to believe

(81) See the sources collected in Dinur, Yisrael baGolah (see note 9 above),
pp. 215-218; Moshe Zucker, "Tegubot leTenuat Avele Sion haKaraiim beSifrut
haRabanit," [Heb.] Sefer ha Yovel leRebbi Hanokh Albek (Jerusalem, 1963) pp. 378-
401; Avraham Grossman, "Aliya in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries," Jerusalem
Cathedra III (1983) pp. 174-187.

(82) Thus, Schreiner: "AbO '|is and his disciple Yfidghfn greatly influenced the

founderJEofvol.
Isfahini," theVIKaraites,
p. 646; and'Andn..." in "Ish.k
Harkavy: [Andn] ben Ya'kfib
"succeeded in unitingObadiah
all AbO 'Is% al-
heterogeneous elements under his standard, and in forming a powerful sect out of
them," in "Anan ben David," JE vol. I, pp. 553-556, at p. 553. This position was
followed subsquently by Leon Nemoy, Karaite Anthology (New Haven, 1952)
pp. xvI-xviii, and Naftali Wieder, The Judean Scrolls and Karaism (London, 1962)
254 f. But see now M. Cook, '"Anfn and Islam: the origins of Karaite
scripturalism," JSAI 9 (1987) 161-183, at p. 181, who cites these precedents, but
supports against them, as I do, the arguments of Friedlaender ("Jewish-Arabic
Studies", JQR 1 (1910-1911) 214).
(83) Jews and Arabs, (n. 24 above) pp. 148-151.

Page 21

THE 'ISALWIYYA REVISITED 77

that Karaism "subsumed" the 'Is~wiyya. As Mi

recently observed, Friedlaender was also correct
It is possible to trace lingering vestiges of the
destiny and some late echoes of thier beliefs for several
centuries. We first hear of them again in the fourth/tenth
century. Our sources lived mostly in the fourth/tenth and the
fifth/eleventh centuries and several of them indicate that the
'Isfwiyya were still alive in their day.
It is well-known that Qirqisini, in the 930's, said that there were
some twenty of the 'Ishwiyya still surviving in Damascus (a report
which led some scholars to suggest that the 'Isawiyya expected the
return of their awaited savior in that city, and which led others to
suggest a connection with the "Zadokites" of the Damascus
Document) and a few more in Isfahfn. (4)
But there is another interesting piece of fourth/tenth century
evidence: I refer to the (heretofore unnoticed) text of Nu'mini
(mid-fourth/tenth century). His Kildb al-Ghayba is representative
of the Twelver Shi'ite approach to the doctrine of occultation. In
his discussion of Biblical prefigurations of the twelve Imams in
that work, he "quotes" from the genealogy of Ishmael in
Genesis. (85) After authenticating his understanding of the He-
brew text with a Samaritan and with another Jewish scholar, he

also checks
Bahsfin, whowith with
lived in an 'Isfwite
Arrajin, in scholar, Ish.qcultural
the Persian ibn Ibrahim ibn
sphere. This is, so far as I know, the only member of the
'Isawiyya whose name has survived, other than those of the initial
leaders.
 A generation after Nu'mini, Bfqillani, one of the founding
fathers of Kalim, polemicizes at some length against the
'Ishwiyya. He not only refers to them as one of the sects still
alive in this day, but he also calls them a "great community"

(umma 'az.ma).(86) Bfqillani's younger contemporary, Bagh-

(84) See Nemoy's edition of Qirqisini (n. 3 above) vol. III p. 283. On the
connection with Damascus see the off-base speculations of P. R. Weis (n. 21 above).
(85) Beirut, 1964, p. 64. I thank Mahmoud Ayoub for first guiding me to this
s ource.

(86) Tamhfd (ed.) R.J. McCarthy (Beirut, 1957) p. 170, para

should furthermore be said to [the Jews]: it is necessary to accept t
the evidentiary signs of Muhammad's prophethood because of th
witness of the isAwiyya, and they are a great nation, for they were
this position."

Page 22

78 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

dadi, also describes the continuators of t

kiniyya," as alive in his day. He says tha
Shahada, hold that Islam is a true religion
Five Pillars, and yet are not considered to belong to the
Community of Islam. (87) If this report is accurate, then by the
turn of the fifth/eleventh century, they would seem to a Muslim
observer to have been largely Islamicized. They were, at that
time, certainly still active: In the 1020's (ca. 411-420), the Spanish
scholar ibn Hazm testifies to the presence of 'Isawiyya, by stating
that he had met "many distinguished Jews who follow this same
schoool of opinion." (88)
The most impressive of all such testimonies comes from the
sixth/twelfth century Shahrastani. This fine medieval scholar
may have relied on an informant from the 'Ishwiyya in formulating
his report on Jewish sects. This hypothesis would help explain
the presence of several unique features in his report on Jewish
sects: why neither Rabbanites nor Karaites are adequately
represented; why he reports at length on Abf 'Isa, the 'Ishwiyya,
and the two major continuators; why he gives the correct date for
the group; why his report on the group utilizes (transliterated)
Hebrew names, as well as unmistakably Jewish terms and images,
with no critique of them; why Shahrastini's sole detailed report on
any of the Jewish sects, that on Abfi 's, is not only a
selfcontained narrative unit, with a beginning, middle and an end,
but also dispassionately refers to the 'Ishwiyya depiction of Abfi
'Is% as 'abd, rasail, and nabt, epithets reverently applied to
Muhammad in the daily Muslim prayer.(89) As I tried to show
above, Shahrast~ni was also informed of both the exoteric and the
esoteric names of the pietistic prophet of the 'Ishwiyya. Nor is it
 unthinkable
the 'Isawiyyathat
didShahrastani may have
meet with Muslim had an 'Ishwite
scholars, informant:
as we are told that
they did with ibn Hazm and Nu'mini.
A few later sources, of uncertain reliability, seem to indicate an
ongoing 'Isawiyya presence. In the first half of the seventh/thir-

(87) Usul al-Din (Istanbul, 1928) 325-326; AI-Farq bain al-Firaq (Beirut, 1973) 9.
(88) Ibn Hazm, Kildb al-Fisal fi Milal wa al-Ahwd' wa al-Nihal (Cairo, 1317-
1321) vol. I, p. 93: "Concerning the first page of the Torah of the Jews which is used
by their Rabb5niyya, 'Ananiyya and 'Isawiyya, whether they inhabit the Eastern
parts of the Earth or the Western parts, they do not disagree on that text, not even
in one respect... (la yukhyalifana ftha 'ld sifa wdhida...)"
(89) See n. 5 above.

Page 23

THE 'ISAWIYYA REVISITED 79

teenth century a little-known author, in

heresiography, mentions the doctrine of
discusses them in the present tense, sayin
few." (0) In the early tenth/sixteenth cen
Su'fidi says that four Jewish sects are stil
Karaites, Rabbanites, Samaritans and 'Isa
reports may represent only the scholastic r
phic motifs.
Finally, it is requisite to briefly summariz
'Iswiyya (on the basis of the evidence cite
they were widely (if sparsely) distributed ov
the centuries of classical Islamicate civilization. I shall limit

myself to sites which are specified in our sources. Thus, from his
hometown of Nisibis, Abu 'Isi took his movement to
Isfahan. Subsequently, in the Persian orbit, we find the se
sectaries in Rayy, Hamadin, Qumm and Arrajin, whence they
may they may have spread as far as Transoxania. In the central
Islamicate lands, they may have settled in Palestine (if that is
where the Palestinian Rabbi Jacob ibn Ephraim encountered
them), as well as in Damascus, where Qirqishni knew of a group of
them. Remarks made by Shaybini and Maimonides suggest their
possible presence in Mesopotamia. And, finally, that presence
may have extended to Andalusia: ibn Hazm tells us that he met
many Jews who held such doctrines.

THE tISLkWIYYA: A SUMMATION

To recapitulate: we have evidence of the 'Ishwiyya surviving

through the fifth/eleventh and sixth/twelfth centuries, with some
possibility that they survived even later that. Spread throughout
 (90) Tabsirat al-'Awamm... (ed.) Abbas Iqbal (Teheran, 1934) pp. 22-23: "Know
that those which are in the Persian lands today are two fairly prominent sects: one
is called the Qar55n and one is called Rabbanan... And a third group is called
'Ishwi. They say that abrogating revealed law is not allowable on rational grounds
nor in legal fact, and that Muhlammad is an Apostle, but that he was sent to the
Arabs and was not a prophet to the Children of Israel. This group comprises only
a few."

(91) Abfi al-Fadl al-Maliki al-Su'fidi, Dispulatio pro religione Muhammedanorum

adversus Christianos [Al-muntakhab al-Jal[l min takhjil man harrafa al-injfl] (ed.)
F. J. Van Den Ham (Leiden, 1890) 190: "Well-known today (al-ma'araif al-dn) are
four sects: The Qarri'un, the RabbAniyun, the 'Isawiyya and the Samira".

Page 24

80 STEVEN WASSERSTROM

the Islamicate world, this group survived

evidence militates against the consensus of
thst this sect was merely an emphemeral
indeed been little historiographic progress in
the time, eighty years ago, that Poznanski
Karaite Jewish sects sects under Islam spr
"like mushrooms" to the recent Encyclopedia
Gerson Cohen, in which he claims that suc
large quickly and forcefully suppressed." (92
The 'Isawiyya were not a mere flash in the
Islam was forged and Judaism was transmuted. They were,
rather, a comparatively long-lived Jewish reaction to
Islamicization. They may have had their roots in the heterodox
pietism of Late Antique Judaism; they may have survived until
the tenth/sixteenth century: there is no question that they existed
as a farflung, discrete Jewish sect for least three centuries, perhaps
for four or five centuries. Both their doctrine and the memory
that they once stood beside the Rabbanites and Karaites as a
substantial school within Judaism persist to the present: Ab 'Isa
is enshrined in Karaite traditional texts as a progenitor, while the
'Ishwiyya are still thought to be a major Jewish sect in Muslim
scholarly traditions within living memory. (93) The 'Isawiyya
survive even today, but only as a kind of scholastic spectre, a
shadowy reminder of their ultimate failure.

Steven M. WASSERSTROM

(Portland, Oregon)

(92) Poznanski, "Philon dans l'ancienne litterature judbo-arabe," REJ 50 (1905)

10-31, at 22; Cohen, EB (15th ed.) vol. 10, "History of Judaism," pp. 316-322.
(93) For Abfi 'Is as Karaite progenitor, see L. Nemoy "Elijah ben Abraham and
his Tract Against the Rabbanites," HUCA LI (1980) pp. 63-87, at p. 79. For some
modern Muslim scholars of al-Azhdr who mention the 'Isawiyya, see n. 88 above.