Problems on the Muslim
Understanding of the Mandaeans*

Doç.Dr. Şinasi Gündüz

From the beginning of the Islamic era onwards Muslims have been interested in the Sâbians since the Sâbians as a religious group are mentioned in the Qur'an.[1] Although the Qur'an mentions them only by name among the ahl al-kitâb with the Jews and the Christians, it does not give any information about their identity, cults and believing system. The Muslim scholars from the early period to the modern time have therefore been interested in this term and tried to explain the religious identity of the Sâbians of the Qur'an.

            The extant Islamic sources do not give any information about the existence of the argument on the Sâbians at the time of Muhammad. We know that the opponents of Muhammad who objected to the Qur'anic message asked him many questions about the statements of the Qur'an which were unknown for them. However, they were silent when the Qur'an mentioned the Sâbians with the other religious groups such as the Jews, Christians and Magians. This obviously shows that mainly because of their trading journey the Arabs of Hijâz had knowledge of the Sâbians as a religious group. 

            During his time the Prophet Muhammad as well as his followers was also called sâbiî by his opponents.[2] Although some of the early Muslim scholars such as 'Abd al-Rahmân ibn Zayd (d. 798 AD), Ibn Jurayj (d. 767 AD) and 'Atâ ibn Abî Rabah (d. 732 AD) have seen a specific connection between the term Sâbiî, used for Muhammad and his companions, and the Sabians who live in the region of Sawâd, it is most probable that the Arabs used this term for Muhammad and his followers in the meaning of "apostate" since Muhammad left the traditional religion of the Arabs and introduced a new believing system based on strict monotheism.[3]

            After Muhammad the Muslim commentators of the Qur'an (mufassirûn) tried to explain who the Sabians whom the Qur'an mentioned three times were. They were not particularly interested in the Sabians; and their explanation on the Sabians was generally only a few sentences. Their main aim was to give an explanation of some statements and terms of the Qur'an which needed to be explained, and the term sâbiûn (or sâbiîn) was one of them.

Most of these Muslim scholars who lived in the first two Islamic centuries stated that the Sabians were a religious group who lived in southern Mesopotamia. According to their statement the Sabians particularly live in Kûsâ, Sawâd and Jazîrah al-Mawsil in Iraq. About the Sabian religion they maintain that the Sabians have a religious system in itself which resembles from many points Christianity, Judaism and Magianism. Some of these early scholars such as Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. 728-732 AD) and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd even state that the Sabians worship only one true God.[4]

We also see from many sources that during the first two Islamic centuries many Muslim scholars believed that the Sabians were among the ahl al-kitâb, while some did not accept this for they believed that the term ahl al-kitâb was a specific term for only the Jews and the Christians.[5] Likewise, the Muslim rulers during that time treated the Sabian community in Islamic empire as a religious group belonged to ahl al-dhimma (the subject people), a status given to the non-Muslims, mainly to the Christians and the Jews, who live under Muslim government. Some Muslim rulers even thought to recognise an exclusive right to the Sabians because they thought the beliefs of the Sabians were nearer Islam than the other groups among ahl al-dhimma. In these Muslim rulers' opinion the most important feature which showed the proximity of the beliefs of the Sabians to Islam was the belief in God of the Sabians. The following narration is quite important for this. According to the information given by Hasan al-Basrî (d. 728), Ziyâd ibn Abîhî (d. 672), the governor of Iraq at the time of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'âwiyah, had met the Sabians and wanted to exempt them from the poll-tax (jizyah), but when he was informed that they worshipped the angels (malâikah) he changed his decision.[6]

It is quite clear that the Sabians of the Qur'an who were described by these early scholars are the Mandaeans of southern Iraq. We know that the Mandaeans have been living in this area since the second century AD. They migrated from Palestine first to the mountainous lands of Media (Adiabene), then to the marshy region of southern Mesopotamia. By the second century AD they were in this new homeland where they settled under Parthian protection. Also we know that the Mandaean beliefs and cults have many similarities to Judaism, Christianity and Iranian religion, and carry various elements from these religious traditions. These early Muslim scholars were therefore correct when they stated the Sabians have a religious system resembling Christianity, Judaism and Magianism.

In the early Islamic period (first two centuries) we do not generally see such problems on the identification and place of settlement of the Sabians as we see in later sources. Although there are some differences between these Muslim scholars on some characteristics of the Sabians, there is a common opinion about the identification of the Sabians and the main characteristic features of the Sabian religion. We also see in this early period that the Muslim rulers as well as the Muslim scholars were generally tolerant of the Sabians since they saw them as a group among the ahl al-dhimma. Although the Mandaean sources do not generally talk about the Muslims positively[7], an account in Haran Gawaita seems supporting the idea that the Muslims treated them as ahl al-kitâb when they first met the Mandaeans, so there was no tribulation against them.[8]

The Abbasid period has been an important mile-stone for beginning of the speculations on the Sabians. These speculations were mainly based on the claim that the Sabians were the pagans, adherents of the planet cult of ancient Mesopotamia. From this period onwards most of the Muslim scholars have seen a special connection between the term "Sabians" and the pagans of Harran. Even such important Muslim scholars as al-Mas'ûdî (d. 957), Ibn Hazm al-Qurtûbî (d. 1063), al-Shahristânî (d. 1153) and Abû 'Abd Allah Muhammad al-Qurtûbî (d. 1282) identified Sabians with the Harranians whom they called "the Sabians from Harran".[9] Although the early Muslim scholars (commentators of the Qur'an and the jurists) neither mentioned the city of Harran nor the Harranians in relation with the Sabians, the later Muslim writers especially emphasised Harran as the dwelling place of the Sabians whenever they talked about the Sabians. The characteristic features of the Harranians such as paganism, polytheism and star and idol worshipping have therefore been described as the characteristics of the Sabians. This was also contrary to the early scholars since they never, as stated earlier, mentioned the characteristics such as paganism, polytheism and so on when they described the Sabians.

Some Muslim scholars of that time such as Ibn al-Nadîm (d. 995), Abd al-Qâhir al-Baghdâdî (d. 1037), and al-Bîrûnî (d. 1048) maintained that there was another Sabian group, Sabât al-Batâ'ih, living in the southern Mesopotamia. They also stressed that Sabât al-Batâ'ih were completely different from the Harranians. Even some of them emphasised that the Harranians were not the real Sabians, but pseudo-Sabians. [10] In spite of this they continued to use the term Sabians as a particular name for the Harranians, and described the characteristics of the Harranians as that of the Sabians.

The Muslim writers, especially the commentators and jurists, have continued to hold this point of view on the Sabians up to now. They have repeated the idea of those Muslim scholars who described Harranians as the Sabians and accused the Sabians of being idolaters and star-worshippers. Although the Harranian community has disappeared from the history since the Mongol invasion into Harran in the thirteenth century, the common belief that the Sabians were the star and idol worshippers did not change. Thus the Muslims continued to make the same accusation for the Sabians of the Marsh (sabat al-batâ'ih), i.e. the Mandaeans.

Speculations on the Sabians/Mandaeans have continued in the Muslim world up to now. Not only the Arab writers like Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasanî[11] but also many Turkish writers (especially the commentators of the Qur'an and the historians of Islam) did nothing but simply repeated the speculations found in the medieval Islamic sources. Many modern scholars have seen a religious identity between the Harranians and the Mandaeans, both of whom are called Sabians traditionally, and held the idea that the Sabians, whoever they are and wherever they live, are the star worshippers. For example, following such Muslim writers as Ibn  Hazm al-Qurtûbî, al-Shahristânî and Ibn Kesîr (d. 1372), the famous commentator of the Qur'an, they claim that the Sabians are the star and idol worshippers whom the prophet Abraham invited to the true religion of God.[12] Moreover, just repeating the traditional accusation against the Sabians many modern translators of the Qur'an into Turkish have translated the term sâbiûn/sâbiîn as simply "the star-planet worshippers".[13] A modern Turkish scholar, C. Yıldırım, has recently identified the Sabians of the Qur'an with the Mandaeans in his commentary on the Qur'an and claimed that the Mandaeans are the pagans and that the temples of the Mandaeans (Mandi) are full of idols symbolising the stars and planetary deities.[14] On the other hand, again following the medieval sources some modern Muslim scholars do not identify  the Mandaeans with the Sabians of the Qur'an. A Turkish professor of Qur'anic commentary, İ. Cerrahoğlu, has, for instance, claimed that the Mandaeans are not the Sabians but the Christians.[15] He also claimed that both the Harranians and the Mandaeans are not connected with the Sabians. In his opinion the Sabians of the Qur'an are the members of religious group who vanished in history.[16]

Various explanations on the enigmatic term sâbiûn/sâbiîn of the Qur'an have been one the most important problem for the Muslim understanding of the Mandaeans. As stated before, the early Muslim scholars have described the Mandaeans as the Sabians of the Qur'an since their description on the identification and dwelling place of the Sabians is generally suitable for the Mandaeans. However, the later Muslim writers as well as some non-Muslim writers like Maimonides[17] established a special connection between the Harranians and the Sabians and called the Harranians "the Sabians from Harran". They therefore described the Harranian cults and beliefs as the characteristics of the Sabians. Thus the Harranian factor has been an important source for the speculations on the Sabians.

When and how the Harranians adopted the name Sabians and whether or not there is a connection between the Harranians and the Mandaeans, both of whom were called Sabians by the later Muslim scholars, have been discussed by many scholars. Although some scholars like Drower, who suggested that the Harranians had points of common belief with the orthodox Mandaeans, claimed that there might be a connection between the Harranians and the Mandaeans,[18] it is quite clear that there is no religious identification or connection between the Harranians and the Mandaeans. Apart from the very common points of belief like believing the existence of the seven heavenly spheres which can be seen in almost all religions of the Middle East, both religions are completely different from each other. We, for instance, cannot see the planet cult (especially the Sin cult), Hermetic tradition, the human sacrifice and idolatry of the Harranians in the religion of the Mandaeans. Again we cannot see the vitally important characteristics of the Mandaeans such as the Gnostic dualism and the water cult in the Harranian religion. However, the term Sabians has been used for the members of both of these religious traditions and the Muslim writers particularly described the Harranian religious tradition under the title of Sabian religion. This particular usage of the term for the Harranian pagans led many Muslims to a conviction that the Mandaeans called Sabians by their neighbours were also pagans and star-idol worshippers.  On the other hand, as we mentioned earlier, we know that during the early Islamic times this term was only used for a religious group who lived in southern Mesopotamia and had a religious system resembling the Christianity, Judaism and Magianism. These characteristics are certainly suitable for the Mandaeans but not for the pagans of Harran whom the early Muslim scholars never mention. If that is the case, we have a problem of when and why the Harranians adopted the name Sabians.

A narration found in al-fihrist  by Ibn al-Nadîm states that the Harranians adopted the name "Sabians" after the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun's threat.[19] According to this narration al-Ma'mun threatened the Harranian pagans with death unless they accepted one of the religions which the Qur'an mentioned. Abû Yusuf 'Isha al-Qatî'î, the Christian narrator of this account, says that after a time of confusion the Harranians then accepted a recommendation of adopting the name Sabians. He also maintains that before this time there had been no group in Harran or vicinity called Sabians. Some scholars are suspicious about this account,[20] but we have various evidence other than this which supports the idea that the Harranians adopted the name Sabians at a late date, possibly during the Abbasid, period. The Muslim writers such as Hamzah al-Isfahânî (d. 961), Ibn Mûsâ al-Khawârizmî (d. 980-981) and al-Bîrûnî also state that the Harranians adopted the name Sabians during the Abbasid period and emphasise that before this adoption they were known under the names of  "the Chaldaeans", "heathens", "idolaters" or simply "the Harranians".[21] Besides, as we mentioned above, none of the earlier Muslim scholars mentions Harran or the Harranians regarding with the Sabians. These Muslim scholars also do not mention the paganism, idolatry, planet cult or the other characteristic features of the people of Harran as the characteristics of the Sabians. On the other hand we know from many sources that the paganism, idolatry and planet cult have been the striking features of the people of Harran throughout the history. Moreover, when they talk about the conquest of Harran, the early Muslim writers do not mention the Sabians at all regarding the Harranian people. Abû Yûsuf (d.798), the jurist, for instance, records that the Harranian people during the Muslim conquest consist of the Nabataeans (the Syriac speaking non-Arabs) and the refugees from Greece.[22] All of these points clearly show that the Harranians adopted the name Sabians in a late period possibly in order to continue to live as a minority in Islamic empire.

The Harranians known as "the Sabians from Harran" have soon become so popular in Islamic empire in various subjects of science from medicine to literature that the Muslims gave particular attention to them. While some Harranian scholars like Thâbit ibn Qurrâ who played a prominent role in intellectual circles strongly defended the Harranian paganism and idolatry even in the courts of the caliphs, the Sabians of the Marsh/the Mandaeans or the Sabians of the Qur'an according to the early Muslim thought survived as an obscure small community, far away from sight. The Muslim writers were thus particularly interested in the well-known Harranians under the name of the Sabians and described their cults and believing system as the religion of the Sabians. Because of this widespread information given by the Muslim writers, the Muslim community generally identified the Sabians with the Harranians and thought that the paganism and star and idol worshipping were the main characteristics of the religion of the Sabians. Although some scholars emphasised that the Harranians were only the pseudo-Sabians and that the real Sabians/Mandaeans were different from the Harranians, the Muslim people who did not know enough the so-called obscure Mandaeans mostly identified them with the Harranians and thought that the Mandaeans, too, were the pagans and idolaters.

As is seen, the Harranian factor has been an important problem for the Muslim understanding of the Mandaeans. Not only in the Arabic world but also almost in every place throughout the Islamic geography the Muslims who inherited the speculations on the Sabians based on the Harranian factor have, up to now, carried on the belief that the Sabians, whether Harranians or the Mandaeans, are the adherents of the ancient planet cult and idolatry of Mesopotamia.

Dependent upon the Harranian factor many medieval Muslim scholars have used the term "Sabian" in a general meaning of "pagan". The later Muslim scholars such as al-Jassâs (d. 981), Ibn Hazm al-Qurtûbî, Ibn Athîr (d.1233), Abû al-Fidâ (d. 1282) and Shams al-Dîn al-Dimashqî (d. 1326) called every pagan "Sabian". For example, al-Jassâs, commentator on the Qur'an, says that the ancient people of Iraq and Syria, and the Greeks before Constantine were the Sabians.[23] al-Dimashqî, the geographer, states that the ancient Greeks, Indians, Persians, Copts and even Arabs before Muhammad were the Sabians.[24] Abû al-Qâsim Sa'îd al-Andalûsî (d. 1070) claims that the Turks and the Chinese as well as the Greeks and the Persians were the Sabians.[25] Even al-Bîrûnî and al-Mas'ûdî, famous Muslim scholars, use the term Sabians for idolaters in general, like the other Muslim scholars of that period. al-Bîrûnî claims that the Buddha (Budasaf) called the people to the religion of the Sabians while al-Mas'ûdî uses the term of the Sabians for the members of the various ancient and contemporary sects scattered in a wide area from China to Egypt.[26]

Some Muslim scholars even claimed that the Christians were also the Sabians. For example, Ibn Hazm al-Qurtûbî maintained that the Christians, too, were among the Sabians since they believed in the Trinity.[27] So the term Sabian was used for almost every non-Muslim from China to Greece, but particularly for the idolaters and pagans.

Moreover some of the Muslim scholars, especially Ibn Hazm al-Qurtûbî and al-Shahrastânî, have made a special connection between the Sabians and the people of the prophet Abraham. Depending upon the story of Abraham in the Qur'an, these scholars maintained that the people during the time of Abraham were the Sabians, the star and idol worshippers. These Sabians were the infidels living throughout Mesopotamia. Abraham struggled against them and tried to convert them into the true religion of God. Some of them accepted this but most of them refused. This point of view, which is obviously based upon the idea that the Sabians are the star and idol worshipping pagans, is still held by some modern Muslim scholars as well as the medieval writers such as Fakhruddîn al-Râdî (d. 1209) and Nizâmuddîn Hasan al-Naysâbûrî (d.1327). Following al-Shahrastânî, a Turkish scholar has, for instance, recently maintained that the Sabians are the people against whom the prophet Abraham struggled, and argued that the Sabianism (Sabian religion) is the source of the other pagan religions such as that of the Babylonians and the ancient Arabs.[28]

This usage of the term Sabian in the meaning of pagan and star-idol worshipper in general led the Muslim community to think that everybody known as Sabian was an idolater and star and planet worshipper. They therefore thought that the Mandaeans who have been an obscure community for their neighbours were also the idolaters and star worshippers since they were the Sabians, the adherents of the pagan community at the time of Abraham.

It would be appropriate here to ask why the Muslims did not get in touch with the Mandaeans, who lived with them for ages, to try to understand their cults and beliefs. We know that the accusation which claims the Mandaeans or Subbî of southern Mesopotamia are the star-planet worshippers like the people of ancient Mesopotamia at the time of the prophet Abraham is certainly wrong. Although the Mandaeans like the other communities of the Middle East accept the existence of the planets, unlike the pagan communities they abhor planet worship because according to their belief these planetary spheres and their guardians are basically evil, demonic in nature, and persist in obstructing the way of the soul on its ascent. Also idolatry is prohibited and the idol worshippers are damned in the Mandaean tradition. For example, Ginza certainly forbids the Mandaeans to worship the idols, the images, the error and the confusion of the world.[29]

Although some Muslims had the chance of observing the Mandaeans because of the neighbourhood, the majority of the Muslims did not have that chance. Their knowledge of the Mandaeans was mainly based on the speculative information found in the writings of the Muslim scholars. Even the knowledge of those Muslims who lived near the Mandaeans was not enough to draw a clear picture about the Mandaeans. For example, a number of the early Muslim scholars whose descriptions on the Sabians of the Qur'an are, as already stated, mostly suitable for the Mandaeans were closely connected with the southern Mesopotamia where the Mandaeans lived. Ziyâd ibn 'Abîhi was, for instance, the governor of Iraq; Hasan al-Basrî and Abû al-Zanâd were originally from Iraq, Abû Hanîfah (d. 767) and Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), the famous founders of the schools of Islamic Law, lived in Iraq, and finally Khalil ibn Ahmad (d. 786-787) and many others lived in the region where the Mandaeans lived.[30] These scholars were generally right when they said the religion of the Sabians resembled at many points Judaism, Christianity and Magianism, but their information about some specific characteristics of the Mandaeans was obscure and unclear. For example, many of them stated that the Sabians worshipped the malâikah and read zabûr, the Psalms. These were, of course, not correct since the Mandaeans neither worshipped the angels nor read the Psalms as a holy scripture. Due to their limited observation these Muslim scholars, however, probably supposed that the Mandaeans worshipped the angels (malâikah), for the Mandaeans call the supreme beings malkia, and that they read zabûr since some parts of the Mandaean scriptures, especially Ginza Smala and Qolasta, were in hymn style.

Like some other religious communities one of whose main characteristics is secrecy and isolation from the rest of community the Mandaean community has long been an obscure religious group for their neighbours. We know that as a Gnostic community the Mandaeans have always tried to be far away from sight. They have usually lived in the quiet and secluded villages of marshy region of southern Iraq though some have migrated to the towns and big cities like Baghdad and Basrah. Also we know that every Mandaean has two personal names, one is the worldly name and other is the religious (malwaşa) name. The former which is usually an Islamic name is his laqâb, but the malwaşa name is the real name. The Mandaeans use their worldly names in daily life while they use their malwaşa names during all religious occasions and ceremonies.[31] The reason of carrying an Islamic name in a Muslim environment and using this in a mixed society is presumably connected with the rule of secrecy.

The Mandaean religion forbids the believers to reveal the secrets (secret beliefs, cults etc.) to a non-Mandaean. Revealing the secrets of the religion to a foreigner is thought a sin. Lady Drower, for example, writes in her monumental study that when a Mandaean informed her about the secret names of malkia, he was quite worried because he thought the other Mandaeans would be angry if they knew that.[32] Because of the rule of secrecy the Mandaeans have generally been reluctant to talk about their religious beliefs and cults or their holy scriptures unless there is a necessity to do this as is the case when they first met the Muslim invaders in Iraq.[33]

As some of the Mandaean writings discuss[34], the neighbours of the Mandaeans have often asked them some questions on various subjects to learn their religion. When talking to people of another faith to answer their questions, the Mandaeans have, as Drower stressed[35], usually accentuated small points of resemblance between their beliefs and those of their hearers. However, this limited information given by them was not enough for their neighbours to draw a clear picture on their religious tradition. Speculation on their believing system and cults has consequently become inevitable. Thus, their neighbours have not avoided accusing them of the common accusation mentioned above. Briefly, the rule of secrecy in Mandaean tradition has been another reason for speculations on the Mandaeans made by the Muslims although it is not so important as the Harranian factor.

The socio-political reasons seem to be another problem for the Muslim understanding of the Mandaeans. The Muslims, as stated earlier, treated the Mandaean community as ahl al-kitâb when they conquered the area where the Mandaeans lived. Like the other non-Muslim groups in Islamic empire, the Mandaeans, too, continued to live in their homeland by paying a poll-tax (jizyah) to Muslim government. Although no persecution happened against them during the conquest, as Haran Gawaita emphasises, the Muslim invasion must have caused some problems. Some of them must have migrated north-east just before or during the invasion because a statement in Haran Gawaita indicates that the number of the Mandaeans in southern Iraq was reduced after the Muslim conquest.[36] Yet, there is no evidence which shows that the Muslims treated the Mandaeans badly during the invasion.

However, we see that, as time passed, the attitude of the Muslim rulers toward the Mandaeans changed, and that from time to time persecution of the Mandaeans caused by local governors has unfortunately taken place. Some statements in various Mandaean writings give examples of such persecution against the Mandaean community in various times. Haran Gawaita argues about the increase of persecution and tribulation against the Mandaeans under the Muslim domination.[37] Also some of the colophons found at the end of Mandaean writings sometimes talk about the oppression and torment caused by the local rulers of the Mandaeans as well as by their Muslim neighbours. For example, the colophon of Diwan Masbuta d Hibil Ziwa mentions the persecution of the Mandaean community in Iraq during the late Ottoman period.[38] A report in this colophon which relates how Thamîr ibn Ghadbân, a local ruler or head of the Muslim community in 1254 AH, circumcised the Mandaeans, about a hundred men and women, by force is especially noticeable.[39]

We understand from these accounts that the Mandaean community like other minorities has sometimes urged to be assimilated and that some Muslim rulers have used force against them to do this. This attitude against the Mandaeans is obviously contrary to the attitude of the early times when the Mandaeans had a right of living free under Muslim rule. It is possible to take into consideration the various points (such as the increase of intolerance in Muslim community, the enmity and jealousy between the neighbours, and some economical and historical matters) as the reasons for change of attitude of the Muslims against the Mandaeans. However, it is certain that the unjust widespread accusations against the Mandaeans that they are the idolaters and star-planet-worshipping infidels have always been an important factor in changing the Muslims' attitude toward the Mandaeans and in increasing the hate and hostility between two communities. Some local rulers might have used these common accusations to justify their attitude, as is the case of Thamîr ibn Ghadbân mentioned above, and to get the support of the Muslim community.