Abu Isa (also known as Ovadiah , Ishaq ibn Ya'qub al-Isfahani , Isaac ben Jacob al-Isfahani ) was a Jewish prophet sometime in the 8th century CE in Persia and the leader of a revolt, and proclaimed by some of his followers to be the Messiah . He seems to have allied himself with Sunbadh after the assassination of Abu Muslim in 755 CE. His forces fought Caliph al-Mansur 's army at Rayy , where they were defeated. Abu Isa fell in this battle.
33-648: The dating of Abu Isa's career has been disputed since the Middle Ages. The two main sources for information of him are Qirqisani , a Jewish Karaite historian; and Shahrastani , who wrote an extensive guide to Jewish sects over the ages. Qirqisani places the events in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik (685 - 705 CE) while Shahrastani says it began under the reign of Marwan II (744 - 750) on through to Al-Mansur (d. 775). Qirqisani's dates place Abu Isa's uprising during Umayyad clashes with
66-513: A nickname expressing the attachment of an individual to a certain thing: as in Abu Bakr , "father of the camel foal", given because of this person's love for camels; or Abu Hurairah , “father of the cats”, given because of his caring for and adopting stray cats. A kunya may also be a nickname expressing a characteristic of an individual, as in Umm Kulthum “mother of the chubby face”, because
99-524: Is more likely. Abu Isa believed that he was the last of five heralds from God announcing the imminent arrival of the messiah . Never did he claim to be the Messiah himself, but some of his followers felt that he would return after his death and bring the End Times . He made some minor alterations to the general set of Rabbinic laws and his followers became ascetic in their manners. The most radical of
132-829: The Arab world and the Islamic world more generally. Medieval Jewish names generally had stock kunyas referencing the biblical eponym and not any relative. Those named Abraham received "abu Ishaq", those named Jacob, "abu Yusuf," and so on. In some cases the word abu is construed beyond the traditional sense of "father," so a person named Isaac received "abu Ibrahim" (son of Abraham) and one named Moses received "abu Imran" (son of Amram). Also common are kunyas which reflect qualities, such as " abu al-Afiya " (the Healthy) and "abu al-Barakat" (the Blessed). Abū or Umm precedes
165-690: The Ba'ale haRikkub or Karaite expounders of the Law, he is particularly severe in his views on the laws of incest . He combats the opinion of his contemporary Rabbanite Jacob ben Ephraim al-Shami, who permitted marriage to the daughter of one's brother or sister. Most of the Kitab al-Anwar and the beginning of the Al-Riyad wal-Hada'iq are still extant in manuscript, in the Abraham Firkovich collection in
198-613: The Byzantines which would coincide with Messianic stories of the battle between Gog and Magog and place it early enough to influence Karaism ; Shahrastani's would put the revolt at the end of the Umayyad Dynasty and thus at a pivotal point of upheaval in the Muslim world . Both are plausible and there is no direct Isawite documentation. The Turkish scholar Halil Ibrahim Bulut in 2004 has shown that Shahrastani's 'Abbasid date
231-568: The Kitab al-Anwar and the Al-Riyad wal-Hada'iq were abridged, the former by a certain Moses ben Solomon haLevi. Harkavy deduces from quotations that Qirqisani translated the Bible into Arabic, wrote commentaries on the Book of Job and on Ecclesiastes , and wrote a work on the tawhid "unity of God", Kitab al-Tawhid . [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in
264-642: The Middle East , visiting the centers of Islamic learning, in which he was well-versed. In 937 Qirqisani wrote an Arabic work on the Jewish precepts —under the title Kitāb al-Anwār wal-Marāqib ( کتاب الانوار والمراقب , known in Hebrew as Sefer ha-Me'orot, or Sefer ha-Ma'or ), with the subtitle Kitab al-Shara'i ( Sefer Mitzvot Gadol )—and a commentary entitled al-Riyad wal-Hada'iq ( Sefer ha-Gannim we-Pardesim, or Sefer ha-Nitztzanim ), on those portions of
297-763: The National Library of Russia (Nos. 1142-1444). The first treatise of the Kitab al-Anwar , dealing with the Jewish sects, was published by Abraham Harkavy in the memoirs of the Oriental section of the Archeological Society (viii. 1849). Various fragments of seven treatises (ii.-vi., viii., ix.-xii.) are found in the British Museum (Oriental MSS. Nos. 2,524, 2,526, 2,578-2,582). They were analyzed by Samuel Abraham Poznański , who published
330-679: The Samaritans , and concluding with the sect founded by Daniel al-Kumisi . Qirqisani declares the Rabbinites to be a Jewish sect founded by Jeroboam although it did not make its appearance until the time of the Second Temple . In opposition to them, Zadok , a disciple of Antigonus of Sokho and founder of a sect (either the Sadducees or Essenes ) revealed part of the truth on religious subjects, while Anan ben David disclosed
363-529: The Torah which do not deal with the laws. The first volume of Qirqisani's Kitāb al-Anwār wal-marrāqib is the most important, which not only provides valuable information concerning the development of Karaism but throws light also on many questions in Rabbinic Judaism . It comprises thirteen treatises, each divided into chapters, and the first four treatises form an introduction to the whole work. In
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#1732780429275396-431: The public domain : Singer, Isidore ; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "ḲIRḲISANI, ABU YUSUF YA'ḲUB" . The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Kunya (Arabic) A kunya ( Arabic : كُنيَة ) is a teknonym in an Arabic name , the name of an adult derived from their eldest son. A kunya is used as a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet . Although in theory it refers to
429-651: The Apostle , who ascribed divinity to Jesus and prophetic inspiration to himself. It was Paul that denied the necessity of carrying out the 613 commandments and taught that religion consisted in humility; and the First Council of Nicaea adopted precepts which do not occur in the Law , Gospels , or Acts of the Apostles . Qirqisani devotes a great portion of the first treatise to attacks upon Rabbinic Judaism . In
462-499: The Isawite beliefs was the acceptance of both Jesus and Muhammad as true prophets, but only to their own peoples. The ban on meat is actually a Talmudic reference to not eating meat in exile, while the additional prayers are usually explained by noting Psalm 119:164. Two major miracles are attributed to Abu Isa. The first stems from his writings, as he was known to his followers as nothing but an illiterate tailor before he
495-507: The Rabbanites. Here, Qirqisani is referring to the discrepancies frequent in haggadic and hekhalot literature such as the Shi'ur Qomah , which, indeed, he often uses in his attacks against the Rabbanites. The second treatise, of twenty-eight chapters, discusses the duty of applying critical methods to study religious matters. Qirqisani is the first Karaite known to have firmly believed in
528-439: The bearer's first-born son or daughter, it may not do so literally, and by extension it may also have hypothetical or metaphorical references, as in a nom de guerre or a nickname. Use of a kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting. A kunya is expressed by the use of abū (father) or umm (mother) in a genitive construction , i.e. "father of" or "mother of" as an honorific in place of or alongside given names in
561-512: The characteristic of being “ kulthum ” is said of someone with a chubby face. When also using a person's own birth name, the kunya will precede the proper name. Thus: abū Māzin Maħmūd , for "Mahmud, the father of Mazen" (as, for example, for Mahmoud Abbas ). In Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic , but not in any of the spoken dialects, abū can change into the forms abā and abī ( accusative and genitive , respectively), depending on
594-419: The first treatise, of eighteen chapters, Qirqisani gives a comprehensive survey of the development of Jewish religious movements , the material for which he drew not only from the works of his predecessors, as David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas , whom he mentions, but also from his personal experiences in the learned circles in which he moved. The enumeration of the sects is given in chronological order, beginning with
627-526: The future world for their sufferings in this. In the fourth treatise, Qirqisani expounds, in sixty-eight chapters, the fundamental principles leading to the comprehension of the particular religious prescriptions. The remaining treatises are devoted to the precepts, arranged in systematic order. Qirqisani quotes the views of the earliest Karaite authorities such as Anan ben David, Benjamin Nahawandi , and Daniel al-Qumisi , which he often refutes. Belonging to
660-679: The history of the Jews and the Muslims. Regardless of the which dates are true, each could be seen as during the rise of the radical Shi'a movements in Islam. With the center of these movements being Iraq and later Persia, it should come as no surprise that the other ahl al-kitab or "People of the Book" might be influenced. Some Jews actually saw the coming of the Arabs as the apocalypse that would usher in
693-497: The kunya of a man with the given name Khalid who has no male heir would be Abu Walid, because of the famous Muslim military commander Khalid ibn al-Walid . The converse is also true: if someone's given name was Walid, his kunya would be Abu Khalid. Less commonly, however, it would be the name of his father. This is because it is tradition for men to name their firstborns after their fathers. A special practice evolved among Arab guerrillas, islamic terrorism and clandestine operators,
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#1732780429275726-479: The last chapter, he also draws a sad picture of the spiritual condition of Karaism in his time. "You can scarcely find two Karaites of one and the same opinion on all matters; upon almost any point each has an opinion different from those of all the rest." He deplores the neglect by the Karaites of the study of rabbinical literature, which, according to him, would furnish them with weapons for their controversies with
759-550: The new age, but there are distinctive influences that can be noted in this movement from Shi'ism. The idea of the illiterate prophet is equated with the story of Muhammad and his receiving of the Qur'an while the idea of a chain of prophets is notably similar to the Imams and the foreseen coming of the Mahdi . Scholars disagree to what degree Shi'ism affected Abu Isa or whether Shi'ism was at
792-530: The position of the kunya in the sentence. In westernizations of Arabic names the words abū and abū l- are sometimes perceived as an independent part of the full name, similar to a given name . Men who do not yet have a child are often addressed by a made-up kunya , most often from a popular or notable figure in Muslim or Arabian history. Arabs would take the given name and the patronymic of those famous figures and attribute it to that person. For example,
825-517: The same time developing and incorporating Jewish elements However, issues with this include that Shi'a reject the belief Muhammad was unlettered, Imams are infallible , that Shi'ism did not expect the immediate return of al-Mahdi, and that Iraq and Iran were not primarily Shi'a until a few centuries ago. Jacob Qirqisani Jacob Qirqisani (c. 890 – c. 960) ( Arabic : ابو یوسف یعقوب القرقسانی ʾAbū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Qirqisānī , Hebrew : יעקב בן יצחק הקרקסאני Yaʿaqov ben Yiṣḥaq haQarqesani )
858-480: The seventeenth and eighteenth chapters, Qirqisani refutes the doctrine of gilgul (metempsychosis), though among its exponents was Anan ben David , who wrote a work on the subject. For Qirqisani, the solution to the question much debated by the Muʿtazili mutakallimūn concerning the punishments inflicted upon children is not to be found in transmigration but in the belief that compensation will be given to children in
891-515: The son's or daughter's name, in a genitive construction ( ʼiḍāfa ). For example, the English equivalent would be to call a man "Father of John" if his eldest son is named John. Use of the kunya normally signifies some closeness between the speaker and the person so addressed, but is more formal than use of the first name. The kunya is also frequently used with reference to politicians and other celebrities to indicate respect. A kunya may also be
924-414: The study of the sciences. He criticizes those who, although accepting the fundamental principle of independent inquiry and research, are against the demonstrative sciences of dialectics and philosophy. Reason is the foundation upon which every article of faith is based and all knowledge flows. The third treatise, of twenty-three chapters, is a critical review of adverse religious sects and Christianity. In
957-469: The text of chapters xvii. and xviii. of the third treatise, dealing with the doctrine of metempsychosis, and chapter xxxv. of the fifth treatise, in which Qirqisani discusses the question whether it is permitted to read on Shabbat books written in other than the Hebrew alphabet (Kohut Memorial Volume, pp. 435–462; Steinschneider Festschrift , pp. 195 et seq.). The text of the sixteenth chapter of
990-618: The third treatise, dealing with the criticism of Christianity, was published by Hartwig Hirschfeld in his chrestomathy ( Arabic Chrestomathy in Hebrew Characters (1892)). A dissertation on the Ten Commandments by Qirqisani, which Steinschneider supposes to be the first chapter of the sixth treatise beginning with proofs of the existence of God, is found in the Bibliothèque Nationale (No. 755). Both
1023-536: The whole. However, despite Qirqisani's admiration for Anan, he often disagrees with him with his explanation of the precepts. Qirqisani includes Christianity among the Jewish sects. In the third treatise (ch. xvi.) he says that "the religion of the Christians, as practised at present, has nothing in common with the teachings of Jesus ." According to Qirqisani, the Christianity of his day originated with Paul
Abu Isa - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-539: Was a Karaite dogmatist and exegete who flourished in the first half of the tenth century. His origins are unknown. His patronym "Isaac" and teknonym "Joseph" reflect no more than the genealogy of the biblical patriarchs (see Kunya ), while his surname has been taken as referring to either ancient Circesium in eastern Syria, or Karkasān, near Baghdad, though no Karaite community is known in either place, or as "the Circassian ". He seems to have traveled throughout
1089-562: Was touched with prophecy. He is said to have thus produced the works that outline the beliefs above and herald the coming of the Messianic age . The other is during the revolt itself when he defended his followers from the Caliphate's forces behind a line drawn on the ground with a myrtle branch, at which point he rode out and singlehandedly defeated the first assault by the Muslims. The arrival of Abu Isa comes at an interesting point in
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