SBL 2018 International Meeting

Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

SBL 2018 International Meeting

Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

Apocalyptic Literature
A Re-examination of the Common Hypothesis
About the Messianic Figures in Medieval Islamic
and Byzantine Apocalyptic Literature
Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine
hsabouhi@uci.edu

Introduction

 The apocalyptic literatures of the 7th and 8th centuries AD, both in

Christian and Muslim contexts, have strong tendencies to expect a

divinely-guided monarch: The Saviour, The Expected Redeemer.
 In the 7th century, the notion of the Last Roman Emperor was

proposed in the Revelation of Pseudo-Methodius. This apocalyptic

text has had a profound impact on medieval literature—
particularly in the Byzantine.
 Within the same period, the doctrine of the Mahdīsm was formed

and expanded in Islamic ḥadīth collections.

Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine, hsabouhi@uci.edu 1

 SBL 2018 International Meeting
Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

Introduction
Literature Review
 It has been suggested that the apocalyptic traditions in Muslim and

Christian milieus are polemical against each other.

 Cook argues that the Last Roman Emperor topos within Muslim

texts is portrayed as monstrous, while within Christian texts the

portrayal is more salvific.
 Consequently, in Muslim texts, supernatural creatures and
inhuman foes are prevalent on the Byzantine side.
 Kraft has put forward a compatible differing opinion.

Introduction
Literature Review
Kraft’s Approach:
 He refers to a number of structural and conceptual parallels

between the apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius and Qatāda ḥadīth.

 According to him, the notions of the Last Roman Emperor and the

Mahdī are both structurally isomorphic topoi converging on a

messianic figure.
 This led to struggle between Muslims and Christians for the

prerogative of interpretation, generating polemic attitudes within

their respective conceptual models.

Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine, hsabouhi@uci.edu 2

 SBL 2018 International Meeting
Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

Introduction
The Objective of This Study (1/2):
 Kraft is basically correct in his view, though is just the beginning of

the matter.
 There is a wide range of similarities which has gone unnoticed by

him as he just focused only on ONE narration, Qatāda ḥadīth. So it

does not seem sensible to comprehend whole the Islamic
apocalyptic view from just ONE ḥadīth.
 In addition, as a part of Islamic view, the ḥadīth narrated by The

Shī’ī scholars are practically ignored in previous studies.

Introduction
The Objective of This Study (2/2):
 Shī’ī apocalyptic tradition is a part of Muslim ḥadīth literature (as

opposed to the Sunnī variants of the Mahdī) might then be the subject
of the comparison with its Byzantine counterpart, i.e. the Last Roman
Emperor.
 It will be shown that Shī’ī traditions do not deny the Christian Roman

origin of The Expected Redeemer, but rather portray him as a Roman,

Nubian, and Arab monarch.
 There are other unnoticed and ignored thematic and structural

resemblances that the present study strives to scrutinize.

Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine, hsabouhi@uci.edu 3

 SBL 2018 International Meeting
Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

Tables 1/4
The Similarities between Muslim (both Shī’ī and Sunnī) and Byzantine apocalyptic traditions

1. Preparatory events before appearance

Muslim traditions Byzantine apocalypses

Bloodshed and cataclysmic events prior to the uprising of the redeemer

Before Mahdī’s advent the red death (violent battle) and The Last Roman Emperor appears after
white death (plague) are to come. a period of bloodshed and invasions.

Moral degradation in human societies

Men are to be content with men and “Men are to abandon the use of the nature of women and
women satisfied by women. behave unseemly with other men.”

People’s attitude towards the redeemer

When Mahdī appears people say, “how can that be, while he The Last Roman Emperor is initially considered by the people
is dead and his bones have turned to dust.” like one dead and utterly useless.
Humbleness and loneliness of the savior during the time of occultation

Mahdī is a forsaken and passed by man. The Last Roman Emperor’s name is small in the world.

Tables 2/4
2. Rise and Harsh battles
Muslim traditions Byzantine apocalypses

Redeemer’s discovery by divine revelation

Mahdī’s appearance is accompanied by The Rebel City will discover the Last Roman Emperor by divine
a heavenly voice (nidā). revelation.

Heavenly order to the birds of the sky and beasts of the land to eat the flesh of tyrants
A heavenly call sounds out, “O birds of the sky and beasts of the land! A heavenly caller asks the Emperor to summon the birds of the sky and land
Eat the flesh of the tyrants.” animals, to eat the flesh of men and to drink the blood of the impious.

Similar war zones in the apocalyptic battles

The Last Roman Emperor sets out against the Arabs from the
Mahdī conquers Mecca and Medina.
“sea of the Cushites” (the Red Sea).
Chosen companions of the redeemer
Mahdī will return with a company of a select
Companions (Sons) of the Last Roman Emperor assist in battle.
group of 313 people.

Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine, hsabouhi@uci.edu 4

 SBL 2018 International Meeting
Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

Tables 3/4
3. Main activities of the Redeemer following the triumph
Muslim traditions Byzantine apocalypses
Establishing peace, prosperity and justice
Progeny of the Prophet Muḥammad appears and fills the earth with
There will be peace on earth the like of which has yet to be seen.
equity and Justice.
Terminating the shameful activities
“Mahdī will destroy whatever precedes him, just as the Prophet destroyed the “The Last Roman Emperor will banish from Constantinople all players of
structure of the Time of Ignorance (al-jāhilīay), i.e. the period before Islam.” the lyre and practitioners of shameful activities.”

Restoring the faith in God

Mahdī will restore the religion of God. No people will remain who do “The Last Roman Emperor summons all pagans to baptism. All those
not show submission. refusing to worship the Cross will be punished.”

Terminating all earthly authority

God’s righteous slaves inherit the earth. The Last Roman Emperor surrenders his imperial office and power to God.

Increasing the wealth and comfort

God showers blessings from heaven and earth, and the earth will
There will be much wealth and the earth will yield fruit in abundance.
cease to conceal its treasures.

Tables 4/4
Significant Similarities between Shī’ī and Byzantine apocalyptic traditions

Shī’ī traditions Byzantine apocalypses

Roman-Cushite origin of the Redeemer

Mahdī’s mother is a Roman Princess, the granddaughter of a The Kingdom of Greece descends from the offspring of a
Great Caesar and descendant of Jesus’s disciples. Cushite princess, thus the Last Roman Emperor is a king of
Mahdī is a descendant of a Nubian, i.e. Cushite Lady. Cushites.

Redeemer’s great fury against the Arabs

“Woe be unto the Arabs because of an imminent disaster” The Last Roman Emperor is to set out against the Arabs with
(i.e. the rise of Mahdī). “great fury.”

Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine, hsabouhi@uci.edu 5

 SBL 2018 International Meeting
Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

Conclusion

 There is a wide range of structural parallels and common motifs shared by the
Christian and Islamic (both Shī’ī and Sunnī) apocalyptic traditions in the Medieval
Era.
 The polemics in Shī’ī apocalyptic works are directed against the Arabs belonging to
the Caliphal system, rather than the Byzantine Christians.
 Unlike the Sunnī Mahdi, the bitter foes of the Shī’ī Redeemer are no longer
Byzantines but rather those Arabs under whose oppression the Shī’ī community
lived during its whole history.
 Suffering the oppression at the hands of a common enemy (i.e. Arab Caliphs) led to
the analogous portrayal of the messianic figure in the Shī’ī and Byzantine
apocalyptic literature: a man who rise suddenly in response to a period of
bloodshed, injustice, pains and tribulations, and terminate the oppressions of the
Arabs. Not surprisingly, this theme is entirely absent in the Sunnī apocalyptic
traditions.

Conclusion

 Unlike the Sunnī eschatological texts in which “the supernatural creatures and
inhuman foes” are prevalent on the Byzantine side, the Shī’ī Redeemer is said to
have been of Roman Provenance

 In Shī’ī ḥadīth the Mahdi is introduced as the offspring of the Sassanid Princess and
thus the inheritor of the Iranian Royal glory. His Arab, Cushite, Roman and Iranian
ancestry, can be said to make him, in the Shī’ī view, the legitimate heir to the
throne of Muslim and Christian lands across the globe, a monarch on whose head
are many diadems, an icon of unity for all human races.

Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine, hsabouhi@uci.edu 6

 SBL 2018 International Meeting
Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

SBL 2018 International Meeting

Helsinki, Finland, August 1st

Apocalyptic Literature
A Re-examination of the Common Hypothesis
About the Messianic Figures in Medieval Islamic
and Byzantine Apocalyptic Literature
Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine
hsabouhi@uci.edu

Hadi Taqavi, Ehsan Roohi, Hadi Sabouhi, University of California-Irvine, hsabouhi@uci.edu 7