‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

Certainly, all thanks and praise is due to Allaah; creator and sustainer of all the worlds. Blessings and
peace be upon the most honored of the prophets and messengers, and upon his family, and his
companions, and all those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Recompense.

When we are looking into the Shee’ah’s origins in Judaism we essentially will be concentrating
on one personality above all others; namely, ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’. I will endeavor to show how this
individual relates to these Jewish origins and how far back it goes. Additionally, I will show that his
existence and deeds is not worthy of any serious doubts, as some may claim. In all, I hope to establish
(for my and your benefit) the undeniable link between Jews and Shee’ah.

At the start I think it is germane to address the assertion by some, from all sides, that ‘Abdullaah
bin Saba’ is an historical fiction. There are many recent clarifications that he is indeed real and not a
fabrication of dishonest historians, etc. “The historians, scholars of hadeeth and authors of books on
sects and groups, biography, literature and genealogy who discussed the Saba’ees were all unanimously
agreed that ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’ who appears in the books of Sunnee writers as well as in Shee’ee books
was a real historical character.”[ CITATION DrA071 \l 1033 ] The author of this above quote goes on to
quote extensively narrations regarding ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’ from both Sunnee and Shee’ee sources;
relatively conclusively closing the door to this part of the argument, that he’s completely fictitious.
Another door by which people try and attack the record of his existence is by censuring the reports of
Sayf bin ‘Umar at-Tameemee. The author goes on to show that there are many reports that don’t rely
on him as their source at all, thus rendering null and void this line of debate. From the Shee’ee side
some try to assert that the reports were mistakes or offered maliciously. How then do they deal with the
reports on Ibn Saba’ from the likes of their Ma’soomeen (Infallibles) like ‘Alee bin al-Hussayn and Aboo
‘Abdullaah? For example; Aboo ‘Abdullaah [as] said: "We are a family of truthfulness. But we are not
safe from a liar telling lies about us to undermine our truth with his lies in front of people. The
Messenger of Allaah (His blessings and peace be upon him) was the most truthful among people in what
he said and the most truthful among all humanity; and Musaylimah used to lie on him. The Commander
of Believers (may Allaah be pleased with him) was the most truthful one among the creation of Allaah
after the Messenger of Allaah; and the one who used to lie on him, and tried to undermine his
truthfulness and claimed lies about Allaah, was ‘Abdullah bin Saba’."[ CITATION Ibn11 \l 1033 ] Besides
the Shee’ah, the other group which would have it in their interests to deny the existence of this man is
the Jews. However, they have openly admitted to his identity as well. The Jewish Encyclopedia has this
to say about him, “A Jew of Yemen, Arabia, of the seventh century, who settled in Medina and
embraced Islam.” The author of this article goes on to site how he was critical of ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah
be pleased with him) and agitated against him until his death. Afterwards, he joined the supporters of
‘Alee (may Allaah be pleased with him) and eventually began to claim divinity for him. Some details may
be slightly different than those accepted by Islamic scholars, but the identities are clearly a match.
[ CITATION Har02 \l 1033 ] There’s even more detail included in another biography of him at another
place, although some of the details again seem muddled or confused. For instance, they attribute his
leadership to both the Saba’eeyah and the Khawaarij which is ideologically unlikely –seeing as how the
groups were active concurrently and philosophically opposed to each other. [ CITATION Als08 \l 1033 ]
However, the important point is that another Jewish resource recounts his historical reality in great
detail. They even go so far to describe him as an Exilarch, which means generally “lay head of the Jewish
community.”[ CITATION Eli10 \l 1033 ] I think/hope the preceding information establishes the historical
reality of this man, ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’.

Now as for the origins of his disgust for Islam and Muslims we can began in the generation
before him. It has been shown by some that his personal feelings about Islam and Muslims stem from
his father’s activities. In describing the plot to kill ‘Umar bin al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with
him) we find the following, “The third partner was a Jew by the name of Saba’ bin Sha’moon (whose son
would be ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’, the notorious founder of the Shee’ah movement). Saba’ despised the
Muslims who had expelled the Jews on charges of conspiracy.” [ CITATION Ibn11 \l 1033 ] Sources go on
to describe how Ibn Saba’ was influenced by his father’s experience. He harbored enormous resentment
towards ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) for not punishing the killer of his father’s two
accomplices; an extra-judicial killing not sanctioned by ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him). Add
to that something which is hinted at in the quote above, which is the practice of many Jews in the early
Islamic Empire towards plotting to destroy Islam (first by betrayal and assassination attempts against
Allaah’s Messenger, His blessings and peace be upon him). Eventually, when these overt attempts met
with utter failure, they resorted to more covert methods; namely, trying to destroy Islam from the
inside. This sheds some light on the conversion of Ibn Saba’ and then his active participation in the
intrigue which followed. In fact, I hope to show that he did more than participate, but he actively
promoted the whole affair, up to and including the blasphemous claims regarding ‘Alee (may Allaah be
pleased with him).

Now, as for the details of how ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’ sowed the seeds of sedition that eventually
culminated in the death of ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) and the extreme partisanship for
‘Alee (may Allaah be pleased with him) which gradually turned into utter heresy, the details are
scattered throughout the books of history. One of the greatest sources of knowledge of this matter is
the History of at-Tabaree; “the advantage that Imam al-Tabari had over others is that he had more
abundant material and more details than others.”[ CITATION DrA071 \l 1033 ] Throughout his book we
find numerous narrations on the specifics of how he started with the sedition against ‘Uthmaan (may
Allaah be pleased with him), traveling from city to city instigating the weak-minded and hypocritical
therein to rise up against him (and eventually kill him). Once this aim was achieved, he turned his
attention to ‘Alee (may Allaah be pleased with him) for different reasons, some of which we have
already alluded to. Eventually, as some of our previous quotes have shown, Ibn Saba’ went so far as to
claim divinity for ‘Alee, and according to some reports was burned alive by ‘Alee for his refusal to recant
his beliefs (and according to others, he escaped). [ CITATION Ibn96 \l 1033 ] Another excellent book
which recounts the details of his efforts is the monumental work by Qaadhee Aboo Bakr bin al-‘Arabee
(may Allaah show him mercy), al-‘Awaasim min al-Qawaasim. This work has been translated into English
and published under the title Defence Against Disaster – and to Allaah belongs the praise.

With Allaah’s permission, the preceding has served its intended purpose of clarifying the matter
of ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’, and thereby exposing the Jewish origins of the Shee’ah. One of the most
interesting points in that regard was the narrated justification given by Ibn Saba’ regarding ‘Alee’s
relationship to prophet hood and leadership. “He falsified much untrue dogma and began to propagate
it. Among the untruths he declared was that every prophet left a Waasi’ (administrator) who was his
relative. For instance, he claimed that the prophet Moosaa left Haaroon (peace be upon them both) as
his Waasi’ and thus the Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) must have left a Waasi’, who
was ‘Alee (may Allaah be pleased with him).” [ CITATION AlA \l 1033 ] As I believe I’ve shown up to now,
there is ample evidence on all sides to establish the historical reality of this personality, his fertile
grounds for hatred and animosity towards Islam and Muslims, and finally the copious amount of
information which gives detailed account of the machinations he used to achieve his ends.

Upon reading over the circumstances of these times, and the occurrences which were taking
place, it becomes eerily familiar with the current turbulent times we’re passing thru right now. I pray
that Allaah guides us to learn our history and take lessons from it to avoid similar catastrophes in the
future (including our very near future) – Allaahu Musta’aan!!!

Glory is to You, O Allaah, and to You be praise. I bear witness that nothing deserves to be
worshipped/adored except for You. I seek Your Forgiveness, and turn in repentance to You.

Bibliography
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http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0006_0_06181.html

Al-'Arabi, Q. A. (n.d.). Defence Against Disaster.

Al-Hashimi, I. (2011, 01 12). Origins of the Shia Sect. Retrieved 04 29, 2011, from Discovering Islam:
http://www.discoveringislam.org/origins_of_shiism.htm

al-Jawzee, I. (1996). The Devil's Deception Of The Shee'ah. In I. al-Jawzee, The Devil's Deception (p. 42).
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Alsadiqin. (2008, 09 14). Heman ben Shallum (Abdullah Ibn Saba). Retrieved 04 30, 2011, from Alsadiqin:
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As-Sallabi, D. A. (2007). The Saba'is were a real group, not a figment of the imagination. In D. A. As-
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