View source for Heman ben Shallum (Abdullah Ibn Saba)


In 640CE, two and half years after Shallum ben Hushiel defeated the Persian army, he died and was buried with his fathers in Mahoza.<ref>According to some Islamic histories, he died in the year thirty five after the hijrah (657CE), during the caliphate of Uthman, at Ctesiphon.</ref>  Although Shallum was Exilarch de Jure, it is not apparent that he ever functioned politically as an Exilarch.  Shallum was a ascetic who sought truth and good governship and not the trappings of a ruler.  It was different with his son, Heman, also known as Abdullah ibn Salaam.<ref>There is a tendency among modern Shi`ah scholars to dismiss the role of `Abdullah ibn Saba (sometimes called ibn Sauda) in the history of Islam.  Some modern Islamic scholars deny that such a person even existed.  It is beyond the scope of this work to investigate these claims.  It is sufficient for our purposes to state that ibn Saba is clearly documented in Islamic works (Tabari, etc), and in many points agrees with what we would expect of an ambitious, heretical Exilarch – out of favor with the Caliphate due to the "incident of the pigs".</ref> 

Assuming that Shallum was not married when he was sold into slavery, Heman must about ten years old when he was introduced to the Prophet.  The following story is related concerning Heman and his relationship to the Prophet.  Shortly after the Battle of Khandaq, a Jew and a Jewess were brought to the Prophet on a charge of having illegal relations. The Prophet asked them. "What is the legal punishment (for this sin) in your Torah?" They replied, "Our priests have innovated the punishment of blackening the faces with charcoal and ''Tajbiya''." 'Abdullah bin Salam said, "O Allah's Apostle, tell them to bring the Torah." The Torah was brought, and then one of the Jews put his hand over the verse of the ''Rajam'', stoning (Leviticus 20:27) and started reading what preceded (Leviticus 20:10) and what followed it. On that, Ibn Salam said to the Jew, "Lift up your hand." The verse of the ''Rajam'' was under his hand. So the Prophet ordered that the two (sinners) be stoned to death, and so they were stoned. In this quote, Heman is taking a literalist, Sadducean, approach to the punishment for adultery.  He ignores the Rabbinic requirement of witnesses, and that even if convicted, strangulation is proscribed being regarded as a more humane form of execution than stoning.  Until this point, Heman would have been raised as the child of a slave.  So his views on Judaism would have been formed by the Sadduceans around him.   His brother Yaakov, however, was sent to Pumbedita for Rabbinic studies after these events.

Some early Shi'ite scholars attributed the origin of Shi'ism to Heman (Abdullah ibn Saba), or at least the belief of the Imamate. These scholars asserted that Heman, like his father, was a close follower of 'Ali. After 'Ali was passed over for selection as Khalif, Heman started voicing his opinion of the wilayat, divine appointment of 'Ali as the successor of the Prophet. According to them, Heman propounded the notion that just as Joshua was divinely appointed to succeed Moses, 'Ali was divinely chosen to succeed the Prophet. Whether Heman felt the codification of Islam was to the detriment of the Jews within Islam, or perhaps Heman still felt resentment to the Christians (even those who had become followers of the prophet, and were fast becoming the majority) for the savage acts the Byzantines had done to the Jews and his uncle Nehemiah, Heman played a major role in founding the rebel Khawarji movement.

At one time the Jews had been looked upon with great respect in Arabia. The movement launched by Heman aimed at the uniting the disaffected Muslims who had been denied a role in the Islamic state due to ethnic race or past actions.  Islamic histories suggested that Heman sought to restore of the glory of the Jews, and the power of the Exilarch, by preaching rebellion among Muslims. Heman came to Medina and presented himself as a champion of Islam.  His father, Shallum, had been greatly respected by the Muslims as an ascetic. Heman too sought to live a life of piety according to the injunctions of Islam. He claimed the title of Exilarch and began to collect the fund that had not been collected since Nehemiah.  There were considerable funds collected by the Jews at his disposal and this money he distributed among the poor. Within a short time Heman became as popular with the Muslims as he was with the Jews.

In 642 CE, after being Exilarch for two years, Heman felt that preaching alone would not get him anywhere.  Judaism was taking more and more of a back seat in the Islamic state, and the Christian converts were fast becoming the majority.  They had robbed the Jews of their place of prayer by the Sakhrah rock, and were reducing the role of the Exilarch. It was then that Exilarch's men (al-Julati) became extremists (al-Ghulat) and came up with a plan to rid Jerusalem of Christian leadership. Three of the Exilarch's men, slaughtered two pigs and put them in ''Masjid al-Aqsa'', Al-Aqsa mosque, which at that time was still used by both Jews and Muslims but not Christians. Now it happened that there was a certain grandee Ishmaelite who went to worship In their common house of prayer. He encountered the Exilarch's men as they were coming out of the mosque. Blood was running down the walls and on the floor of the mosque. As soon as the man saw them, he stopped and said something or other to them. They replied and departed. The man at once went inside to pray. He saw the sight, and quickly turned to catch the men. When he was unable to find them, he was silent and went to his place. Then many Muslims entered the place and saw the evil, and they spread a lament throughout the city. The Jews told Heman that the Christians had desecrated their place of prayer. Heman issued an order that all the Christians leaders were to be gathered together. Just as they wanted to put them to the sword, the man came and addressed them: "Why shed so much blood in vain? Order all the Jews to assemble and I shall point out the guilty ones." As soon as they were all assembled and the man walked among them, he recognized the three men whom he had previously encountered. Seizing them, the Arabs tried them with great severity until they disclosed the plot. Heman was implicated along with the Jews, It was ordered that six of the Exilarch's men be killed, but the other Jews were allowed to return to their places.<ref>Sebeos Chapter 31</ref>

When Khalif 'Umar heard of this incident, he reacted swiftly.  'Umar immediately deposed Heman as Exilarch. Another member of the Exilarch's family, Bustenai<ref>Bustanai's name is aramaized from the Persian "bustan" or "bostan" which means garden. He was the posthumous son of the exilarch Hananiah. </ref>, was living in Jerusalem as part of the re-formed Sanhedrin.  Bustenai was well known for his progress in his studies, and acquired a knowledge of Torah, Mishnah, Talmud, and halachah, as well as general wisdom and understanding. 'Umar ordered that the young man be brought before him. It is said that "God bestowed upon Bustenai a portion of the grace and favor that had been King David's". The king and his counselors were much impressed with this youth. Now, it came  to pass during this audience that Bustenai stood erect and unmoving during the whole of that day until evening. In the course of that time, a fly alighted on his forehead, stinging him until blood flowed from his wound. When the king saw this, he asked the young man, "Why did you not drive the insect away?" Bustenai replied, "This is a tradition in our family since the time when we lost our throne: that when we stand in the presence of a king we neither speak nor laugh nor lift a hand without obtaining permission first." This noble behavior found great favor in the king's eyes, and he appointed Bustenai Exilarch.<ref>Seder HaDoros, Jerusalem ed., pp. 174-176</ref>  This incident is probably a veiled reference to Bustenai's lack of involvement in Heman's coup.

The power to appoint judges for both Islamic and Jewish courts was granted to Bustenai as it had been to Heman before him.  Bustenai was to lead the academies of Sura and Pumbedisa, who were empowered to render judicial decisions for throught the Islamic state. This custom carried on for a long time, until the advent of Umayad Caliphate, who appointed judges for the population, so that Jewish judges were no longer needed. But the office of Exilarch still continued for many generations.  Bustenai was a scholar, not a military man, so he had no chance of commanding the respect of the Khawarji.  To boost his prestige 'Umar gave him other honors, see the section below "Khalif 'Umar's Selection of Rabbinic Judaism as 'true' Judaism"

Heman fled to Basra. There he stayed with Hakim b Jabala, a brigand. He preached that those who robbed the rich were not outlaws; they merely aimed at narrowing down the differences between the rich and the poor. He insinuated that the Government which depended upon the support of the rich was a tyranny. The common men came to feel that Abdullah b Saba was their well-wisher.  From Basra, Heman came to Kufa. where he led the life of an ascetic and the people were attracted to him. In Kufa, most of the people favored Ali. Heman exploited this position in a subtle way.  By his subtle talks he exhorted the people of Kufa to rise and overthrow Uthman and install Ali as the Khalif.  He would argue, "O Muslims, under the circumstances it is not for you to undertake Jihad across the borders of the Muslim dominions; the real Jihad lies against the Khalif who has stolen Islam".

Heman was known among Jews as the messiah of Pumbedita.  Around 645 CE, a Christian Syrian chronicle mentions a Jewish man who declared that he was the messiah in Pumbedita. At the beginning of the Arab conquest, when Iraq was not yet the center of the Caliphate, during the unstable reign of the Khalif Uthman, the messiah of Pumbedita and about four hundred armed men, rose up, burned three unspecified houses of worship, and killed the local ruler before they were stopped by a garrison of the Khalif. They, their wives, and their children were killed.    

Heman fled Kufa, and came to Syria. Here he came across Abu Dhar Ghifari. Abu Dhar Ghifari was an eminent companion of the Holy Prophet who was held in high esteem by the people. He, however, propounded ultra socialist doctrines, and vehemently denounced the luxurious way of living of the rulers. That made him very popular with the poor. Heman exploited this position in Syria, and posed himself as a devoted follower of Abu Dhar Ghifari. Meeting Abu Dhar Ghifari, Heman said, "Look Sir, the Governor calls the 'Baitul Mal', the property of Allah. That is a device to avoid its distribution among the people." The argument appealed to Abu Dhar Ghifari, and when he saw Muawiyah he was critical of the amassing of funds in the treasury; he wanted the immediate distribution of available funds among the people.

From Syria Heman went to Egypt.  There he found the atmosphere more congenial. Muhammad b Abu Bakr and Muhammad b Hudhaifa were already carrying on hostile attacks against Uthman. Heman took advantage of this position. The common men who listened to him came to regard him as a staunch Muslim and felt that there was considerable weight in what he said. By such activities the Heman tried to wage a war against Islamic leadership on the intellectual plane. Heman sent emissaries to major towns in the Muslim empire.

Heman appears from reports by al-Ash'ari, al-Sama'ani and al-Maqrizi; to have claimed leadership of the ancient race of the Sabeans, and took the title al-Saba'i.  The Sabeans did not exist as a race anymore but came to mean all disaffected and lower class Muslims.  Later it was called the ''Khawarji''.  Heman is called in Islamic literature as Abdullah bin Wahab al-Saba'i, head of the Khawarij, who opposed Imam Ali; Abdullah Ibn al-Sawda' to those who reported from Sayf. He was the creator of the Saba'iya clan/group who believed in successorship to Ali, who agitated against Uthman and then they started the war of Jamal (Camel); Abdullah Ibn Saba who established the Saba'iya clan/group which believes in the deity of Ali. He and his followers were burnt with fire shortly after.

In 660CE, when 'Ali became Khalif, Heman approached 'Ali to try and regain the position of Exilarch.  A narration attributed to Abu Ja'far says: "Abdullah Ibn Saba used to claim being a prophet and claimed that The Commander of Believers, Ali is God.  Allah is Higher than such (claim). This news reached to The Commander of Believers, so he called him and questioned him. But he repeated his claims and said: 'You are Him, and it has been revealed to me that you are God and I am a prophet' So The Commander of Believers said: 'How dare you! Satan has made a mockery of you. Repent for what you said. May your mother weep at your death! Quit (your claim).'  But he refused, so (Imam Ali) imprisoned him and asked him three times to repent, but he didn't. Thus he burnt him with fire and said: "Satan had taken him into his whim, he used to come to him and to induce these (thoughts) in him."<ref>Rijal, by al-Kushshi</ref>  Within a year, Khalif 'Ali was assassinated by a Khawarji.

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[[Category:Islam and Judaism]]
[[Category:The Persian and Islamic conquests of Jerusalem]]