blais@cs.utexas.edu (Donald E. Blais) (04/09/91)
In article <00946A3A.EFBA79C0@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU> baltuch@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU ( ) writes: >For a long time I have been curious about the apparently >mysterious Sabeans that are supposed to be (according to >Islam) non-Idolators (along with Jews and Christians) > >Can somebody enlighten me as to who those guys are, exactly? Jeffery, Arthur Foreign vocabulary of the Qur'an L of Congress: PJ 6696 J44 The exegetes had no idea what people was meant by [al-Sabi'un] as is evident from the long list of conflicting opinions given by [al-Tabari]... [...] ...the fact that Muhammad himself was called a Sabi by his contemporaries, seems to show that the word was used technically in his milieu, and is not a mere confusion with Sabaean [of S. Arabia]. [The initial letter of Sabi'un is the letter "sad" which correlates to the Hebrew letter "tzade". The initial letter of Saba' in S. Arabia is the letter "sin".] Ali, A. Yusuf Holy Qur'an L of Congress: BP 109 Y8 Latest researches have revealed a small remnant of a religious community numbering about 2,000 souls in Lower Iraq, near Basra. In Arabic they are called Subbi (plural Subba). They are also called Sabians, and Nasoraeans, or Mandaeans, or Christians of St. John. They claim to be Gnostics, or Knowers of the Great Life. They dress in white, and believe in frequent immersions in water. Their Book Ginza is in a dialect of Aramaic... -- Donald E. Blais Internet: blais@emx.utexas.edu Computation Center Bitnet: blais@utxvms University of Texas Uucp: uunet!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!blais Austin, TX 78712 Phone: +1-512-471-8530 +1-512-471-3241