The Ahl al-Kitab

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

A lot of people have opinions about the Ahl al-Kitab.  I have even heard some asatidzah speak with authority about them, and yet speak nonsense.  The Ahl al-Kitab refers to three main groups of people in the Qur’an: Sabeans, Christians and, Jews.  It was the opinion of Sayyidina Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab al-Faruq (r.a.) that the Zoroastrians are included in this group, and he dealt with them as such.

سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَٱلَّذِينَ هَادُواْ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ وَٱلصَّـٰبِـِٔينَ مَنۡ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحً۬ا فَلَهُمۡ أَجۡرُهُمۡ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ وَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡہِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ (٦٢)

Those who believe (in the Qur’an) and those who follow the Jewish (Scriptures) and the Christians and the Sabians, any who believe in Allah and the Last Day and work righteousness, shall have their Reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah al-Baqarah:62)

We know who are the Christians and Jews but who are the Sabeans?  Some scholars actually believe that Sabeans refer to the descendants of the followers of John the Baptist or Yahya (a.s.).  Twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus (a.s.), there were still disciples of John the Baptist (a.s.) in Alexandria (Acts 18:24-25) and Ephesus (Acts 19:1-6).

Acts 18:24-25

²⁴ Now a certain Jew, named Apollo, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus, one mighty in the scriptures.  ²⁵ This man was instructed in the way of the Lord: and being fervent in spirit, spoke and taught diligently the things that are of Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John.

²⁴ Ἰουδαῖος δέ τις Ἀπολλῶς ὀνόματι, Ἀλεξανδρεὺς τῷ γένει, ἀνὴρ λόγιος, κατήντησεν εἰς Ἔφεσον, δυνατὸς ὢν ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς.  ²⁵ οὗτος ἦν κατηχημένος τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ζέων τῷ πνεύματι ἐλάλει καὶ ἐδίδασκεν ἀκριβῶς τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐπιστάμενος μόνον τὸ βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου.

²⁴ Judæus autem quidam, Apollo nomine, Alexandrinus genere, vir eloquens, devenit Ephesum, potens in scripturis.  ²⁵ Hic erat edoctus viam Domini: et fervens spiritu loquebatur, et docebat diligenter ea quæ sunt Jesu, sciens tantum baptisma Joannis.

They believed in God as Creator, but they did not view themselves as disciples of Jesus (a.s.), and they had no experience of the Holy Spirit.  There is to this day a community of 80,000 Mandean Sabaeans in Iraq.

Acts 19:1-6

¹ And it came to pass, while Apollo was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples.  ² And he said to them, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?”  But they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost.”  ³ And he said, “In what, then, were you baptised?”  Who said, “In John’s baptism.”  ⁴ Then Paul said, “John baptised the people with the baptism of penance saying, that they should believe in him, who was to come after him, that is to say, in Jesus.”  ⁵ Having heard these things, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.  ⁶ And when Paul had imposed his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them: and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

¹ Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν Ἀπολλῶ εἶναι ἐν Κορίνθῳ Παῦλον διελθόντα τὰ ἀνωτερικὰ μέρη κατελθεῖν εἰς Ἔφεσον καὶ εὑρεῖν τινας μαθητάς, 2 εἶπέν τε πρὸς αὐτούς, εἰ πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐλάβετε πιστεύσαντες; οἱ δὲ πρὸς αὐτόν, ἀλλ' οὐδ' εἰ πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἔστιν ἠκούσαμεν.  ³ εἶπέν: τε, εἰς τί οὖν ἐβαπτίσθητε; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν, εἰς τὸ Ἰωάννου βάπτισμα.  ⁴ εἶπεν δὲ Παῦλος: Ἰωάννης ἐβάπτισεν βάπτισμα μετανοίας, τῷ λαῷ λέγων εἰς τὸν ἐρχόμενον μετ' αὐτὸν ἵνα πιστεύσωσιν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν.  ⁵ ἀκούσαντες δὲ ἐβαπτίσθησαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, 6 καὶ ἐπιθέντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ Παύλου [τὰς] χεῖρας ἦλθε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐπ' αὐτούς, ἐλάλουν τε γλώσσαις καὶ ἐπροφήτευον.

¹ Factum est autem cum Apollo esset Corinthi, ut Paulus peragratis superioribus partibus veniret Ephesum, et inveniret quosdam discipulos: ² dixitque ad eos: Si Spiritum Sanctum accepistis credentes?  At illi dixerunt ad eum: Sed neque si Spiritus Sanctus est, audivimus.  ³ Ille vero ait: In quo ergo baptizati estis?  Qui dixerunt: In Joannis baptismate.  ⁴ Dixit autem Paulus: Joannes baptizavit baptismo pœnitentiæ populum, dicens in eum qui venturus esset post ipsum ut crederent, hoc est, in Jesum.  ⁵ His auditis, baptizati sunt in nomine Domini Jesu.  ⁶ Et cum imposuisset illis manus Paulus, venit Spiritus Sanctus super eos, et loquebantur linguis, et prophetabant.

They look back to the teachings of John the Baptist (a.s.), and others they view as prophets such as Seth (a.s.) and Abraham (a.s.) as recorded in their holy book, the Kanza Rama, Aramaic for “Great Treasure”.  As in the case of the followers of John the Baptist (a.s.), they practice baptism, but they do not view themselves as disciples of Jesus (a.s.), nor do they speak of the Holy Spirit.  Washing with water is part of their weekly ritual, but not the bread and wine of communion.  The Sabaean temple in Baghdad has a cross that is always covered with baptismal linen to indicate it is not a Christian cross.  Their explanatory model is therefore Unitarian rather than Trinitarian, and they hardly distinguish themselves from the Muslims among whom they live.  Their numbers, less than 100,000 worldwide, are dwindling because nobody can convert into their community; one has to be born into the Sabaean faith.

There are also people who believe that Zoroastrians and the Yazidis are Ahl al-Kitab.  The Mughal Emperor, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Akbar controversially ruled that the Hindus are Ahl al-Kitab to allow his marriage to a Hindu Princes from Rajput.  This is an aberrant position.

As was the opinion of the Sayyidina ‘Umar (r.a.) and many classical scholars of Islam thereafter familiar with the Persians, Zoroastrians are considered Ahl al-Kitab.  After the conquest of Sassanid Persia, they were treated as such.  However, since they are not explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an as with regards the permissibility of marriage to them, Muslim are not allowed to marry them without conversion of the non-Muslim.  The ayat identifying the Ahl al-Kitab did not mention Zoroastrians.

سُوۡرَةُ المَائدة

ٱلۡيَوۡمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتُ‌ۖ وَطَعَامُ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ حِلٌّ۬ لَّكُمۡ وَطَعَامُكُمۡ حِلٌّ۬ لَّهُمۡ‌ۖ وَٱلۡمُحۡصَنَـٰتُ مِنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَـٰتِ وَٱلۡمُحۡصَنَـٰتُ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ مِن قَبۡلِكُمۡ إِذَآ ءَاتَيۡتُمُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ مُحۡصِنِينَ غَيۡرَ مُسَـٰفِحِينَ وَلَا مُتَّخِذِىٓ أَخۡدَانٍ۬‌ۗ وَمَن يَكۡفُرۡ بِٱلۡإِيمَـٰنِ فَقَدۡ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُ ۥ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلۡأَخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلۡخَـٰسِرِينَ (٥)

This day are (all) things good and pure Made lawful unto you.  The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them.  (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, Revealed before your time - when you give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues.  If anyone rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter, he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good). (Surah al-Ma’idah:5)

The teachings of Zoroaster include belief in one Creator - Ahura Mazda.  They believe in angels and a Day of Judgement.  On the Day of Judgement, the assembled have to cross a bridge called “Chinvat”.  The bridge is as wide as your deeds.  Those who fail will fall into a place of fire called “Jahanamae”.  The faithful will be Rewarded with a heavenly abode called “Paradisae”.  This is the origin of the English word “Paradise”.

Interesting fact, Mithra or Mithras was one of the avesta, the archangels of Ahura Mazda, who eventually was worshipped as a god in his own right in the Near East.  This eventually spread to the Roman Empire and the religion of Mithras challenged the nascent Christian sect of Judaism before being absorbed by it.  The vicarious sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Mithras after three days and the celebration of his birth, 25^th December, by giving presents wrapped in coloured cloth was thought to be the origin of the Christian celebrations of Lent, culminating in Easter, and Advent, culminating in Christmas.  But this is uncertain, and it could be just as likely that it was Christianity which influenced the former.

As for the Yazidis, they are a mysterious religion from the Northern half of the Fertile Crescent.  Their Holy Site is Lalish near Mosul, in Iraq.  Ultimately, we are unsure of the origins of the religion, where it actually started, when it began and so forth.  The principal reason is because the primary adherents of the faith, the Kurds are an insular people.  Thus, information about the faith is difficult to come by.  Furthermore, the language of their religious texts, the Mishefa Res and the Kiteba Cilwe, is Kurmanji, a Northern Kurdish dialect.

Yazidism has many similarities with Christianity and Islam but there are principal differences.  The origin of the term Yazidi itself is uncertain.  The Yazidis themselves believe that their name is derived from the word “Yezdan” or “Ezid”, which means God in their language.  Some scholars have derived the name Yazidi from Old Iranic yazata, divine being, while others say it is a derivation from accursed Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah, said to have been revered by the Yazidis as an incarnation of the divine figure Sultan Ezi.  This derivation of the name is no longer accepted.  As to whether they revere Yazid I as avatar of the Divine Sultan is not established but religions norms such as these hardly change.

The Yazidis believe that God created the world with the help of a heptad of Archangels also known as Heft Sirr, the Seven Mysteries.  The ruler of these archangels, who are analogous to the Christian and Muslim archangels, is Melek Taus.  He is also known as Shaythan.  The story of Iblis and Adam (a.s.) in the Qur’an is almost the same as in the Qur’an.  But whereas in the Qur’an, Iblis was accursed for refusing to bow before Adam (a.s.), the Yazidis revere him for it since they believe the source of evil is the heart of man himself.

According to their belief, God first created Tawuse Melek from His Own Illumination, Rohani, and the other six archangels were created later.  God ordered Tawuse Melek not to bow to other beings.  Then God created the other archangels and ordered them to bring him dust, ax, from the Earth, erd, and build the body of Adam (a.s.).  Then God gave life to Adam (a.s.) from his own breath and instructed all archangels to bow to Adam.  The archangels obeyed except for Tawuse Melek.  In answer to God, Malek Taus replied, “How can I submit to another being!  I am from your illumination while Adam is made of dust.’  Then God praised him and made him the leader of all angels and his deputy on the Earth.

Yazidis also believe that the Heptad are periodically reincarnated in human form, avatars, called “koasasa”.  There is also a belief in the reincarnation of lesser Yazidi souls.  It is the Yazidi belief that Satan is the ruler of the world and their veneration of Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah as an avatar in a predominantly Muslim area, principally Shi’ah, has led to massive discrimination and periodic persecution.

For the most part, despite the contention of many scholars, when we talk about the Ahl al-Kitab, we generally mean the Christians and the Jews.  The Sabeans are for the most part extinct.  The term, “Ahl al-Kitab”, is a term of honour.  The People of the Book are accepted as the believers in the same Allah (s.w.t.) and the Keepers of the previous Covenants, the Noachide, Abrahamic and Mosaic Laws.  They are acknowledged in the Qur’an as the nearest to us in belief.

سُوۡرَةُ المَائدة

... وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقۡرَبَهُم مَّوَدَّةً۬ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا نَصَـٰرَىٰ‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّ مِنۡهُمۡ قِسِّيسِينَ وَرُهۡبَانً۬ا وَأَنَّهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَڪۡبِرُونَ (٨٢)

… and nearest among them in love to the believers will you find those who say, “We are Christians,” because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant. (Surah al-Ma’idah:82)