الصَّابِؤُون

The Ṣābi`ūn, (the Sabaeans or Sabians), Mandaeans ("Gnostics"), Ḥanīf ("Monotheist") and related groups in history and in Bābī-Bahā'ī scriptural texts.

SOME BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTES

               Stephen Lambden

IN PROGRESS 2008-9

The are three qur'ānic references to the Ṣābi`ūn (pl.) = Sabeans or Sabians  in three Medinan Surahs of the Qur'an. They should not be confused with the sometimes identically named Sabaeans who are the pre-Islamic inhabitants of the South Arabian kingdom of  Sheba or Sabā'  who are also mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur'an, (see Q.  ADD ).  The three Qur'anic verses referring to the Ṣābi`ūn  with their translation by  renowned  the Cambridge Islamicist A. J. Arberry (d. 1969) read as follows :

(1)

Qur'an Surat al-Baqara (the Cow) 2: [59] 62

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ وَالنَّصَارَى وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

"Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry, and the Christians, and those Sabaeans, whoso believes in God and the Last Day, and works righteousness -- their wage awaits them with their Lord, and no fear shall be on them; neither shall they sorrow."

(2)

Qur'an Surat al-Ma'idah (the Table)  5:69 [7x]

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ وَالصَّابِؤُونَ وَالنَّصَارَى مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِر  وعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

"Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry, and the Sabaeans, and those Christians, whosoever believes in God and the Last Day, and works righteousness -- no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow."
 

(3)

Qur'an Surat al-Ḥajj (the Pilgrimage)  22:17

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالصَّابِئِينَ وَالنَّصَارَى وَالْمَجُوسَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا إِنَّ اللَّه  يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

"[15] Whosoever thinks God will not help him in the present world and the world to come; let him stretch up a rope to heaven, then let him sever it, and behold whether his guile does away with what enrages him. [16] Even so We have sent it down as signs, clear signs, and for that God guides whom He desires. [17] Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry, the Sabaeans, the Christians, the Magians and the idolaters -- God shall distinguish between them on the Day of Resurrection; assuredly God is witness over everything."
 

                   

1.0 Introductory notes

        The Qur'anic Ṣābi`ūn ("Sabeans" or "Sabians")  have been variously identified by Muslim scholars and western Islamicists. There are several basic positions. Some have identified them as a Hellenized,  so-called "pagan" faction  (see on Hanifs below) to some degree centered in Ḥarrān (= Roma Carrhae) in northern Syria. This locale became famous in medieval times for its role in the spread and development of Hellenistic / Neoplatonic  and other branches of philosophy and leaning. They were very closely related to emergent Arabic - Islamic  philosophy (8th cent CE onwards). Tradition has it that the Harranians claimed to be the Ṣābi`ūn mentioned in the Qur'an.  As an alleged ahl al-kitab ("People of the book") community, they would become  protected members of a legitimate religion in possession of a recognized  sacred book.

1.3 The Ṣābi`ūn,  Islamic perspectives

 There is no single Islamic perspective about the Qur'anic Ṣābi`ūn aside from a basic affirmation of what is mentioned in the  three Qur'an texts which have been variously understood and interpreted in a variety of Muslim cultures over a more than one thousand year period. of Qur'an commentary and related expository literatures.

Some Tafsīr and Ḥadith references

In the modern Shī`ī Tafsir  al-Mizan... of  Sayyid Muhammad Ḥusayn al-Ṭabāṭabā'ī (d. 1981)  in the section commenting on Qur'ān 2:62 various traditions (ḥadīth) are cited from Sunni and Shi`i sources which have been translated into English on the Website, http://www.al-islam.org/al-mizan/v1/18.htm  A few pages can be cited here and further below on al-Biruni:

"Salmān al-Fārisi said: "I asked the Prophet ... about the people of that religion which I followed (prior to Islam), and I described their (way of) prayer and worship. Then it was revealed: Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews. . . " ([Jalāl al-Dīn al-al-Suyūṭī (d.911/1505)] al-Durr al-manthūr)

The author says: Various other traditions with different chains of narrators, say that this verse was revealed about the people of Salman.

Ibn Faddal said: "I asked [Imam `Ali] al-Riḍā  why "al-Nasārā" ( = the Christians) were given that name. He said: 'Because they were from a village called an-Nāsirah ( = Nazarath) in Syria. [5] Maryam and `Isa settled there after they returned from Egypt.' " (Ma`āni 'l-akhbār)

The author says: We shall comment on this tradition when writing on the stories of `Isa ( [Jesus] in Chapter 3 (The House of `Imrān) , God willing.

The same tradition says that "al-Yahūd" ( = the Jews) got this name because they are descended from Yahūda, son of Ya'qūb. (ibid.)

The Imām said: "The Sabaeans are a people, neither Zoroastrian nor Jews, neither Christians nor Muslims; they worship the stars and planets. (at-Tafsir, al-Qummi)

The author says: It is idol-worship of a special type; they worshipped only the idols of the stars, while others worshipped whatever idol caught their fancy "

      An interesting early Shi`i notice if found in the Kitāb al-fihrist   ("Book of the Catalogue") of Muhammad ibn Ishāq al-Nadīm (d. Baghdad 380/990) who  asserted that `Abd-Allāh b. Salām ( d. ADD/ADD) stated that he had translated a  “book (kitāb)  of the books of the ḥunafa  (hanifs) of the Abrahamic Sabeans (al-Ṣābiyūn al-Ibrāhīmiyyah)”  who were in possession of suḥuf   ("scriptural  scrolls"), a  kitāb fihi  ṭawl   (`a book of substance, length’)  revealed to Abraham.

Abū al-Rayḥān Muhammad Ibn al-Bīrūnī (d. 422 /1051)

        A useful summary and citation from  Abū al-Rayḥān Muhammad Ibn al-Bīrūnī (d. 422 /1051) as registered in his book al- ‘Āthār al-bāqiyya ("The Chronology of Ancient Nations") is also cited and translated in the Tafsīr of al-Ṭabāṭabā'ī (d. 1981) (see above).

"The earliest known among them (i.e., the claimants of prophethood was Yudhasaf. [6] He appeared in India at the end of the first year of the reign of Tahmurth; and he brought the Persian script. He called to the Sabaean religion, and a great many people followed him. The Bishdadian kings and some of the Kayanis who resided in Balkh held the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets together with other elements in high esteem and believed that these luminaries were very sacred. It continued until Zoroaster appeared at the end of the thirtieth year of Peshtasav's reign. The remnants of those Sabaeans are now in Harrān, from which they have got their new name, Harrāniyyah. Also it is said that this nomenclature refers to Harān, son of Tārukh (Terah) and brother of Ibrāhīm (a.s.), as he allegedly was one of their religious leaders and its staunchest follower.

"Ibn Sancala, the Christian, has written a book against Sabaeans. In that book he has attributed many ridiculous things to this Harān. For example, he describes the Sabaeans' belief about Ibrāhīm (a.s.) in these words: “Ibrāhīm (a.s.) was removed from their community because a white spot had appeared on his foreskin, and the Sabaeans believed that a person having a white spot was unclean, and avoided mixing with such person. To remove that defect, Ibrāhīm cut his. foreskin, i.e. circumcised himself. Then he entered one of the temples; and lo! an idol called out to him: "O Ibrāhīm! you went away from us with one defect and came back with two; get out and do not ever come back to us." Ibrāhīm was enraged; he smashed the idols; and went out. After some time, he felt remorse for what he had done, and decided to sacrifice his son on the altar of Jupiter, as it was their custom to kill their children to please the deities. When Jupiter was convinced of the sincerity of his repentance, it sent a lamb to him to slaughter in place of his son.”

 

Abū Yūsuf Ya`qub ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī (d. c. 259 / 873).

   A nother Translated citation from  Abū Yūsuf Ya`qub ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī (d. c. 259 / 873) is also cited and translated in the Tafsir of al-Ṭabāṭabā'ī (d. 1981) (see above) reads as follows:

"‘Abdu'l-Masīh ibn Ishāq al-Kindī wrote a book in reply of a book by ‘Abdullah ibn Ismā'īl al-Hāshimī. In that book `Abdu'l-Masīh writes about the Sabaeans:

"’It is generally believed that they indulge in human sacrifice, although nowadays they cannot do so openly. But so far as our own information goes, they are monotheists who believe that God is free from every defect and evil, they describe God in negative, not positive, terms; for example, they say: Allāh can­not be defined or seen, He is not unjust or oppressive. According to them, the beautiful divine names may be used for God, but only in an allegorical sense, because no divine attribute can truly describe the reality. They believe that the management of all affairs is done and controlled by the sky and the heavenly bodies; the sky and those bodies are living things having the characteristics of speech, hearing and sight. They revere the light and the lumin­aries. One of their legacies is the dome above the niche in the Umayyid mosque of Damascus; it was their prayer house, and at that time even the Greeks and the Romans followed the same religion. Then it came under Jewish control and they turned it into a synagogue. Later, the Christians took it over and converted it into a church. Then came the Muslims, and they changed it into a mosque. The Sabaeans had their numerous places of worships, and their idols were named after various names of the sun, and shaped with fixed patterns, as has been described by Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi in his book, The Houses of Worship. For ex­ample, there was the temple of Ba'lbak which housed the idol of the sun; of Qirān, which was related to the moon and built in the moon's shape, like a shawl worn over head and shoulders. And there is a village nearby, Salamsīn by name; it is a corruption of its original name, (Sanam Sīn = the idol of the moon). Likewise, another village is called Tara'ūz, that is, the gate of venus. They do also claim that the Ka'bah and its idols be­longed to them, and that the Meccan idol-worshippers were of the Sabaean religion. According to them the idols, Lat and `Uzza, re­presented Saturn and Venus. They have many prophets in their hierarchy, most of them being the Greek philosophers, for example, Hermes of Egypt, Agadhimun, Walles, Pythagoras and Babaswar (maternal grandfather of Plato) and many others like them. Some of them do not eat fish - lest it be spume; nor poultry, because it is always hot. Also, they do not use garlic, because it creates headache and burns the blood and semen (which is the source of continuity of the human race); and they avoid beans, because it dulls the intelligence and also because it had first sprouted in a human skull. They observe three compulsory prayers: at sunrise (eight rak `at) ; at noon (five rak `at) ; and at the third hour of the night.

"’They prostrate three times in each rak `ah. Also, they observe two optional prayers - at the second and ninth hours of the day.

" `They pray with taharah and wudu'; they take bath after janābah; but they do not circumcise their children because they have not been told to do so. Most of their laws concerning marital and penal codes are like the sharī `ah of Islam; while the rules about touching a dead body are similar to Torah's. They offer sacrifices to the stars, their idols and the temples; the sacrificial animals are killed by the priests and witch-doctors, who read in it the future of the man who offers the sacrifice and answer to his questions.

" 'Hermes is sometimes called ldris, who is mentioned in Torah as Akhnukh. Some of them say that Yudhasaf was Hermes.

" ‘Some others have said that the present-day Varraniyyah are not the real Sabaeans; rather these are mentioned in the books as heathens and idolators. The Sabaeans were those Israelites who stayed behind at Babylon when their majority returned to Jeruselem in the reigns of Cyrus and Artaxerxes. They were favourably disposed to Zoroastrian beliefs, as well as to the religion of Nebuchadnezzar. What resulted from this exercise was a mixture of Judaism and Zoroastrianism - like the Samaritans of Syria. Most of them are found in Wasit and the rural areas of Iraq around Ja'far and Jāmidah; they trace their genealogy to Enosh, son of Seth. They criticize and oppose the Harraniyyah and their religion. With exception of a few things, there is no similarity between the two religions: The Sabaeans face towards the North Pole in their prayers, while the Harraniyyah face to­wards the South Pole.

" ‘Some people of the book have said that Methuselah had a son (other than Lamech), named Sābī, whom the Sabaeans have descended from. The people, before the sharī`ah spread and before Yudhasaf appeared on the scene, followed Samanian beliefs; they lived in the eastern part of the world and worshipped idols. Their remnants are found in India, China and Taghazghaz, and the people of Khurasan call them Shamnan. Their relics, places of worship and idols are seen in eastern Khurasan adjoining India. They believe in eternity of the universe and transmigration of soul. According to them, the sky is falling down in an endless vacuum, and that is why it is moving round and round.’

"According to some writers, a group of them rejects the theory of eternity of the universe and says that it came into being one million year ago."

The author [ al-Tabataba'i] says [on the above that] : All the above description has been taken from the book of al-Biruni. The opinion, attributed to some writers, that Sabaeans' religion was a mixture of Judaism and Zoroastrianism flavoured with some elements of Harraniyyah's beliefs, seems better suited in this context; after all, the verse [Q. 2:62] obviously enumerates the groups which followed a divinely­inspired religion.


1.4 Babi-Baha'i references

        A few Babi-Baha'i primary scriptural writings of the Sayyid `Ali Muhammad the Bab (d. 1850 CE) , Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri Baha'-Allah (d. 1892 CE) and `Abbās Effendi `Abd al-Baha'  (d. 1921 CE) mention or comment upon the Qur'anic Ṣābi`ūn. The earliest reference in this respect can be found in the Tafsir Surat al-baqara ('Commentary on the Surah of the Cow') ( = Q.  Surah 2 ) of the Bab where he comments upon Qur'an 2: [59] 62 (cited above).

 

        The Ṣābi`ūn (Sabaeans)  have been widely viewed by Baha'is as remnants of a divinely instituted religions community the identity of whose founder Prophet is uncertain. This founder has been considered a maẓhar-i ilāhī (Manifestation of God)  to use Babi-Baha'i terminology.  His exact pre-Abrahamic  identity and dating,  traditionally thought to reach back into the fifth or sixth millennia BCE  (??) also  remains unknown  or a matter of extreme speculation.  Islamic sources on which Baha'i sources often depend sometimes identify the following persons as founders of a primordial Sabaean religion -- listed in loose  chronological order:

Shoghi Effendi the Guardian of the Baha'i religion from 1921-1957 also wrote several letters responding to questions about the Baha'i position regarding the Sabeans and their origins.

ADD

During the late 19th and 20th centuries a number of oriental and occidental Baha'i writers expressed their thoughts about the Sabeans. Important early references in this respect are found in certain of the Persian and Arabic the writings of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpayigani (d.1914). In his voluminous apologetic Kitab al-Fara'id (1896), for example, 

 

2.0 Some Early gnostic groups

Derived from the Greek word         the words Gnosis, Gnostic and  Gnosticisim have been variously defined.

ADD HERE

 

Elxai and the Elkesaites [Elchaisites]

Klijn in his ECC article succinctly explains the possible historical origins and name `Elkesaites' :

"The origin of the E. [= Elkesaites] goes back to the Jewish inhabitants of the border region during the Roman-Parthian war at the end of Trajan's reign (c. 116). At that time a book, with revelations, was written among these Jews, demanding conversion in view of a coming judgment. Acc [ording] to the book, the revelations were made by two important angels. Although a man called Elxai is generally mentioned in connection with the book, it is normally held that in this word we can make out the Hebrew words ksj bjl, (Book of) hidden power. The revelations were not fulfilled, but the book enjoyed such immense credit that its contents were not only explained but even adapted to the new circumstances"

        "We know from Hippolytus [fl. early 3rd cent. CE] that a certain Alcibiades of Apamea came to Rome in the time of bishop Callistus [= 217-222] preaching a second baptism referring to the Elkesaite book of revelation (Refut. IX, 13, 1 - 17, 2). Origen wrote that the E. [= Elkesaites] appeared at Caesarea announcing that pardon was possible even for those who denied the faith (Euseb., HE VI, 38). Epiphanius describes a sect called Satnpsaei or Sampseni, who, ace. to him, derived from the Osseni, who had been influenced by Elxai (Pan., chs. 19 and 53). The Fihrist, a work written in Arabic at the end of the 10th c., reveals that a sect of Mughtasilah, founded by Elxai, counted Mani՝ s brother among its members and that Mani [216-274[7]] himself had been their head (al֊ Nadim, Kitab al-Fihrist 9, 1, ed. Dodge, vol. II, 773-774 and 811). This is borne out by a Manichaean document on Mani' s youth, commonly called the Cologne Mani Codex. The problem connected with the study of the E. [= Elkesaites] is to determine, on one hand, how far their original ideas influenced already existing religious groups, and on the other, how far Elkesaite ideas were influenced by these groups. We know from Hippolytus that Alcibiades propagated a conception of Jewish life and accepted a christology in which Christ appeared in all eras. In this connection Hippolytus speaks of practices of exorcism and astrology. But the Judaeo-Christian element is much less important in the descriptions of Epiphanius. He emphasizes the supposed influence of the E. [= Elkesaites] on the Ebionites, but it is plausible that the influence was the other way. Finally, we note that in the descriptions of the Fihrist and the Cologne Mani Codex nothing is said about Judaeo-Christian ideas. We would seem to be dealing not with a particular group, but with the influence of a mysterious book of revelation which held sway over a number of pre-existing religious ideas, probably starting with some Judaeo-Christian groups E [= Elkesaites] of the Jordan" (p. 269). 

ADD HERE

 

 

The Mandaeans

Today only a remnant numbering perhaps 40-50,000 members exist of the ancient Mandaean  (Manda = "Knowledge" or "Gnosis" ) religious community which most likely has its roots in Jewish baptizing groups of the  early centuries CE. It is not at all certain that the original founder of the Mandaeans was the New Testament figure John the Baptist (d. early 1st century CE).  As an  ancient baptizing gnostic religious community the Mandaeans came to migrate  in the early centuries CE from the Palestine-Syria region where they most likely originated to  parts of the Middle East, including Mesopotamia and Persia (Iraq and Iran). In recent times  they came to  settle, for example, around Baghdad, Basra,  Amarah, Nasiriya and Suq al-Sheikh (in Southern Iraq) as well as in  Ahwaz, Disful and Shustar, etc in  Southern Persia or  the Iranian province of Khuzistan. In recent decades (1980s and 1990s) following the troubles in the Middle East  many Mandaeans migrated to the west, settling among other places to  Sweden, Denmark the USA and Australia.

        In the Mandaean tradition Yuhana (= Ar. Yahya) or John the Baptist  is pictured as  a disciple or priest (tramida) of the Naṣoreans. Mandaeans do not believe that John the Baptist founded their religion but view him as a prominent figure who, after being baptized by  Jesus Christ,  rejected him  in order to establish his own community.

Ṣābi`ūn ("Sabeans") in Islamic Tafsir and related literatures

 

Ḥanīf  (pl. Ḥunafa')

وَقَالُواْ كُونُواْ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَى تَهْتَدُواْ قُلْ بَلْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

...Say: Nay rather, the religion (millat) of Abraham was Ḥanīf for he was not among the idolaters"  (Q. 2:135).

مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

"Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian but he was a Ḥanīf, a Muslim not among the idolaters"  (Q. 3:67).

    In the Qur'an  the "word ḥanīf is used especially of Abraham as the type of this pure worship of God" (EI2 Montgomery Watt).

 

Select Bibliography : General and Miscellany

 

SABAEANS GENERAL

GENERAL AND SPECIFIC MANDANAEN OR SABAEAN SITES

Wikipedia

Sheba -- Sabaeans of Yemen.

Occult and related dimensions

The Sābians of Harran

Chwolson, D.

  • Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus. 2 vols. ADD    1856. Rep. Amsterdam Philo Press, 19XX.

Dodge, Bayard.,

  • "The Sābians of Harran" in American University of Beirut Festival Hook (Festschrift), eds. F. Sarruf and S. Tamim, Beirut: XXXX (1967), 59-85.

Gadd, C. J.

  • 'The Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus' in AS viii (1958), 35-92

Lloyd, S. & Brice, W.

  •  'Harran' in AS 1 (1951), 77-111.

Mez, A.

  • Die Stadt Harran bis rum Einfall der Araber (1892)
     

Pedersen, J.

  •  'The Şabians' in A Volume of Oriental Studies presented to Edward G. Brown, ed. T.W. Arnold and R. A. Ni-cholson XXXX: 1922, pp. 383-391

Sachau, C. E.

  • The Chronology of Ancient Nations ... Athār-ul-bâkiya of  Albirûni... 1879.

Segal, J. B.

  • 'Pagan Syriac Monuments in the Vilayet of Urfa' in AS in (1953). 97-119
  •  'Some Syriac Inscriptions of the 2nd - 3rd Century A.D.' in Buil. of the School of Oriental and African Studies xvi (1954), 13-36
  • 'Mesopotamian Communities from Julian to the Rise of Islam* in Proceedings of the British Academy XLI (1956), 109-39
  • Edessä, and Harran (1963)
  • `The Sabian Mysteries, The Planet Cult of Harran' = Ch. IX pp. 201-220 in 1969 in Edward Bacon ed. Vanished Civilizations of th Ancient World, New York, Toronto, London: McGeaw-Hill Book Co., Inc. An important essay by a leading academic.
  • The Sabian Mysteries, The Planet Cult of Harran' = Ch. IX pp. 201-220 in 1969 in Edward Bacon ed. `Vanished Civilizations of th Ancient World', New York, Toronto, London: McGeaw-Hill Book Co., Inc. An important essay by a leading academic.
  • `Pagan Syriac Monuments in the Vilayet of Urfa',  Anatolian Studies, 3, 1953, pp.97-119.

  • Edessä 'The Blessed City՝, Oxford, 1970.

  • Review ol  Edwin .M.  Yamauchi: `Gnostic Ethics and Mandaean  Origins' (Cambridge, 1970), BSOAS, . 1973, pp. l 34-35

  • "Two Syriac Inscriptions from Harran" (with an Appendix by D. Strong) BSOAS, 20, 1957, pp.513-22

The Elkesaites [Elchasaites]

Brandt, Wilhelm.

  • Elchasai ein Religionsstifter und sein week.... Der Ausgabe, Leipzig 1912 + Amsterdam Philo Press, 1971.

Klijn, A.F.J.

  • `Elkesaites' in EEC I:269-70.

Klijn, A.F.J. + G.J. Reinink,

  • Patristic Evidence for Jewish-Christian Sects, SNT 36 Leiden 1973, 54-67;
  • Elchasai and Mani, VChr 28 (1974) 277-289;

Irmscher, J.

  • The Book of Elchasai in New Testament Apocrypha vol. II 745-750.
  •  

 

The Mandaean religion

Brandt, Wilhelm.

  • Die mandaische Religion: Ihre Entwicklung und geschichtliche Bedeutung, Leipzig: Hinrich'sche Buchhandlung, 1889.

  • Mandaische Schriften, Göttingen: Vanden-hoeck & Ruprecht, 1893 Rep. Amsterdam: Philo֊ Press, 1973.
  • Elchasai ein Religionsstifter und sein week.... Der Ausgabe, Leipzig 1912 + Amsterdam Philo Press, 1971.
  •  

Buck, Chris

  • 1984 `The Identity of the Sabi`un: An Historical Quest Muslim World 74 (1984), pp.172-186.

Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen,

    Colpe, C.

  • 'Mandäer' in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (3rd ed., ed. K. Galling, iv, 1960)

    Dozy, R. & DE Goeje, M. J.

  • 'Nouveaux Documents pour l'Étude de la Religion des Harraniens' in Actes du sixième Congrès international des Orientalistes tenu ...à Leide 1 (1884), 281-366

    Drower,  Ethel, Stefana [Stevens] Lady (1879-1972).

  • The Mandaeans of Iraq und Iran.  Their Culls, Customs, Magic, Legends, and Folklore. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1937.

  • New ed. Leiden: Brill, 1962.

  • "A Mandaean Phylaclery՝՜ Iraq 5, 1938 pp Μ 5·1.

  • 'The Mandaeans Today” The  Hibbert Journal 37  (1938-9)  pp .435-7

  • A Phylactery for Rue . An Invocation of the Prsonified Heb’ Or. 15 (1946) pp. 324-346

  • The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa (Studi e Testi 176), Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1953 Repr.  Modena: Tipo-litografica, 1986.

  • The Book of the Zodiac: Sfar Malwašia, London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1949.

  • The Book of the Zodiac. Oriental Translation Fund 36 London: XXX., 1949.

  • Šarh d-Qabin d-Sišlam-Rba: Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the Great Sisiam (Biblica et Orientalia 12), Rome: Pontificio istituto Biblico, 1950.

  •   Diwan Abatur and Pregress through the Purgatories (= Studi e Testi 151), Vatican City [Città del Vaticano] : Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1950.

  •  The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans, Leiden: Brill, 1950.

  • The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa . Studi e Testi 176,, Vatican City 1953

  • "Α Mandaean Bibliography", JRAS, 1953,.34-֊39.`

  • A Mandaean Bibliography", in: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1953, 34-39 On the Drower Collection of Mandaean manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

  •  "Colour Film Taken in a Mandaean Sanctuary in Lower Iraq", in Proceeding of the Twenty-third International Congress of Orientalists, Cambridge 1954.  107-8.

  • Water into Wine. A Study of Ritual Idiom in the Middle East,  London  1956.

  • "Scenes and Sacraments in a Mandaean Sanctuary", Numen, 3, 1956, pp.72-76.

  •  The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans, Leiden: E.J.  Brill, 1959.

  • The Secret Adam. A Study of Naşoraean Gnosis, Oxford 1960.

  •  "Adam and the Elkasaites", TU , 79, (= Studia Patristica, v. IV) 1961, pp.406-10.

  • The Thousand and Twelve Questians: Alf Trisar Smalta (DAW, Institut für Orientforschung 32), Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1960.

  • The   Thousand   and   Twelve   Questions,   Deutsche   Akademie   der Wissenschaften zu Berlin Institut für Orientforschung, Veröffentlichung Nr.32, Berlin, 1960

  • The Coronation of the Great Šišlám, Leiden: Brill, 1961.

  • The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Their Cults, Customs, Magic, Legends and Folklore . new ed. 1962

  • A Pair of Nasoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, Leiden: Brill, 1963.

  • Qulasta. The Mandaean Liturgical Prayer Book I, Sydney, Australia: Al-Mubaraki, 1999

     

Jonas, Hans.

  • Gnosis und spätantiker Geist ì: Die mythologische Gnosis, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &Ĺ Ruprecht, 1934, 4th rev. edition, 1988.

  • ADD

Lidzbarski,  M.

  • Das johannesbuch der Mandäer, I (Text), Giessen: Töpelmann, 1905, II (Translation), Giessen: Töpel-mann, 1915 Repr. Berlin: Töpelmann, 1966
  • Ginza. Der Schatz oder das Grosse Buch der Mandäer (Quellen der Religionsgeschichte Vol. 13), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &C Ruprecht, 1915. Repr. 1979.
  •  Mandäische Liturgien (Abh. Kgl. Gesellschaft d. Wiss. zu Göttingen, Phil.-hist. KL, NF 17, ï), Berlin: Weis֊ mannsche Buchhandlung, 1910 Repr. Hildesheim: Olms 1961.

Lupieri, E.,

  • I Mandei: Gli ultimi gnostic։, Brescia 1993 = Eng. trans.
  • The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.

Macuch, R.

  • "Anfänge der Mandäer". in: F. Altheim & R. Stiehl (eds.), Die Araber in der Alten Welt, Bd. 2, Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1965, 76-190.
  •  Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandate, Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1965.
  • (ed.), Zur Sprache und Literatur der Mandäer, Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1976.

 

Majid Fandi al-Mubaraki et al,

  • Edition of the Ginza Rba: The Great Treasure, Sydney, Australia: Al-Mubaraki, 1998

Nöldeke, Theodore (b. Harburg 1836 d.  - 1930)

 

Portrait of Nöldeke

 

  • Mandäiscbe Grammatik, Halle / S.: Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1875

  • Repr. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964.

Pallis, S.A. 

  • Essay on Mandaean Bibliography 1560-1930, London/ Copenhagen, 1933.
  • Repr. Amsterdam: Philo-Press, 1974.

Petermann, H.J.

  • Thesaurus sive Liber Magnus, vulgo "Eiber Adamı" appelatus, opus Man֊ daeorum summi ponderis I-II, Leipzig: Weigel. 1867

H. Pognon, H.

  • Inscriptions mandaites des coupes de Khouabir I-III, Paris: Impremerie nationale, 1898 Repr. Amsterdam: ΑΡΑ-Philo Press, 1979.

Rudolph, Kurt., ( b. ADD)

 Mandaeism

  • Die Mandäer 1: Prolegomena: Das Mandäerproblem, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1960.
  • II. Der Kult, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1961
  • Theogonie, Kosmogonie und Anthropogonie in den mandäischen Schriften, Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1965.
  • Die Religion der Mandäer, in: H. Gese, M. Höfner, K. Rudolph, Die Religionen Alt֊ synens, Altarabiens und der Mandäer (Religionen der Menschheit 10,2), Stuttgart, 1970, 403-462
  • Mandaeism (Th.P. van Baaren et al. (eds.), Iconography of Religions, Section XXI), Leiden: Brill, 1978
  • Gnosis und spätantike Religionsgeschichte: Gesammelte Aufsätze (NHMS 42), Leiden: Brill, 1996, 302-626

  • Mandaean Sources, in: W. Foerster (ed.), Gnosis Π: Coptic and Mandaean Sources, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974, pp. 123-319

  • Der mandai֊sehe "Diwan der Flüsse'՝ (Abh. Sachs. Akad. d. Wiss. zu Leipzig, Phil.-hist. Kl. 70, ï), Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1982.

  • `Mandaeans' in  Encyclopedia of   ADD HERE  (2 vols.) Leiden: E.J. Brill.   vol.1 pp. 751-756.

Siouffi, M. N.

  • Etudes Sur La Religion Des Soubras Ou Sabeens Leurs Dogmes, Leurs Moeurs. Paris Imprimerie Nationale 1880 XI+211pp 

Tarelko,  M.

  • Skaptą d-Pishra d-Aima: The Scroll for the Purging of the Eyes, Turnhout: Brepols, 2001.

Yamauchi, Edwin, M., (b. Hilo Hawaii 1937 )

  • `The Present State of Mandaean Studies', JNES, 25, (I966),  88-96.

  • Mandaic Incantation Texts (AOS 49) New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1967.

  •  Mandaic Incantation Texts. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1967.

  • `Jewish Gnosticism? The Prologue of John, Mandaean Parallels and the Trimorphic Protennoia,' in Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions, R. van den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren, eds. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1981: 467-497.

  • Gnostic Ethics and Mandaean Origins. Harvard Theological Studies XXIV, Cambridge, 1970.

  • Gnostic Ethics and Mandaean Origins. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970.

  • `Pre-Christian Gnosticism in the Nag Hammadi Texts?' Church History, 48 (1979): 129-141

  • Pre-Christian Gnosticism, A Survey of the Proposed Evidences. London, 1973.

Widengren, Geo (b. Stockholm, 24th April 1907 d. Stockholm 28th. January 1996)

  • The Ascension of the. Apostle and the Heavenly Book (King and Saviour HI), (UUA 7) Uppsala-Leipzig1950.

  • "Die Mandäer", in Handbuch der Orientalistík, ed. B. Spuler, VIII, Pl.2, Leiden (196!), pp.83-101.

  • Die Mandäer, in: Hdb.d.Orientalistik, I, VIII 2, 83-101, 1961

  • Mani und der Manichäismus, 1961

  • Mani and Manichaeism, tr. C. Kessler, London 1965.

  • Die Religonen Irans, Stuttgart 1965.

  • 'Heavenly Enthronement and Baptism. Studies in Mandaean Baptism", in Religions in Antiquity, ed. J. Neusner, Leiden (1968), 551 ֊82.

  • (ed.). Der Mandäismus, Darmstadt 1982.

 

 

The Mandaean World. ASUTA The Journal for the Study and Research into the Mandaean Culture, Religion, and Language

 

Mandaic language

Mandaic alphabet

 

Islamic references Sabi`iun and Ḥanīfs.

Bell, Richard,

  • `Who were the Ḥanīfs?” Muslim World 20 (1930), pp.121-124.

Chwolsohn, Dr. Daniel Abramovic (Professor at the Kaiserlichen University St. Petersburg) (Wilna Dec. 15, 1819-  ADD).

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=506&letter=C

 

  • Der Ssabier und der Ssabismus, 2 vols. St. Petersburg: Buckdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Vol. 1  Erstes Buch Untersuchungen uber die Entwickelung der Begriffe Ssabier und der Ssabismus  uber die Mendaischen Ssabier und Insbesondebe Unber die Geschichte  der Harranischen SSabier under Der Stadt   Harran  (pp. xxi+825pp.), vol. 2 = Oríentalisclie Quellen zur Geschichte der Ssabier und des Ssabismus. 1856.  A massive (920pp.) two volume German pioneering analysis of "Sabians and Sabeanism" centering upon an references in medieval Arabic and other  literatures such as the Fihrist of Ibn Nadim (= Text 1 , see vol.1 pp.1-365), the Muruj al-Dhahab of al-Mas`udi (=Text II, see pp.366-379), the  Milal wa'l-nihal of al-Shahrastani (= text  IV, pp.415-450) and the  Moreh Nevukim (Guidance for the Perplexed) of Maimonides (= text V pp. 451-491).    

  • Reprint  Amsterdam: Philo Press, 2 vols. ADD.

 
 

 

Gunduz, Sinasi,

  • 1994 The Knowledge of Life , The Origins and Early History of the Mandaeans and Their Relation to the Sabians of the Qur'an and to the Harranians (= Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 3 ) Oxford Univ. Press on behalf of the University of Manchester

McAuliffe, Jane-Dammen.

  • "Exegetical identification of the Sabi'un." Muslim World. 72 (1982),  95-106.

Pederson, J.

  • 1922 `The Sabians' in A volume of Oriental Studies presented to Edward G. Browne ed. T.W. Arnold and R.A. Nicholson pp.383-391.

Shi`i Tafsir references

Mandai Studies Centre Iran

Some Baha'i references

MEMORANDUM From: Research Department The Universal House of Justice Date: 6 August 1996 To: David García: