Response to: Abdullah bin Saba

The following is a response to Slave of Ahlubait’s article entitled: Abdullah bin Saba, which can be found here.

Slave of Ahlubait, which from here on out shall be referred to as SoA, quoted a narration from Al-Kashshi’s book on rijal which lined out the beliefs of Abdullah bin Saba’a. The quoted mentions that Abdullah bin Saba’a had extreme views about Ali (exaggerated love), that he was the first to popularize his claim for Imamah, and that he spoke against his enemies and declared them disbelievers. The quote ends with the view that those that go against Shias say that the foundation of Tashayyu is Jewish.

SoA protests:
but if anyone has some sense, he would realize that this saying is neither a hadeeth, nor it is concept of sheikh kashi; rather he said
ذكر بعض أهل العلم
who were these ahlu ilm? no one knows. and how can that ever be a hujjat upon any shia that he should accept it? is it not that this makes the entire saying as majhool?

It should be noted that early Shias believed that the Saba’ee cult practiced these beliefs.
After adding to the above list that Abdullah bin Saba’a believes that Ali would not die a true death, and showed signs of the concept of Raja’ah, Al-Nawbakhti, the early Shia scholar added:

فهذا مذهب السبأية
“…and this is the Saba’ee mathhab.” (Kitab Firaq Al-Shi’a, p. 33)
These words are clear in showing that Al-Nawbakhti affirmed that these are views that the Saba’ee cult held.

Al-Nawbakhti himself was an early trustworthy Imami philosopher who held the correct Imami beliefs. See Fihrist Al-Tusi (p. 75).

SoA adds:

these nasibis try to hide the ahadeeth which have been mentioned by sheikh kashi, and in which abdullah bin saba has been cursed.

Indeed, the Sunnis are fully aware that Abdullah bin Saba’a was cursed by the Imams of Ahlulbayt. It is in this light that Sunnis state that Shias follow a man that has been cursed by the Imams themselves. However, it is important to know that Sunnis believe that the Twelver faith is an off-shoot of the Saba’ee cult, not that they hold all the same beliefs.

SoA end their article by mentioning the names of famous early Sunnis that were originally Jewish in order to argue that Sunnis have trusted Jews. Yet, we simply argue that those mentioned, like Abdullah bin Salam, Wahb, and Ka’ab Al-Ahbar are real Muslims, unlike Abdullah bin Saba’a, which therefore makes SoA’s argument invalid.