ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabāʾ al-Ḥimyarī () (sometimes also called Ibn Sabāʾ, Ibn al-Sawdāʾ, or Ibn Wahb,) was a 7th-century figure in Islamic history associated with a group of followers called the Sabaʾiyya ().
According to Sunni and Shia tradition, Abd Allah ibn Saba' was a Yemenite Jew from the Arab Himyar tribe who converted to Islam during Uthman's reign. Because of his exaggerated reverence for Ali, he is traditionally considered as the first of the ghulāt. In accounts collected by Sayf ibn Umar, Ibn Saba' and his followers (the Saba'iyya) are said to be the ones who enticed the Egyptians against Uthman and were responsible for breaking the near-settlement at the Battle of the Camel.
Modern historians differed on the historicity of Ibn Saba'. Some believe that Abd Allah ibn Saba' and Ibn al-Sawdāʾ should be considered as two separate individuals (Hodgson). Some have described him as semi-legendary or legendary (Taha Hussein, Bernard Lewis, Wilferd Madelung, Leone Caetani, and Shia historians) Others such as Israel Friedlander, Sabatino Moscati, and Sunni historians affirm his existence. His Jewish origin has also been contested. Some modern historians assert that Sayf ibn Umar fabricated the episode about the killing of Uthman to "exonerate the people of Medina from participation in the caliph's murder" and the movement to support Ali as a successor to Muhammad did not exist in the time of Uthman. With the exception of Taha Hussein, most modern Sunni writers affirm the existence of Ibn Saba'.
Historicity
According to traditional Sunni and Shia sources, Abd Allah ibn Saba' was a Yemenite Jewish convert to Islam. But modern historians differed on the historicity of Ibn Saba. M.G.S. Hodgson doubts that Ibn Saba' was a Jew, and suggests that Ibn Saba' and Ibn al-Sawada' should be considered as two separate individuals.<ref>Robert L. Canfield, Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 2002, Page 159, </ref> According to Leone Caetani, Ibn Saba in origin was a purely political supporter of Ali, "around whom later generations imagined a religious conspiracy like that of the Abbasids". Taha Hussein and Ali al-Wardi maintain that Ibn Saba' was the creation of Umayyad propaganda.
However, some historians affirm the existence of Ibn Saba' or his followers. Israel Friedlander concludes that Ibn Saba' and the Saba'iyya did, in fact, exist. His work has also been attested to by Sabatino Moscati. Linda D. Lau and A. R. Armush also accept Sayf ibn Umar's accounts and the role of the Saba'iyya at the Battle of the Camel.
Concerning Ibn Saba' religious beliefs, particularly that of the Saba'iyya, W. F. Tucker noted that they are more complete and better recorded in sources devoted to heresiography. Matti Musa points out that the Saba'iyya as a ghulat sect did in fact exist, noting that their views have been seriously considered by both Sunni and Shia heresiographers. Hodgson states that there are contradictions in what religious views is ascribed to him and his followers, but we can assume that he was a founder or a hero of one or more sects called Sabaʾiyya, which exalted the position of Ali.
Ancestry
M. G. S. Hodgson concludes he was most likely not a Jew. W. F. Tucker suggests the possibility that the attribution of Jewish ancestry to Ibn Saba' on his paternal side and imputation of black descent on his mother's side, were fabricated to discredit his credentials as a Muslim Arab and "thus stigmatize all ideas associated with him". Bernard Lewis states that modern critical scholarship casts doubt on his Jewishness. Citing the example of Ibn Saba', Lewis states that there is tendency in Islamic sources to attribute subversive and extremist doctrines to Jewish origins, conspiracy or instigation. G. Levi Della Vida also rejects his Jewish origin and maintains that Ibn Saba' was an Arab.
However, according to Hartwig Hirschfeld, Abd Allah ibn Saba' was a Jew from Yemen who embraced Islam. Israel Friedlander suggested that he may have been a son of an Ethiopian Falasha woman, which explains why he was called "ibn al-Sawdāʾ". W. F. Tucker, after examining the different arguments, concludes that "Whatever is the case regarding his ethnic identity, it is quite probable that Ibn Saba' was a Yemenite, and that he came from a Jewish milieu".
Ghulat
Traditionally, Abd Allah ibn Sabaʾ is considered as the first of the ghulāt. He may have been the first to deny that Ali had died and predicted his return (rajʿa), which was considered one form of ghulū. Also, the notion of the absence or 'occultation' (ghayba) of an imam seem to have appeared first among the ghulāt.