Difference between revisions of "Sabians of Maimonides"
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* This Law alone is called divine; other laws, such as the political legislations among the Greeks, or the follies of the Sabeans, are the works of human ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp126.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part II: Chapter XXXIX]</ref> | * This Law alone is called divine; other laws, such as the political legislations among the Greeks, or the follies of the Sabeans, are the works of human ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp126.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part II: Chapter XXXIX]</ref> | ||
| − | * When you read the books which I mentioned to you. you will find that witchcraft, which will be described to you, is part of the customs of the Sabeans, ...</ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp173.htm | + | * When you read the books which I mentioned to you. you will find that witchcraft, which will be described to you, is part of the customs of the Sabeans, ...</ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp173.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XXXVII]</ref> |
:The Sabeans, in their ignorance of the existence of God, believed that the spheres with their stars were beings without beginning and without end, ... | :The Sabeans, in their ignorance of the existence of God, believed that the spheres with their stars were beings without beginning and without end, ... | ||
| − | <ref>www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp181.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLV]</ref> | + | <ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp181.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLV]</ref> |
| − | * Some sects among the Sabeans worshipped demons, and imagined that these assumed the form of ... Although blood was very unclean in the eyes of the Sabeans, ... <ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp182.htm | + | * Some sects among the Sabeans worshipped demons, and imagined that these assumed the form of ... Although blood was very unclean in the eyes of the Sabeans, ... <ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp182.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLVI]</ref> |
* But the practice of the Sabeans, even at present general in the East, among the few still left of the Magi, was to keep a menstruous woman in a house by ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp183.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLVII]</ref> | * But the practice of the Sabeans, even at present general in the East, among the few still left of the Magi, was to keep a menstruous woman in a house by ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp183.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLVII]</ref> | ||
| − | * If the religious rules of the Sabeans and the events of those days were known to us, we should be able to see plainly the reason for most of the things ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp186.htm | + | * If the religious rules of the Sabeans and the events of those days were known to us, we should be able to see plainly the reason for most of the things ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp186.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter L]</ref> |
| − | * You know how widespread were in those days the opinions of the Sabeans: all men, except a few individuals, were idolaters, that is to say, they believed in ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp073.htm | + | * You know how widespread were in those days the opinions of the Sabeans: all men, except a few individuals, were idolaters, that is to say, they believed in ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp073.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part I: Chapter LXIII]</ref> |
* expression would have implied that God occupies a place or is a power in the sphere, as was in fact believed by the Sabeans, who held that God was the soul ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp080.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part I: Chapter LXX]</ref> | * expression would have implied that God occupies a place or is a power in the sphere, as was in fact believed by the Sabeans, who held that God was the soul ...<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp080.htm Guide for the Perplexed: Part I: Chapter LXX]</ref> | ||
Revision as of 11:30, 21 May 2007
Maimonides writes that Abraham was a 'Sabian' before he came to a belief in the One God. Maimonides proposed that Sabaeanism evolved into Abrahamic monotheism which then evolved into Mosaic teaching. Maimonides uses the term Sabaean to depicts typical “pagan” culture would have existed before Abraham brought the message of the one god. He writes that the Sabians believed in a form of Adam. The description he recounts in Guide to the Perplexed is a typical Harranian creation in which Adam is brought into the worship of Sin. He writes that the idolaters pray to the morning sun in the east. It is for this reason that Abraham initiated the notion of facing west in all prayers. Maimonides wrote that that the Sabaeans held great respect for all animal life in particular the bull. Maimonides wrote concerning the notion that blood is unclean yet they partake of it.[1]
Why does he use the Sabaeans as this general term denoting all “pagan” worshippers? There could be several reasons for this. One would be the fact that the term “Sabians” as indicated in the Qu’ran had already degraded into being a generalized term for all religions, other than Islam, Jewish, and Christianity, that fit into generalized descriptions of a qualified religion under Islamic law. [2]
Quotes from Maimonides on Sabians
- These are remnants of the Sabeans, who once filled the earth. ... In a succeeding chapter I shall explain why the Sabeans had their religious doctrines ...[3]
- The following words of the Sabeans are quoted there: "All ancient wise men advised, ... These are the words of the Sabeans. When these ideas spread, ...[4]
- This Law alone is called divine; other laws, such as the political legislations among the Greeks, or the follies of the Sabeans, are the works of human ...[5]
- When you read the books which I mentioned to you. you will find that witchcraft, which will be described to you, is part of the customs of the Sabeans, ...</ref>Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XXXVII</ref>
- The Sabeans, in their ignorance of the existence of God, believed that the spheres with their stars were beings without beginning and without end, ...
- Some sects among the Sabeans worshipped demons, and imagined that these assumed the form of ... Although blood was very unclean in the eyes of the Sabeans, ... [7]
- But the practice of the Sabeans, even at present general in the East, among the few still left of the Magi, was to keep a menstruous woman in a house by ...[8]
- If the religious rules of the Sabeans and the events of those days were known to us, we should be able to see plainly the reason for most of the things ...[9]
- You know how widespread were in those days the opinions of the Sabeans: all men, except a few individuals, were idolaters, that is to say, they believed in ...[10]
- expression would have implied that God occupies a place or is a power in the sphere, as was in fact believed by the Sabeans, who held that God was the soul ...[11]
References
- ↑ [http://www.geocities.com/mandaeans/Sabians7.html The Sabians of Moses Maimonides Writing
- ↑ ibid.
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XXIX
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XXX
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part II: Chapter XXXIX
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLV
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLVI
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter XLVII
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part III: Chapter L
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part I: Chapter LXIII
- ↑ Guide for the Perplexed: Part I: Chapter LXX
