Ibn Ṣayyād

Ibn Ṣayyād (or Ibn Ṣāʾid) was a Jewish youth who lived in Medina when the Prophet Muḥammad was there (622-32 CE). Ibn Ṣayyād’s family was associated with the Najjār branch of the Khazraj, one of the two main Arab tribes of Medina. In an encounter with Muḥammad, Ibn Ṣayyād recognised him as God’s messenger to the Gentiles (rasūl al-ummiyyīn), namely the Arabs, and demanded that Muḥammad recognize him as a messenger (to the Jews?). His name was Ṣāf or Ṣāfī, and upon his conversion to Islam he received the name ʿAbdallāh. His son ʿUmāra was considered a trustworthy scholar in the field of Muslim tradition (hadith).

Ibn Ṣayyād’s status as a holy man, or rather a holy youth, challenged Muḥammad’s monopoly of true divine messages. The youth’s claim to spiritual superpowers was supported by miraculous signs, such as those linked to his birth (he was born circumcised with his umbilical cord cut).

The story of his above-mentioned encounter with Muḥammad is somewhat curious. In order to see and evaluate the youth’s supernatural powers, Muḥammad approached him stealthily, hiding behind the trunks in a palm-date orchard. When the youth demanded recognition as a messenger of God, Muḥammad’s answer was surprisingly mild (he said, according to one version: “I believe in God and his angels, books and messengers”).

The youth posed a potential threat, although the encounter did not take place shortly after the hijra, when Muḥammad’s position was still precarious. At that time, there were several (self-proclaimed) prophets in the Arabian Peninsula, but none of them was active inside Medina. An aggressive response was impossible, because the youth was protected by the Najjār who had close links with Muḥammad’s family. Since Ibn Ṣayyād’s spiritual powers were known to all, Muḥammad’s tactic was to relegate him to the rank of diviner, perhaps even to cast doubt on his divining powers. A diviner posed no threat to Muḥammad’s spiritual superiority.

Ibn Ṣayyād’s identification as the dajjāl, or the Islamic anti-Christ, was perhaps another tactic aimed at discrediting him. However, Ibn Ṣayyād’s image as the dajjāl was not always negative. Ṣāf/Ṣāfī ibn Ṣayyād (as he is referred to in the following context) was the hero who miraculously knocked down the gates of the besieged al-Sūs (Susa). Its Christian inhabitants had learned from their scholars that only the dajjāl would be able to conquer it. The Jewish identity of the dajjāl seems to have been a central building block of their apocalyptic nightmare. From the Muslim viewpoint, the fictional dajjāl of Sūs was a welcome contribution to the war effort. Ibn Ṣayyād may well have been in the army that besieged al-Sūs, but the minutiae of his exploits are invented. In any case, they allow us to identify a friendly feature in Ibn Ṣayyād’s literary figure, to be added to the miraculous signs associated with him.

Ibn Ṣayyād’s Jewishness is explicit in the story of the conquest of Iṣfahān, in which he is the protagonist of another nightmare – in this case, an Arab one. There is no dajjāl here. After Iṣfahān had been conquered, the Jews living in nearby al-Yahūdiyya, who had sold provisions to the besieging army, were celebrating the arrival of their king who was to lead them to victory over the Arabs. The king was no other than Ibn Ṣayyād, who entered the town the next day, never to be seen again. There are at least two more versions of his demise. One has it that he disappeared during the battle of the Ḥarra (63/683), while according to the other, he passed away in Medina of natural causes.

Michael Lecker

References and suggested readings

• Cook, D. 2002. Studies in Muslim apocalyptic. Princeton.
• Halperin, D.H. 1976. The Ibn Sayyād traditions and the legend of al-Dajjāl. JAOS 96: 213–226. DOI: 10.2307/599824.
• Raven, W. 2008. Ibn Ṣayyad as an Islamic ‘Antichrist’. A reappraisal of the texts, in W. Brandes & F. Schmieder (eds) Endzeiten: Esthchatologie in den monotheistischen Weltreligionen: 261–91. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter.
• Robin, C.J. 2011. Les signes de la prophétie en Arabie à l'époque de Muḥammad (fin du VI^e et début du VII^e siècle de l'ère chrétienne), in S. Georgoudi, R. Koch Piettre & F. Schmidt (eds) La raison des signes. Présages, rites, destin dans les sociétés de la méditerranée ancienne: 433-76. Leiden: Brill.

_{Alternate spellings: Ibn Ṣayyâd, Ibn Sayyâd, Ibn Sayyad, Ibn Sayyed, Ibn Sayad, Ibn Sayed, Ibn Ṣayād, Ibn Ṣayâd, Ibn Sayâd, Ibn Sayad, Ibn Ṣāʾid, Ibn Ṣâʾid, Ibn Sâʾid, Ibn Saʾid}