The Samaritans in Historical, Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives by Jan Dušek

Author:Jan Dušek
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Published: 2018-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Commentary

Contrary to chapters in the Kitāb al-Ṭabbāḫ of inter-faith polemics against Jews (e.g., 52, 54, 55, 56), which begin with headings like al-raddʿalā al-Yahūd, or ḫulf, “the refutation of the Jews,” or “contradiction of opinions,” it is noticeable here that, in this intra-faith chapter against his co-religionists, there is no heading. These opposing Samaritans remain anonymous. Interestingly, in the introduction of the topic, Abū l-Ḥasan mentions that there has been a kalām, a kind of treatise published by this group, which caused him to reply.

In his reply, he not only refuted the opinion introduced in the first part of the chapter, but took the opportunity for a fundamental discussion of the ambiguous character of some passages in scripture. The conception of mutašābih and muḥkam, i.e., passages of ambiguous or unambiguous wording, are mentioned in the Qurʾān (sūra 3:7), but Abū l-Ḥasan gives no reference to this fact.517

He argues that one has to “reject the ambiguous meaning by the clear one and to decide according to the unambiguous. It is impossible to draw conclusions from the ambiguous text.” It is important to see that Abū l-Ḥasan argues that all Samaritans may pray to God without a privileged, mediating authority. “Everyone of Israel enjoys equal rights to appeal to God and God alone owns the decision to accept prayers.”

Concerning the treatment of these opposite Samaritans, it is also noticeable that Abū l-Ḥasan did not choose derogatory words against the co-religionists who deviated from his expert opinion. He just stated that they are muqaṣṣirīn, literally translated “shorteners,” i.e., “insufficiently informed, not matching the task of interpretation”. They are not professional exegetes.

In my opinion Abū l-Ḥasan’s strong rejection of any authority beside the Samaritan High Priest considers another political implication. The Samaritans lived since the 7th century CE under Muslim administration and were acknowledged as “people of the book,” because they were seen as part of Judaism. In 756/1355, the Samaritan scholar Abū l-Fatḥ even quoted a treaty allegedly concluded between the Samaritan envoy Ṣarmaṣa and Muḥammad and ʿAlī, the fourth caliph, who both guaranteed a “covenant and treaty of peace and security … concerning themselves and their families and their property and houses of worship and religious endowments…”518 So they should have had no problems with Muslim authorities. But, except from times of peace, often the opposite was the case.519

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