ʿAbdallāh b. Sabaʾ - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Lewinstein, Keith
Leiden
Brill
(1,503 words)
ʿAbdallāh b. Sabaʾ , sometimes known as Ibn al-Sawdāʾ, is remembered as a heresiarch who promoted extremist teachings about ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib. One set of historical traditions ascribes to him a key role in provoking the dissension which led up to the murder of the caliph ʿUthmān (r. 23-35/644-56) and the First Civil War; the heresiographical literature, by contrast, paints him as the founder of extremist Shīʿism (ghulūw). In both types of material, he is described as a Jewish convert from Yemen who sought to undermine