05-15-2010, 03:25 PM
Based upon a book called The Nabataean Agriculture which Maimonides translated, Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed describes the Gnostic Sabians in quite some detail. They were questioned by Caliph al-Ma'mun of Baghdad in 830 CE, according to Abu Yusuf Absha' al-Qadi, about what protected religion they belonged to.
Not being Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Magian, the caliph told them they were infidels and would have to become Muslims or adherents of one of the other religions recognized by the Qur'an by the time he returned from his campaign against the Byzantines or he would KILL them.
The Harranians consulted with a lawyer who suggested that they find their answer in the Qur'an II.59 which made it clear that Sabians were tolerated. It was unknown what was intended by Sabian and so they took the name.
These newly-dubbed Harranian Sabians acknowledged Hermes Trismegistus as their prophet and the Corpus Hermeticum as their sacred text, being a group of Hermeticists. Validation of Hermes as a prophet comes from his identification as Idris (i.e. Enoch) in the Qur'an (19.57 and 21.85).
The Harranian Sabians played a vital role in Baghdad and the rest of the Arab world from 856 until about 1050; playing the role of the main source of Greek philosophy and science as well as shaping the intellectual life. The most prominent of the Harranian Sabians was Thabit ibn Qurra.
Not being Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Magian, the caliph told them they were infidels and would have to become Muslims or adherents of one of the other religions recognized by the Qur'an by the time he returned from his campaign against the Byzantines or he would KILL them.
The Harranians consulted with a lawyer who suggested that they find their answer in the Qur'an II.59 which made it clear that Sabians were tolerated. It was unknown what was intended by Sabian and so they took the name.
These newly-dubbed Harranian Sabians acknowledged Hermes Trismegistus as their prophet and the Corpus Hermeticum as their sacred text, being a group of Hermeticists. Validation of Hermes as a prophet comes from his identification as Idris (i.e. Enoch) in the Qur'an (19.57 and 21.85).
The Harranian Sabians played a vital role in Baghdad and the rest of the Arab world from 856 until about 1050; playing the role of the main source of Greek philosophy and science as well as shaping the intellectual life. The most prominent of the Harranian Sabians was Thabit ibn Qurra.