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SABIANS . The Sabians (as-Sabi'un) who are first mentioned in the See also:Koran (ii. 59, V. 73, xxii. 17) were a semi-See also:Christian See also:sect of Babylonia, the Elkesaites, closely resembling the See also:Mandaeans or so-called " Christians of St See also:John the Baptist," but not identical with them. Their name is probably derived from theAramaic See also:ass, a dialectical See also:form of yus, and signifies " those who See also:wash themselves "; the See also:term al-mughtasila, which is sometimes applied to them by Arab writers, has the same meaning, and they were also known as huepol3a rncrai. How See also:Mahomet understood the
In the 18th See also:century there was discovered in one of the catacombs of See also:Rome an inscription containing the words " qui et Filius diceris et See also:Pater inveniris." This can only have come from a Sabellian.
2 Whether See also:Sabellius himself ever visited the See also:East is unknown.
term " Sabians " is uncertain, but he mentions them together with the See also:Jews and Christians. The older See also:Mahommedan theologians were agreed that they possessed a written See also:revelation and were entitled accordingly to enjoy a See also:toleration not granted to See also:mere See also:heathen. Curiously enough, the name " Sabian " was used by the Meccanidolaters to denote Mahomet himself andhis Moslem converts, apparently on See also:account of the frequent ceremonial ablutions which formed a striking feature of the new See also:religion.
From these true Sabians the pseudo-Sabians of Ilarran (Carrhae) in See also:Mesopotamia must be carefully distinguished. In A.D. 830 the See also:Caliph Ma'See also:mun, while marching against theByzantines, received a deputation of the inhabitants of IJarran. Astonished by the sight of their See also:long See also:hair and extraordinary See also:costume, he inquired what religion they professed, and getting no satisfactory See also:answer threatened to exterminate them, unless by the See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time of his return from the See also:war they should have embraced either See also:Islam or one of the See also:creeds tolerated in the Koran. Consequently, acting on the See also:advice of a Mahbmmedan jurist, the IJarranians declared themselves to be " Sabians," a name which shielded them from persecution in virtue of its Koranic authority and was so vague that it enabled them to maintain their See also:ancient beliefs undisturbed. There is no doubt as to the See also:general nature of the religious beliefs and practices which they sought to See also:mask. Since the See also:epoch of See also:Alexander the See also:Great }See also:Arran had been a famous centre of See also:pagan and Hellenistic culture; its See also:people were "Syrian heathens, See also:star-worshippers versed in See also:astrology and magic. In their temples the planetary See also:powers were propitiated by See also:blood-offerings, and it is probable that human victims were occasionally sacrificed even as See also:late as the 9th century of our era. The more enlightened IJarranians, however, adopted a religious See also:philosophy strongly tinged with Neoplatonic and Christian elements. They produced a brilliant See also:succession of eminent scholars and scientists who transmitted to the Moslems the results of Babylonian See also:civilization and See also:Greek learning, and their See also:influence at the See also:court of Baghdad secured more or less toleration for Sabianism, although in the reign of Harlin al-Rashid the IJarranians had already found it necessary to establish a fund by means of which the conscientious scruples of Moslem officials might be overcome. Accounts of these false Sabians reached the See also:West through See also:Maimonides, and then through Arabic See also:sources, Iong before it was understood that the name in this application was only a disguise. Hence the utmost confusion prevailed in all See also:European accounts of them till Chwolsohn published in 1856 his Ssabier and der Ssabismus, in which the authorities for the See also:history and belief of the IJarranians in the See also:middle ages are collected and discussed.
See also " Nouveaux documents pour !'etude de la religion See also:des Harraniens," by See also:Dozy and De See also:Goeje, in the Actes of the See also:sixth See also:Oriental See also:congress, ii. 281 f. (See also:Leiden, 1885). (R. A.
End of Article: SABIANS
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