The Role of Muslims of Jewish Origin in Islamic Knowledge (1st–4th Centuries AH)

Abstract

This study critically investigates the multifaceted role and influence of Jewish converts to Islam in shaping Islamic epistemological and theological paradigms during the first four centuries AH. It pays particular attention to the transmission and canonization of Isrāʾīliyyāt (Judeo-Christian traditions) through prominent traditionalists such as Kaʿb al-Aḥbār and Wahb b. Munabbih. Stemming from biblical and haggadic backgrounds, these narratives introduced extensive details concerning prophetology, eschatology, and cosmogony. Consequently, this transmission profoundly impacted Quranic hermeneutics (tafsīr), prophetic traditions (ḥadīth), and mystical discourse (taṣawwuf), leading to the syncretic assimilation of extra-canonical material within Islamic textual traditions.
In contrast, the paper elucidates the seminal contributions of Jewish-origin scholars to rational sciences and Islamic civilization. It highlights figures such as ʿAlī b. Sahl Rabban al-Ṭabarī in medicine and Māshāʾallāh b. Atharī in astronomy, both of whom played instrumental roles in the Islamic Golden Age. Furthermore, it delineates their contributions to the Greco-Arabic translation movement and dialectical philosophy.
Thus, the study demonstrates the dialectical legacy of these scholars: they were concurrently agents of scientific and intellectual enrichment and the conduits of narrative traditions that necessitated sustained critical scrutiny. In sum, this inquiry provides a comprehensive, critical reassessment of the dual impact of Jewish-origin Muslims on early Islamic thought and culture.