Was shahadah copied from Sabians?

- Christians say that no prophet in the Bible was ordered to utter shahadah, and they quote the following by saying that the Prophet took it from other religions:
“Abdurrahman Ibn Zayd wrote the following in the 8th century AD: The polytheists said to the Prophet and his Companions by comparing them: “They are Sabians.” Then, he wrote: Sabians living in Jaziratul-Mawsil (that is, in Iraq) said, ‘La ilaha illallah’.”
- How can this claim be answered?

Dear Brother / Sister,

First of all, we should state that if something that exists in the religion of Islam also exists in the history of humanity, it shows that it was taken from the same source, namely divine revelation; it does not show that Islam copied it.

For example, as it is clearly stated in the Quran, prayer and fasting existed in the shari’ahs of the previous prophets too. That is, the religion of Islam did not copy those deeds of worship from them; on the contrary, Allah, who ordered those deeds of worship to them, also ordered them to Muslims.

Similarly, if there is such a shahadah among Sabians, it does not mean that Islam copied it from them - God forbid - but that they were members of a true religion and that they deviated over time.

It should not be forgotten that the Prophet Adam is the first human being and the first prophet. After that, prophets were sent to all nations.

“...And there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past).” (Fatir, 35/24)

As a matter of fact, we see it clearly in the verse above.

Thus, if there is an expression in the pre-Islamic periods meaning “to testify that there is no god but Allah”, it indicates that the source of both of them is divine revelation, not copying.

After this short explanation, let us deal with the narration in question:

The information Abdurrahman Ibn Zayd gives about Sabians is as follows:

“Sabians lived in the Mosul region and were members of a religion. They said, ‘La ilaha illallah’ (and had the belief of tawhid) but they did not have any religious deeds, books or prophets. They did not believe in the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) either. Therefore, the polytheists called the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions ‘Sabiun / Sabians’ - by likening them to Sabians.” (see Tabari, the interpretation of al- Baqara 62)

It is not appropriate to regard this information given by Ibn Zayd as definite because very different information is given about Sabians. Examples:

1. According to Said b. Jubayr, Sabians are a nation between Fire-worshipping (Magianism), Judaism and Christianity (somewhat similar to each of them).

2. According to the Mujahid, Sabians are a community between Magianism, Judaism and Christianity; they have no religion.

3. According to another narration attributed to Mujahid, Sabians are a community between Magians and Jews, and they do not belong to any religion.

4. According to Abul-Aliya, Sabians are a group of people who read Psalms from the people of the book. Dahhak, Suddi, Rabi b. Anas and Jabir b. Zayd also hold this view.

5. According to Hasan (al-Basri), Sabians are like Magians.

6. According to Hasan al-Basri, in another narration, the Sabians are a nation who worship angels.

7. According to Abuz-Zannad, Sabians are a nation who believe in all prophets, fast for a month every year, perform prayers five times by turning toward the direction of YEMEN; they live around Iraq.

8. According to Abu Jafar ar-Razi, Sabians are a community that worships angels, reads Psalms and perform prayers facing the qiblah (the same direction as us). (see Ibn Abi Hatim, the interpretation of the verse in question)

9. Sabians are a nation who worship stars. (see Maturidi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

However, we see that the expression ‘La ilaha illallah’, which was cited by Ibn Zayd as the reason for Arab polytheists to liken Muslims to Sabians, is not a single interpretation. Besides, the common aspect of this analogy was as follows:  

The root letters of the word “Sabiin / Sabiun” are “S-B-A”. The word “Sabi” derived from it means “one who abandons his own religion and converts to another religion”. The reason why Arabs called our Prophet (pbuh) “Sabi” is due to that meaning (which is consistent with his abandoning the old religion of Arabs and conversion to a new one). (see Razi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

Ibn Atiyya includes the following views:

“‘Sabi’ lexically means someone who leaves one religion and converts to another. Because of this meaning, the Arabs used to call a Muslim person ‘SBA’. According to some, the reason why Arab polytheists call Muslims ‘SBA’ is because of their common similarities with Sabians living in the Mosul region. Sabians living there also rejected all gods and believed in only one god. They had no good deed except the phrase “La ilaha illallah”.” (see Ibn Atiyya, the interpretation of the verse in question)

As it can be understood from the explanations above, the analogy scholars established between Sabians and Muslims in this regard is related to the “belief of Tawhid”. Sabians may have used another phrase expressing this meaning instead of the phrase “La ilaha illallah”. In that case, the result is the same: it means to convert from the religion of polytheism to the religion of Tawhid.

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