Muhammad ibn Rumahis () was a Muslim Admiral in 10th Century Spain. He is remembered in Jewish History for capturing of four Babylonian Rabbis and ransoming them to the Jewish communities of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Kairouan,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, and one unidentified other location.
Personal life
He was born somewhere in the north of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
, where he was taken captive in a raid by the caliph
Abd al-Rahman III (891-961). When the Caliph became acquainted with his seafaring abilities, he was manumitted and named Admiral of the Caliphate fleet, participating in various actions from 940 until his death in 360
AH (971 CE).
Four Captive Rabbis
According to Abraham Ibn Daud's ''Sefer HaKabbala'', Ibn Rumahis captured a boat containing Rabbis
Shemariah ben Elchanan,
Chushiel
Chushiel ben Elchanan (also Ḥushiel) was president of the bet ha-midrash at Kairouan, Tunisia toward the end of the 10th century. He was most probably born in Italy, but his origins and travels remain obscure, and his eventual arrival in Kairwan ...
(father of
Rabbeinu Chananel),
Moshe ben Chanoch, and one other anonymous Rabbi while the four were traveling to raise money for the
Babylonian Talmudical academies. Knowing the emphasis Jews placed on redeeming captives, Ibn Rumahis traveled the Mediterranean, selling Rav Shemariah to the
Alexandrian Jews, Rav Chushiel to the Kairouan Jews, and Rav Moshe to the Spanish Jews. This is attributed as the source of the spread of Jewish learning from Babylonia to Spain and North Africa.
Heinrich Graetz posited that the fourth captive was
Rabbi Natan ben Yitzchak HaBavli, who settled, and was presumably sold, to the Jewish community in
Narbonne.
References
Spanish Muslims
Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate
10th-century Arabs
971 deaths
Year of birth unknown
{{Spain-mil-bio-stub