Natan'el al-Fayyumi (also known as Nathanel ben Fayyumi), born about 1090 – died about 1165, of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
was the twelfth-century author of ''Bustan al-Uqul'' (Hebrew: ''Gan HaSikhlim''; Garden of the Intellects), a Jewish version of
Ismaili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
Shi'i
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
doctrines, and a complete imitation of
Bahya ibn Paquda's book, ''
Duties of the Heart
''Chovot HaLevavot'', or ''Ḥobot HaLebabot'' (; he, חובות הלבבות; English: ''Duties of the Hearts''), is the primary work of the Jewish rabbi, Bahya ibn Paquda, full name ''Bahya ben Joseph ibn Pakuda''. Rabbi Ibn Paquda is believed ...
'', and which Al-Fayyumi composed, in his own words, to counter some of the basic principles and tenets of Judaism expressed by Ibn Paquda, writing in his 3rd chapter that God's unity is far greater than that described by Ibn Paquda. Like the Ismailis, Natan'el argued that God sent different prophets to the various nations of the world, containing legislations suited to the particular temperament of each individual nation. Each people should remain loyal to its own religion, because the universal teaching was adapted to the specific conditions and experiences of each community. Not all Jewish depictions of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
were negative. Jews who lived in environments governed by Ismailis did not view them as enemies, and vice versa.
Nathanel explicitly considered Muhammad a true prophet, who was sent from Heaven with a particular message that applies to the Arabs, but not to the Jews.
Marc B. Shapiro
Marc B. Shapiro (Hebrew: מלך שפירא, born 1966) is a professor and the author of various books and articles on Jewish history, philosophy, theology, and rabbinic literature.
Education and career
Shapiro received his BA at Brandeis Unive ...
has written that Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks ( he, יונתן הנרי זקס, translit=Yona'tan Henry Zaks; 8 March 19487 November 2020) was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United He ...
's pluralistic views on religion are supported by al-Fayyumi. However, al-Fayyumi's explicit acceptance of Muhammad's prophecy may be unique and was virtually unknown until recent times beyond his native
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. Rabbi
Yosef Qafih
Yosef Qafiḥ ( he, יוסף קאפח , ), widely known as Rabbi Yosef Kapach (27 November 1917 – 21 July 2000), was a Yemenite-Israeli authority on Jewish religious law (''halakha''), a dayan of the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Israel, and o ...
, the editor and translator of Fayyumi's
Judeo-Arabic
Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encomp ...
''Bustan al-Uqul'', asserts that due to Muslim attempts to catch Jews saying something against their faith–one who said that Muhammad was a false prophet would be judged for death–Nathanel was compelled to teach his people arguments and responses that would save them from ensnarement.
Ismaili teachings speak of an evolutionary sequence of prophetic revelations, which will culminate in the era of the messianic
al-Qa'im, who will unite all humanity in acknowledging God. Ismaili doctrine acknowledges that a single universal religious truth lies at the root of the different religions and that each of the historical revelations plays a role in preparing the path for that universal truth.
There were Jews, such as Natan'el, who accepted this model of religious pluralism, leading them to view Muhammad as a legitimate prophet, albeit not Jewish, sent to preach to the Arabs, just as the Hebrew prophets had been sent to deliver their messages to Israel.
Within a single generation, Natan'el's son
Yaqub
Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (Arabic: يَعْقُوب ابْنُ إِسْحَٰق ابْنُ إِبْرَاهِيم, literally: "''Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham''" ar, يَعْقُوب , translit=Yaqub; also later ''Israil'', Arabic: إ ...
was compelled to turn to
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
, asking urgently for counsel on how to deal with a new wave of religious persecutions and forced conversions that was threatening the Jews of Yemen, an exchange which prompted Maimonides to compose his famous ''
Epistle to Yemen
The Epistle to Yemen or Yemen Letter ( he, אגרת תימן, translit=Iggeret Teiman, ar, الرسالة اليمنية) was an important communication written by Maimonides and sent to the Yemenite Jews. The epistle was written in 1173/4.
The n ...
''. The letters and intellectual dialogue between Yaqub, Maimonides and
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
had a lasting effect upon the
Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...
.
Etymology
There is a dispute between Rabbi
Yosef Qafih
Yosef Qafiḥ ( he, יוסף קאפח , ), widely known as Rabbi Yosef Kapach (27 November 1917 – 21 July 2000), was a Yemenite-Israeli authority on Jewish religious law (''halakha''), a dayan of the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Israel, and o ...
and historian Yehuda Ratzaby as to the origin of the name "Fayyumi." According to Ratzaby, "al-Fayyumi" is
gentilic
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
, derived from the name of his ancestors' place of origin, who are thought to have come from
Fayyum
Faiyum ( ar, الفيوم ' , borrowed from cop, ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ ' from egy, pꜣ ym "the Sea, Lake") is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum ...
in Egypt. Qafih, dissenting, thinks the name to be only a given name to the father of Rabbi Natan'el who was named "Fayyumi," the name that many children in Yemen were then affectionately called-by, owing to the love the people had for Rabbi
Saadia Gaon al-Fayyumi.
[Rabbi Yosef Qafih, in his Introduction to the book, ''Garden of the Intellects'', writes that the name "Fayyumi" was written without the definite article "al" (the). He cites references to the effect that the name was not used in Yemen as a surname, but only a private name, named after Rabbi Saadia Gaon who was called "al-Fayyumi."]
See also
*
Judaism's view of Muhammad
*
Judaism and Islam
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
*
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:
* Recognizing and tolerating the religious diversity of a society or countr ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natanel Al-Fayyumi
Yemenite Jews
Jewish writers
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
Philosophers of Judaism
Medieval Jewish writers
1090s births
1160s deaths
1165 deaths
12th-century Jewish theologians
Judeo-Arabic writers