ʿIbād
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The ʿIbād or ʿEbād () were a
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
group within the city of al-Ḥīra (Ḥirtā) during
Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...
and the early
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, when the city was part of the
Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
and later the
Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
. Of diverse tribal backgrounds, the ʿIbād were united only by their adherence to Christianity and, after the sixth century, the
Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...
.


Sources

Written sources of ʿIbādī history are found in
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, Syriac and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
. The most extensive sources on the ʿIbād are in Arabic. These tend to focus on kings and poets, and are also concerned with tribal genealogies. From the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
period, they also tend to idealize the pre-Islamic past, the . An important authority on the ʿIbād in the Arabic tradition is
Ḥishām ibn al-Kalbī Hishām ibn al-Kalbī (), 737 – 819 CE / 204 AH, also known as Ibn al-Kalbi (), was an Arab historian. His full name was Abu al-Mundhir Hisham ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sa'ib ibn Bishr al-Kalbi. Born in Kufa, he spent much of his life in Baghdad. L ...
(d. 819), who consulted ʿIbādī books and archives in al-Ḥīra. He thus passes on something of the ʿIbād's own perception of themselves, their history and their city. His monograph about the ʿIbād is titled ''The Churches and Monasteries of al-Ḥīra and the Genealogies of the ʿIbādīs''. Both
al-Ṭabarī Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day ...
and Abuʾl-Faraj use it as their main source on al-Ḥīra.
Oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
also informed Arabic historiography. In the twelfth century, Abuʾl-Baqāʾ of al-Ḥilla wrote that the history of the
Lakhmid dynasty The Banu Lakhm () was an Arab tribe best known for its ruling Nasrid, or more commonly, 'Lakhmid', house, which ruled as the Sasanian Empire's vassal kings in the buffer zone with the nomadic Arab tribes of northern and eastern Arabia in the 4th ...
that had ruled the region before Islam was taught to schoolchildren. Syriac sources are all ecclesiastical. Their concerns and tendencies are completely different from those of the Arab Islamic historiography. They are concerned only with saints, holy men and clerics and often exaggerate their sufferings. The
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
of the region of al-Ḥīra and the study of the architecture of the Church of the East are underexplored and underdeveloped. Although both Arabic and Syriac sources name many churches and monasteries associated with the ʿIbād, none has yet been identified with any existing ruins.


Name and tribal affiliation

The
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
term means "servants" or "devotees". It is probably a contraction of the phrase ("slaves of the Lord"), ("servants of the Messiah") or ("servants of God"), an expression reflecting a sense of being the only genuine worshipers of God. It seems to have been the self-designation of the Christians of al-Ḥīra. Although in later
Islamic literature Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic culture, Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many lite ...
the term usually referred to the Christians of al-Ḥīra exclusively, it may sometimes have been used as a synonym for Christians generally, as in the phrase ("the Christians of Tamīm") found in the of Abuʾl-Faraj, or for Christians of the Church of the East, as when Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 1175) distinguishes between the erstwhile " Jacobite" churches and the "churches of the ʿIbād" in
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
. The ʿIbād had diverse tribal backgrounds from both northern Arabia ( Tamīm, Rabīʿa and Muḍar) and southern (
Azd The Azd (Arabic: أَزْد), or Al-Azd (Arabic: ٱلْأَزْد), is an ancient Tribes of Arabia, Arabian tribe. The lands of Azd occupied an area west of Bisha and Al Bahah in what is today Saudi Arabia. Land of Azd Pre-Islamic Arabia Pre- ...
, Iyād and
Lakhm The Lakhmid kingdom ( ), also referred to as al-Manādhirah () or as Banū Lakhm (), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a dependen ...
). There were ʿIbād who could trace their genealogy to the Banū ʿAlqama, Banū Ayyūb, Banū Buqayla (Azd), Banū Kaʿb, Banū ʿUqayl and even the Banū Marīna, the same branch as the Lakhmid royal family. There were prominent Christians of the Ṭayyiʾ in al-Ḥīra, but it is not clear if they were considered ʿIbād. ʿĀqūlāyē, the Syriac name for the ʿIbād, is derived from the prominent tribe of the Banū ʿUqayl. When Christianity began to spread out from al-Ḥīra into
Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
, one early Christian settlement was named ʿAqūla after the tribe. Because the ʿIbād were a unity formed out of several tribes, al-Jawharī says, they received their own , a surname usually indicating tribal affiliation: al-ʿIbādī. Generally, the term seems only to have referred to the established sedentary Christian population of mixed tribal background in al-Ḥīra. The Christians of the nearby semi-nomadic
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
tribes were not usually called ʿIbād, nor were Christian newcomers to al-Ḥīra. Abuʾl-Baqāʾ says explicitly that the ʿIbād were "the noble people of al-Ḥīra, the people of the good families" ().


Language and culture

The ʿIbād were of considerable antiquity, part of a wider Christian community in southern Mesopotamia and the Sasanian Empire that developed independently of trends within the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. The first language of the ʿIbād was Arabic, but their dress and manners were that of the
Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
-speaking peasantry of the Sawād (the fertile land of southern Mesopotamia). Later Islamic traditions records that the Arab conquerors of Mesopotamia had some difficulty accepting the ʿIbād as fellow Arabs. One legend has an ʿIbādī referring to his people as both "true Arabs and Arabized Arabs" (), i.e., a mix of southern
Qahtanite The Qahtanites (; ), also known as Banu Qahtan () or by their nickname ''al-Arab al-Ariba'' (), are the Arabs who originate from modern-day Yemen. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple Ancient South Arabian script, Ancient South Arabian ins ...
and northern
Adnanites The Adnanites () were a tribal confederation of the Ishmaelite Arabs who originate from the Hejaz. They trace their lineage back to Ishmael, son of the Islamic prophet and patriarch Abraham and his wife Hagar, through Adnan. The Islamic prophe ...
. Another records the legendary ʿIbādī ʿAbd al-Masīḥ ibn Buqayla saying, "we are Nabateanized Arabs and Arabized
Nabateans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Pet ...
" (). The traditions show that the ʿIbād were accepted as Arabs by other Arabs, largely because their first language was Arabic. Archaeological excavations suggest that the church architecture of the ʿIbād belonged to the traditions of Mesopotamian architecture and
Sasanian architecture Sasanian architecture refers to the Persian architecture, Persian architectural style that reached a peak in its development during the Sasanian era. In many ways the Sasanian Empire period (224–651 CE) witnessed the highest achievement of Hist ...
with little influence from eastern Roman architecture. This style of church architecture is found throughout
Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
and the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
. It has been argued that the ʿIbād developed the original
Kufic script The Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts ...
in pre-Islamic times. Early Islamic tradition, as in the , traces the script back to al-Ḥīra.


History

According to Syriac tradition, Christianity was brought to the region of al-Ḥīra by a hermit named ʿAbdīshoʿ in the third century. He is said to have founded the first monastery of al-Ḥīra, probably as a hermitage. By the end of the third century, the encampment of al-Ḥīra had become the capital of the Lakhmids, who turned it into an important trading centre. By the fifth century the dominant group there was the Christians, who called themselves ʿIbād. Abuʾl-Baqāʾ, writing in the twelfth century, says that the ʿIbād "formed the majority" in al-Ḥīra. They had arrived in a series of migrations from
eastern Arabia Eastern Arabia () is a region stretched from Basra to Khasab along the Persian Gulf coast and included parts of modern-day Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province), and the United Arab ...
and
al-Yamāma Al-Yamama () is a historical region in south-eastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Only a handful of centralized states ever arose in the Yamama, but it figured prominently in early Islamic history, becoming a central theater in the Ridd ...
in central Arabia. A bishop of al-Ḥīra, named Hosea, is first attested in the acts of the
Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon The Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, also called the Council of Mar Isaac, met in AD 410 in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persian Sassanid Empire. Convoked by King Yazdegerd I (399–421), it organized the Christians of his empire into a ...
in 410. The see was a suffragan of the patriarchal province. In the Council of 484, the Church of the East adopted
dyophysitism Dyophysitism (; from Ancient Greek, Greek δύο ''dyo'', "two" and φύσις ''physis'', "nature") is the Christology, Christological position that Jesus Christ is in two distinct, inseparable natures: God in Christianity, divine and human natur ...
(Nestorianism), but the doctrine prevailing at al-Ḥīra is uncertain.
Monophysite Monophysitism ( ) or monophysism ( ; from Greek , "solitary" and , "nature") is a Christological doctrine that states that there was only one nature—the divine—in the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnated Word. It is rejected as ...
(Jacobite) missionaries were active among the Arab tribes around the city. In the early sixth century, Aḥudemmeh converted the Tanūkh and the Arabs of Kūfa and Simeon of Bēt Arshām was actively proselytizing in al-Ḥīra itself. The
Taghlib The Banu Taghlib (), also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Jazira. Their parent tribe was the Rabi'a, and they thus traced their descent to the Adnanites. The Taghlib were among the most powerful and cohesive no ...
were also converted to monophysitism and the pagans of the oasis of ʿAyn al-Namir even to Phantasiasm. The ʿIbād appear to have been doctrinally mixed prior to the late sixth century, when dyophysite influence overwhelmed the monophysite. The closure of the dyophysite
School of Nisibis The School of Nisibis (, for a time absorbed into the School of Edessa) was an educational establishment in Nisibis (now Nusaybin, Turkey). It was an important spiritual centre of the early Church of the East, and like the Academy of Gondishapur ...
in 540 was a major catalyst, since it was refounded by some former students in al-Ḥīra. Around the same time there seems to have been an exodus of monophysites from al-Ḥīra to
Najrān Najran ( '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Today, the city of Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As of the 2022 census, the city population was 381,431, wit ...
. During the reign of
Khosrow I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; ), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ("the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a rei ...
(531–579) and Bishop Ephrāem, the monastery of Dayr al-Hind al-Kubrā was founded in al-Ḥīra. It is the only monastery the foundation inscription of which has been preserved. It was copied by Ḥishām ibn al-Kalbī. It records that the church was founded by Hind bint al-Ḥārith, wife of the Lakhmid king al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nuʿman (503–554) and mother of King ʿAmr III ibn al-Mundhir (554–570). Around 592, the Lakhmid king al-Nuʿmān III converted to Nestorianism. According to a legend repeated by Abuʾl-Baqāʾ, the king fell ill and requested the help of both the (Jacobites) and the (Nestorians). The prayers of the Jacobites failed to heal the king, and the Nestorians demanded that he convert to their faith. This was done in a public ceremony, but nonetheless the archbishop of Mosul and Erbil had to be fetched to perform an exorcism. This story probably represents part of the origin legend of the ʿIbād of Abuʾl-Baqāʾ's day, explaining how the confessional diversity in the city was replaced by uniformity. According to
al-Masʿūdī al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...
, writing in the tenth century, the ʿIbād were all Nestorians, which meant members of the Church of the East. In 636, during the
Muslim conquest of Persia As part of the early Muslim conquests, which were initiated by Muhammad in 622, the Rashidun Caliphate conquered the Sasanian Empire between 632 and 654. This event led to the decline of Zoroastrianism, which had been the official religion of ...
, the church of al-Ḥīra was razed so Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ could build his capital of Kūfa. In later Islamic writings, al-Ḥīra became a symbol of the transience of worldly accomplishments. It was a common setting for the orgies and bacchanalia in the (wine poetry) of the "accursed poets" () of Kūfa, since the monasteries of al-Ḥīra were associated with drinking and taverns. According to al-Shābushtī, the daughter of al-Nuʿmān III, Hind bint an-Nuʿmān, who had retired to a monastery, met Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and Mughīra ibn Shuʿba al-Thaqafī around the time of the conquest and told them how:
In the evening, there was no Arab on earth that did not request favors from us and glorify us, but then in the morning, there was no one from whom we did not request favors and glorify!


Notable ʿIbādīs

* Aws ibn Qallām (reigned 363–368) * ʿAdī ibn Zayd (6th century) * Jābir ibn Shamʿūn (6th century) *
Shubhalishoʿ Shubhalishoʿ () was an East Syriac monk, missionary and martyr of the late 8th century. According to Thomas of Margā's ''Book of Governors'', Shubhalishoʿ was an Ishmaelite (i.e., an Arab) and his native language was Arabic. He was probably a ...
(fl. 780s) * Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-ʿIbādī (809–873)


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{refend Christian groups in the Middle East Church of the East Christians Arab ethnic groups Arab Christians in Mesopotamia Christians in the Sasanian Empire Arabs from the Sasanian Empire