MUSLIMS: DOCTRINESprivate revelations received by the Khanabiyya were inherently anti-
nomian.^124
They freed themselves from the literal meaning of the Qur'anic text
by finding the hidden truths behind it. Bayan, Mughira, Abii Man~iir,
Abii I-Khanab, the Janal).iyya, and I~haq al-Al).mar all engaged in the
symbolic or allegorical interpretation of the Qur'an. Abii Man~iir
probably introduced the allegorical interpretation of ritual require-
ments, and I~haq al-Al).mar gave an esoteric meaning to the ~alat. Abii
I-Khanab used the numerical value of the letters of the Arabic alphabet
to find hidden meanings in the Qur'an, and Mughira said that parts
of God's body resembled letters of the alphabet.^125
There is a generally gnostic background to the ideas of incarnation,
transmigration of souls, and antinomianism, to the esoteric interpre-
tation of scripture, and to the special significance of the alphabet. The
combination of these concepts-the conjunction of such claims and
beliefs-is more important than the separate items. Reincarnation might
ultimately be Indian or Platonic, but in eighth-century Iraq this idea
is most likely to have come from Manichaeans at Mada'in. The iden-
tification of the J anal).iyya with individual Companions resembles the
claims of the Me~allyane. Bayan's belief that there was one God in
Heaven and another on earth and that the one in Heaven was greater
than the one on earth seems Marcionite.^126 Not only were the Mu-
ghiriyya elitist, but Mughira described God as a man of light with a
crown of light. He related an elaborate creation myth based on a
dualism of good light and evil darkness; it described the creation of
the world from primeval seas by a demiurge. He declared that people
were created either good or evil, and represented Mul).ammad as a
gnostic redeemer. Tucker has pointed out the resemblance of Mu-
ghira's ideas to ancient Mesopotamian, gnostic, Manichaean, and
Mandaean concepts.^127 Among these groups the gnostic traditions
associated with Mada'in found an Islamic form and were continued
by the ghulat with a vocabulary that was barely Islamic.
The gnostic affinities of the ghulat included magic similar to that
on the incantation bowls. Both Bayan and Mughira claimed to know
124 Nawbakhti, Firaq ash-Shta, pp. 22, 34; Tucker, "Ibn Mu'awiya," p. 53; idem,
"al-Mugira," p. 36.
125 Baghdadi, Ta'rikh, VI, 380; Tucker, "Abii Man~iir," pp. 72, 75-76; idem, "Bayiin,"
pp. 247, 251; idem, "Ibn Mu'awiya," p. 53; idem, "al-Mugira," pp. 40-41, 44.
126 Tucker, "Bayan," p. 248.
127 Tucker, "al-Mugira," pp. 36, 39, 40-43, 46.