can indeed be traced back to idolatrous ceremonies, these rituals have
lost their pagan sting and can now be considered an integral part of a
truly mono theistic religion.” In Maimonides’ own words, this argument
is summed up succinctly: “Even though the origin of these practices was
in idolatry, no person today throws those stones, or prostrates himself in
that place [Mekka], or does any of these things intending to worship
idols, neither in his mouth nor in his heart. Rather, their heart’s [inten-
tion] is devoted to worship the Lord.”^121 Without mentioning the Sabi-
ans or the concept of talattuf, Maimonides thus presents Islam, in com-
parison to that which preceded it, as a step in the gradual educational
process, in a similar manner to his portrayal of Judaism. He claims that
the pre- Islamic pagan rites were sublimated by Islam into mono theistic
rituals, which to this day serve to condemn the memory of the pagan
gods.^122
The Letter to Obadia thus highlights the thoroughly phenomenologi-
cal character of Maimonides’ perception of religion. For him, “Sabians”
was the generic name for a universal ailment— idolatry;jahiliyya was the
generic name for the environment that bred this ailment as well as for its
symptoms—ignorance, licentiousness, and barbarism; and the divine
remedy—accommodation—was fi tted to all the manifestations of this
ailment, in Judaism as well as in Islam.
“A Wise and Understanding People?”:
The Religion of the PeopleThe Sabians and jahiliyya provide, as we have seen above, a phenomeno-
logical framework for Maimonides’ historical analysis of the develop-
ment of religions. It would be incorrect, however, to classify these con-
cepts as denoting solely, or even primarily, relics of the ancient past.
Sabianism as well as jahiliyya are perceived as so ciological phenomena
that transcend history. Maimonides sees potential Sabians lurking in
every nation, at all times. Their ideas cater to the lower ranks of the social
structure: the multitudes, the ignorant, and those who can be characterized
(^121) “Libbam massur la- shammayyim (literally: to Heaven); Responsa, 726– 27. In the “Epis-
tle on Forced Conversion” Maimonides mentions the claim that “the Ishmaelites worship
idols in Mekka and elsewhere,” and dismisses it out of hand; see Epistles, 42.
(^122) See Maimonides, Responsa, 726– 27;Epistles, 427. See also, Mishneh Torah, Laws of
Kings (hilkhot melakhim), 11:4 (Jerusalem and Bnei- Brak, 1999), 12: 289. This section
was censored in the common versions; Funkenstein, Theology and the Scientifi c Imagina-
tion, 234; H. Lazarus- Yafeh, “The Religious Problematics of Islamic Pilgrimage: Islamici-
zation of Ancient Rites of Worship,” Proceedings of the Israeli Academy of Sciences, 5
(1972–76), 222– 43, and esp. 242– 43.