with his pen. But the ignorant simpletons are those for whom the fact
that something is written proves its truth.”^159 The misleading wrappings
include, in addition to the authority of the texts, people invested with
authority who propagate such texts. Maimonides pronounces himself
repeatedly in ways that show his indifference to the title of the speakers,
“those who are called ‘Disciples of the Sages,’ or ‘Sages,’ or ‘Gaonim,’ or
whatever you wish to call them.”^160 This jibe is clearly an aside to his ri-
val, the Gaon Samuel ben Eli, for whose intellect Maimonides had little
respect. In a private correspondence with his student regarding the de-
bate with the Gaon, Maimonides expresses his opinion of such people
even more clearly.
When I composed [the Mishneh Torah], I was well aware that the
book would surely fall into the hands of the ill- intentioned and the
jealous, who would disparage its good qualities and endeavor to ex-
pose it as superfl uous or as wanting; of the brainless ignoramus, who
would not be able to appreciate its achievements and will think it of
little value; of the deluded, misled beginner, who would not recog-
nize the source of certain things or whose mind would not be able to
grasp my insights; and of the obtuse reactionary (al-jamid al- fadm)
claiming to be a man of religion, and who would attack the principle
of beliefs the book contains— and such are most people.^161As we have seen above, heresy, whether called zandaqa or minut, is for
Maimonides a generic phenomenon. The same holds true regarding the
pious masses, whose opposition to reason Maimonides describes in ge-
neric terms, as common toawamm al- sharai, the masses in (all) reli-
gions.^162 Maimonides’ phenomenological approach encompasses also
the preachers, whose activity transcends ethnic and religious barriers. In
his attitude to the darshanim, Maimonides joins the chorus of both ortho-
dox and rationally inclined Muslims who identify the preachers (wuaz)
and those who tell edifying stories (qussas) as ignorant and supersti-
tious. “The long and respected line of anti-qasas sentiments,” to quote
Merlin Schwartz, triggered a parallel long and respected line of Muslims
who strove to defi ne the right kind and right amount of admonitions.
The ongoing debate touched the heart of Muslim religious practice. The
(^159) Epistles, 103. The Epistle to Yemen is mentioned by Maimonides in his Epistle on As-
trology,Epistles, 489; see also the Epistle on Forced Conversion, where he says: “We know
that anyone who composes a book, regardless of whether what he says is true or false, will
surely become famous among men.” Epistles, 43.
(^160) Treatise on Resurrection, 4; Epistles, 320– 21, 342– 43; and see Twersky, “The Mishneh
Torah of Maimonides,” 265– 95.
(^161) Epistles, 293.
(^162) See above, apud note 44.