maverick biblical interpretations of Anan ben David, an eighth-century
member of the exilarch’s family. Anan articulated an alternative interpreta-
tion of the Torah that contradicted conventional rabbinic tradition. Some of
his stricter interpretations of the Torah suggest a more literal reading. For
example, whereas as the rabbis interpreted Exodus 35:3 (“You shall not kin-
dle a flame in all your domain on the Sabbath”) as not precluding the use of
a flame that had been kindled prior to the Sabbath, Ananite tradition
banned the use of any flame. In fact, this stricter interpretation derived from
Anan’s use of some of the same exegetical tools that the rabbis used; he sim-
ply drew different conclusions. Among other things, Anan and subsequently
his Karaite followers observed the older, Land of Israel-dominated system of
determining the Jewish calendar.
By the beginning of the tenth century, the followers of Anan had expanded
and crystallized his system of interpretation to form a distinct brand of
Judaism: Karaism. As Karaism came into conflict with conventional
Rabbinic Judaism, Karaite scholars looked for ways to defend themselves. For
example, Jacob al-Kirkisani’s history of Jewish sects argued that sectarian
movements, from the Sadducees to the Karaites, were an inherent part of
Judaism’s natural development and survival. Sa’adia Gaon spearheaded the
campaign against Karaism. Bringing to bear an arsenal of rabbinic and philo-
sophical modes of argument, he denied Karaism entry to the Jewish
mainstream. While recognized as a Jewish sect by the Abbasid caliphate, by
the end of the tenth century Karaism was regarded by mainstream Jewish
society as an illegitimate form of Judaism. In retrospect, Karaism was not the
first challenge to the hegemony of Rabbinic Judaism. Rather, it was the last
gasp of non-rabbinic forms of Judaism that had coexisted with Rabbinic
Judaism for centuries. In the end, though, the preeminent position of
Babylonia and Baghdad was relatively short-lived. By the beginning of the
tenth century, rival Jewish centers began to appear in the Islamic world in
Egypt, Kairowan, and, most notably, Spain.
“Convivencia”: the Jews of Muslim Spain
By the end of the tenth century, the breakup of the united Abbasid caliphate
led to the emergence of new Islamic kingdoms in Egypt, North Africa, and
Spain. Concurrently, new centers of Jewish life emerged in each of these new
caliphates, most notably in Spain. Until recently, historians generally
regarded Muslim Spain as a highly favorable situation for Jews, a view that
was often telescoped into a single Spanish term: convivencia.This term referred
to an extended, relatively peaceful coexistence of Muslims, Christians, and
Jews in Spain from the eighth through the end of the tenth century, often
characterized as a golden age in the history of the diaspora. To be sure, Spain
was the only country in Europe where three major religions coexisted for an
The Jews of Islam 67