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Taheri-Iraqi, A.

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Taheri-Iraqi, A

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Zandaqa in the early Abbasid period with special reference to the poetry

The term 'Zindiq' is an Arabicised form of the
Persian word 'Zandik' which means 'interpreter', and
was initially applied to the Manichees by the Zoroastrians.
In the earliest extant text, in which the word 'Zandik'
occurs (third century A. D. ) it refers to the Manichees.
In Sassanian Pahlavi and Armenian texts, the term is
applied to the Manichees; but the application in some
later Pahlavi texts, especially those of the post-Islamic
era, does not seem to be entirely certain.

In Arabic it found currency in the early decades of
the second century of Islam, most probably in Iraq. From
the time of its early usage in Arabic, it came to mean
not only 'Manichee' but acquired other related meanings,
such as Mazdakite, Dualist-Gnostic, Dahri, heterodox
Muslim, irreligious and profligate. In the early sources,
however, it is used more commonly with reference to the
'Manichees', who on the fall of the Sassanid Empire
migrated from the East and re-established their church
in Iraq.

The tolerance enjoyed by the Manichaean community
was probably due to the lack of a developed Islamic
dogma, since this was still in its evolutionary stage,
as well as to the lack of awareness of this religious
minority by the Arab rulers in the earlier period.
Furthermore, some of the Manichees of Islamic Iraq
maintained a close relationship with the rulers.

The number of Manichaean religious texts and the
refutations which they attracted in the second century
indicates their intellectual importance at that time.
In the second century, while the Mu'tazilites were in
the process of establishing their ideas as the
dominant dogma', certain teachings of Manichaeism
attracted some Muslim intellectuals.

The persecution of the Zanädiga carried on in the
reign of al-Mahdi seems not to have affected the
traditional Manichaean community, who continued to
exist in Iraq for another century. The Persecution
seems to have been directed mainly against these
Muslims who converted to Manichaeism, or were its
adherents. Undoubtedly the Manichaean community in
the period of the Persecution also suffered to some
extent, but it nevertheless survived. However, with
the supremacy of Islamic dogmaticism, the Manichaean
community in time gradually disintegrated and partly
emigrated towards China. However, the persecution of
the Zanädiga, although originally intended against
certain Manichees, soon came to be directed mainly against
criticism of Islam or in a more general way against any
idea which threatened the state and fundamental tenets
of Islam. It was sometimes exploited as a means of
furthering political or personal antagonism.

Although certain so-called Zindlq poets had Shu'übi
tendencies, there seems to be no direct link between the
two movements, and hardly any case of a person being
accused of Zandaqa on account of his Shu'übism. Zandaqa,
therefore, did not have any nationalistic characteristics,
since it was commonplace among the ethnic Arab intellectuals
as well. The fact that the greater number of them
were from non-Arab origins can be attributed to the fact
that non-Arab intellectuals, who formed a majority in
Iraq, happened to dominate the cultural life of the
period.

Neither was the Zandaqa movement a political
force or a '. class-struggle', since among the Zindlgs
there were found many who belonged to the ruling families.
Furthermore, many of the Zindigs were in service-at
courts, as secretaries, nadims or poets.

The majority of those accused of Zandaqa in our
sources are poets. These poets, most of whom were
licentious, were careless in their religion and in many
cases expressed reservations about Islamic dogma or even
went so far as to mock religious acts. It was, indeed,
these blasphemies which attracted the accusations of
Zandaqa, rather than mere licentiousness, which was
widespread in Abbasid Iraq and was, in fact, tolerated
by the authorities. There were some licentious (majin)
poets who were never accused of Zandaqa, just as there
were Zindiq poets who led an ascetic life. The latter
group may have been influenced by Manichaean ideas which
were to be found in Iraq. Considering the Manichaean
influence on the cultural life of Iraq, we may presume
that the views of certain poets were influenced by
certain aspects of Manichaean beliefs, although they
were not actually Manichees

Taheri-Iraqi, Ahmad

Edinburgh Research Archive

https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/7427/1/290508.pdf

Zandaqa in the early Abbasid period with special reference to the poetry

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