Jacob Qirqisani (c. 890 – c. 960) (Arabic:أبو یوسف یعقوب القرقسانيʾAbū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Qirqisānī,Hebrew:יעקב בן יצחק הקרקסאניYaʿaqov ben Yiṣḥaq haQarqesani) was aKaraitedogmatist andexegete who flourished in the first half of the tenth century. His origins are unknown. His patronym "Isaac" and teknonym "Joseph" reflect no more than the genealogy of the biblical patriarchs (seeKunya), while his surname has been taken as referring to either ancientCircesium in eastern Syria, or Karkasān, near Baghdad, though no Karaite community is known in either place,[1] or as "theCircassian".[2] He seems to have traveled throughout theMiddle East, visiting the centers of Islamic learning, in which he was well-versed.
In 937 Qirqisani wrote an Arabic work on theJewish precepts—under the titleKitāb al-Anwār wal-Marāqib (کتاب الأنوار والمراقب, known in Hebrew asSefer ha-Me'orot, orSefer ha-Ma'or),[3] with the subtitleKitab al-Shara'i (Sefer Mitzvot Gadol)—and a commentary entitledal-Riyad wal-Hada'iq (Sefer ha-Gannim we-Pardesim, orSefer ha-Nitztzanim), on those portions of theTorah which do not deal with the laws.
The first volume of Qirqisani'sKitāb al-Anwār wal-marrāqib is the most important, which not only provides valuable information concerning the development ofKaraism but throws light also on many questions inRabbinic Judaism. It comprises thirteen treatises, each divided into chapters, and the first four treatises form an introduction to the whole work. In the first treatise, of eighteen chapters, Qirqisani gives a comprehensive survey of the development ofJewish religious movements, the material for which he drew not only from the works of his predecessors, asDavid ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas, whom he mentions, but also from his personal experiences in the learned circles in which he moved. The enumeration of the sects is given in chronological order, beginning with theSamaritans, and concluding with the sect founded byDaniel al-Kumisi.
Qirqisani declares the Rabbinites to be a Jewish sect founded byJeroboam although it did not make its appearance until the time of theSecond Temple. In opposition to them,Zadok, a disciple ofAntigonus of Sokho and founder of a sect (either theSadducees orEssenes) revealed part of the truth on religious subjects, whileAnan ben David disclosed the whole. However, despite Qirqisani's admiration for Anan, he often disagrees with him with his explanation of the precepts.
Considered aheresiography, although not a work primarily of history per se, it utilizes historiographical narrative for sectarian purposes to discredit Rabbinic Judaism by tying it to the story of Jeroboam.[4]
Qirqisani includes Christianity among the Jewish sects. In the third treatise (ch. xvi.) he says that "the religion of the Christians, as practised at present, has nothing in common with the teachings ofJesus." According to Qirqisani, the Christianity of his day originated withPaul the Apostle, who ascribeddivinity to Jesus andprophetic inspiration to himself. It was Paul that denied the necessity of carrying out the613 commandments and taught that religion consisted in humility; and theFirst Council of Nicaea adopted precepts which do not occur in theLaw,Gospels, orActs of the Apostles.
Qirqisani devotes a great portion of the first treatise to attacks uponRabbinic Judaism. In the last chapter, he also draws a sad picture of the spiritual condition of Karaism in his time. "You can scarcely find two Karaites of one and the same opinion on all matters; upon almost any point each has an opinion different from those of all the rest."[citation needed] He deplores the neglect by the Karaites of the study of rabbinical literature, which, according to him, would furnish them with weapons for their controversies with the Rabbanites. Here, Qirqisani is referring to the discrepancies frequent inhaggadic andhekhalot literature such as theShi'ur Qomah, which, indeed, he often uses in his attacks against the Rabbanites.
The second treatise, of twenty-eight chapters, discusses the duty of applying critical methods to study religious matters. Qirqisani is the first Karaite known to have firmly believed in the study of the sciences. He criticizes those who, although accepting the fundamental principle of independent inquiry and research, are against the demonstrative sciences ofdialectics and philosophy. Reason is the foundation upon which every article of faith is based and all knowledge flows.
The third treatise, of twenty-three chapters, is a critical review of adverse religious sects and Christianity. In the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters, Qirqisani refutes the doctrine ofgilgul (metempsychosis), though among its exponents wasAnan ben David, who wrote a work on the subject. For Qirqisani, the solution to the question much debated by theMuʿtazilimutakallimūn concerning the punishments inflicted upon children is not to be found in transmigration but in the belief that compensation will be given to children in the future world for their sufferings in this.
In the fourth treatise, Qirqisani expounds, in sixty-eight chapters, the fundamental principles leading to the comprehension of the particular religious prescriptions. The remaining treatises are devoted to the precepts, arranged in systematic order. Qirqisani quotes the views of the earliest Karaite authorities such as Anan ben David,Benjamin Nahawandi, andDaniel al-Qumisi, which he often refutes. Belonging to theBa'ale haRikkub or Karaite expounders of the Law,[5] he is particularly severe in his views on thelaws of incest. He combats the opinion of his contemporary Rabbanite Jacob ben Ephraim al-Shami, who permitted marriage to the daughter of one's brother or sister.[6]
Qirisani claims that natural knowledge andGreek philosophy originated withSolomon.[7]
Most of theKitab al-Anwar and the beginning of theAl-Riyad wal-Hada'iq are still extant in manuscript, in theAbraham Firkovich collection in theNational Library of Russia (Nos. 1142-1444). The first treatise of theKitab al-Anwar, dealing with the Jewish sects, was published byAbraham Harkavy in the memoirs of the Oriental section of the Archeological Society (viii. 1849). Various fragments of seven treatises (ii.-vi., viii., ix.-xii.) are found in theBritish Museum (Oriental MSS. Nos. 2,524, 2,526, 2,578-2,582). They were analyzed bySamuel Abraham Poznański, who published the text of chapters xvii. and xviii. of the third treatise, dealing with the doctrine of metempsychosis, and chapter xxxv. of the fifth treatise, in which Qirqisani discusses the question whether it is permitted to read onShabbat books written in other than theHebrew alphabet (Kohut Memorial Volume, pp. 435–462;Steinschneider Festschrift, pp. 195 et seq.).
The text of the sixteenth chapter of the third treatise, dealing with the criticism of Christianity, was published by Hartwig Hirschfeld in hischrestomathy (Arabic Chrestomathy in Hebrew Characters (1892)). A dissertation on theTen Commandments by Qirqisani, which Steinschneider supposes to be the first chapter of the sixth treatise beginning with proofs of the existence of God, is found in the Bibliothèque Nationale (No. 755).
Both theKitab al-Anwar and theAl-Riyad wal-Hada'iq were abridged, the former by a certain Moses ben Solomon haLevi. Harkavy deduces from quotations that Qirqisani translated the Bible into Arabic, wrote commentaries on theBook of Job and onEcclesiastes, and wrote a work on thetawhid "unity of God",Kitab al-Tawhid.
Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "ḲIRḲISANI, ABU YUSUF YA'ḲUB AL-".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."ḲIRḲISANI, ABU YUSUF YA'ḲUB".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
