Natanʾel al-Fayyumi (Arabic:ناتانئيل الفيومي,romanized: Nātānʾil al-Fayyūmī,lit. 'Nathaniel ofPithom'),[1][2] b.c. 1090–d.c. 1165) was the twelfth-centuryYemenite Jewish author ofGarden of the Intellects (גן השכלים). It was an imitation ofBahya ibn Paquda's bookDuties of the Heart that al-Fayyumi composed inmedieval Judeo-Yemeni Arabic to counter some of the basic principles and tenets ofRabbinic Judaism expressed by Ibn Paquda. He wrote in the third chapter that God's unity is far greater than that described by ibn Paquda.[3]
Marc B. Shapiro wrote that al-Fayyumi's work supportsJonathan Sacks' pluralistic views on religion.[4] LikeIsmaʿili Islam, the faith of theBanu Hamdan dynasties ruling most of contemporary South Arabia, Natanʾel argued thatGod sent different prophets to the world's various peoples, each containing legislations suited to the particular temperament of each nation.[4] Each person should remain loyal to their own religion; the universal teachings had been adapted to the specific conditions and experiences of each community.
However, al-Fayyumi's explicit acceptance ofMuhammad's status as a prophet may be unique, and was virtually unknown until recent times beyond his native Yemen.[5]Yosef Qafih, the editor and translator of Fayyumi's Judeo-ArabicBustān al-ʿUqul, asserts that due to Muslim attempts to catch Jews saying something against their faith–one who said that Muhammad was a false prophet would be judged for death–Nathanʾel was compelled to teach his people arguments and responses that would save them from ensnarement.[6][7]
Muslim teachings speak of an evolutionary sequence of prophetic revelations, culminating in the messianicQa'im Al Muhammad era, which would unite all humanity in acknowledging God. Ismaili doctrine acknowledges that a single universal religious truth lies at the root of the different religions. Each historical revelation plays a role in preparing the path for that universal truth.
Within a single generation, Natan'el's sonJacob was compelled to turn toMaimonides, asking urgently for counsel on how to deal with a new wave of religious persecutions and forced conversions that was threatening the Jews of Yemen, an exchange which prompted Maimonides to compose his famousEpistle to Yemen. The letters and intellectual dialogue between Jacob, Maimonides, andSaladin had a lasting effect upon Yemenite Judaism.
There is a dispute betweenYosef Qafih and historian Yehuda Ratzaby as to the origin of thenisbaal-Fayyūmī. According to Ratzaby, it is ademonym derived from the name of his ancestors' place of origin, theFaiyum in Egypt.[8] Qafih, dissenting, thinks the name to be only a given name to the father of Natan'el, who was named "Fayyumi," a name that many children in Yemen were then affectionately called owing to the love the people had forSaadia Gaon al-Fayyumi.[9]
The clearest support for Sacks' position is provided by R. Netanel ben al-Fayyumi (twelfth century), who maintains that "God sent different prophets to the various nations of the world with legislations suited to the particular temperament of each individual nation."
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