Publisher's description:
This book is an examination of the traditions and legends concerning early Islam’s first and most infamous heretic, the Yemenite Jew known as 'Abd Allāh ibn Saba'. Tracing the evolution and transformation of the many stories and narratives about Ibn Saba' as adapted by Sunnī and Shī'ī scholars alike, this work attempts for the first time to give a comprehensive account of the formation of the image of Ibn Saba' as the quintessential heretic of Islam's early years. It also offers a new interpretation of the historical importance and beliefs of Ibn Saba' and those early Shī'a reviled as his followers, the Saba'īya. The end result is a revolutionary, new portrait of Shī'ite origins and early Islamic sectarianism.

Table of contents:
List of Table
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter One. Ibn Saba' and the Sayfian Corpus
Chapter Two. Sayf ibn 'Umar and the Saba'īya (I): The Caliphate of 'Uthmān ibn 'Affān
Chapter Three. Sayf ibn 'Umar and the Saba'īya (II): 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib the Battle of the Camel
Excursus: The Sayfian Corpus in the Riwāya of Naṣr ibn Muzāḥim
Chapter Four. Ibn Saba' and the Heresiographers
Chapter Five. The Execution of Ibn Saba'
Chapter Six. The Parousia of 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
Excursus 1: 'Alī in the Clouds
Excursus 2: The Letter of 'Alī Given to 'Abd Allāh ibn Wahb al-Hamdānī
Chapter Seven. The Saba'īya of the Umayyad Period
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index