Kitab al Majmu

Kitab al-Majmu‘ (Arabic: كتاب المجموع‎‎ "The Book of the Collection") is a book which is claimed by some Sunni Muslims and former Alawites to be the main source of teaching of the ‘Alawi sect of Islam.[1] They claim the book is not openly published and instead is passed down from initiated Master to Apprentice; however, the book has been published by Western scholars, and both the original Arabic and French translation are available on the Internet Archive.[2] The Alawis, however, reject this book as baseless and state that their main source of teaching is Nahj al-Balagha.[3] According to Matti Moosa:[4]

Kitab al-Majmu contains sixteen suras (chapters) incorporated by Sulayman al-Adani in his Kitab al-Bakura... Kitab al-Majmu was published with a French translation by René Dussaud in his Histoire et Religion des Nosairis, 161-98. The Arabic text of the same is found in Abu Musa al-Hariri's al-Alawiyyun al-Alawiyya (Dubai: Dar al-Itisam, 1980), 145-74.

The man who revealed the alleged book was Sulayman al-Adani, an Alawite convert to Christianity.[5]

It is also known as al-Dustoor, and has been attributed to an 11th century Alawite missionary, al-Maymoun al-Tabarani.[6]

Yaron Friedman suggests that Kitab al-Majmu was influenced by Jewish esoteric traditions found in the Sefer Yetzirah; Friedman in particular points to the similarity of the texts in their letter mysticism, comparing Sefer Yetzirah's "great secret" (sod gadol) of aleph-mem-shīn to Kitab al-Majmu's secret (sirr) of ʿayn-mīm-sīn.[7]

Contemporary Alawis insist that the Kitab al-Majmu is fabricated, some even suggesting that it is a forgery created by 19th century Christian missionaries.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Glassé, Cyril. 2008. The New Encyclopedia of Islam. Walnut Creek CA: AltaMira Press, p.37
  2. ↑ "Histoire et religion des Nosairîs". archive.org.
  3. ↑ Sirat Al Shaikh Muhammad ibn Nusayr page 1
  4. ↑ Matti Moosa, Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects, Syracuse University Press, 1987, p. 503, note 25
  5. ↑ Matti Moosa (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse University Press. p. 260. ISBN 9780815624110.
  6. ↑ Nibras Kazimi (1 September 2013). Syria through Jihadist Eyes: A Perfect Enemy. Hoover Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-8179-1076-1.
  7. ↑ Yaron Friedman (2010). The Nuṣayrī-ʻAlawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History, and Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria. BRILL. p. 96. ISBN 90-04-17892-9.
  8. ↑ Firro, Kais M. (2005). "The Ἁlawīs in Modern Syria: From Nuṣayrīya to Islam via Ἁlawīya". Der Islam. 82 (1): 1–31. ISSN 0021-1818. doi:10.1515/islm.2005.82.1.1.
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