Jewish sects

The Sects of the Jews

The Jews split into more than seventy sects, the most important of which are:

First: The Pharisees

The name means the separated or the dissenters. They call themselves (the rabbis) or (the Rabbanites).

Their beliefs:

1. They believe that the Torah was created from eternity on holy tablets and that God then revealed it to Moses.

2. They believe in the Last Day, the resurrection, the angels and the other matters known only through revelation.

3. They incline to asceticism and call for monastic withdrawal, because the world is an abode of trial, and the believer must guard against its evil and keep away from its burdens and its passing pleasures, seeking salvation and eternal life in the bliss of the hereafter. They forbid the offering of sacrifices in the temples and the other rites that the priests invented.

4. They believe in the infallibility of the rabbis, and hold that whatever issues from them is revelation from God flowing on their tongues. It was they who composed the Talmud, by inspiration from God, as an interpretation and explanation of the Torah; hence the Talmud is as sacred as the Torah, indeed more sacred, because it is the key to understanding the Torah and knowing its purposes.

Among their sayings on the sanctity of their rabbis: The believer must regard the sayings of the rabbis as the law, for their sayings are the word of the living God; if the rabbi says that your right hand is the left, and the reverse, believe what he says and do not dispute with him.

5. They hold to predestination, and that everything has been decreed in a way that cannot be changed.

6. They do not acknowledge Jesus and do not believe in his mission. They hold that the Messiah has not yet come, and they stand waiting for him to lead them to salvation from sins and to the dominion of the Children of Israel over the world.

Second: The Sadducees

They are named after a man called "Zadok", who was the high priest in the time of Solomon

(peace be upon him). Some historians hold that calling them Sadducees, that is, "the truthful", is a case of naming by opposites, since they were known for denial and for giving the lie to all Jews other than themselves.

Their beliefs:

1. They deny the resurrection and the next life, and that there is a reckoning and a recompense of Paradise and Hell; life is only the life of this world, and recompense is only recompense in this world. They also deny that God has angels, or that there are jinn or devils.
2. They deny that the Torah that exists now is the one that Moses brought; it is rather sayings collected from the lips of the priests and the elders of the Jews. For this reason they do not believe in its sanctity, just as they do not believe in the Talmud.
3. They deny divine decree and destiny, and hold that no one has any authority over man and his freedom: his acts are the work of his own hand and not the work of anyone else, so God has nothing to do with our acts or our states.
4. They deny the awaited Messiah and do not believe that he will come.
5. They hold to the corporeality and anthropomorphism of God, glory be to Him and exalted be He; in their belief He is in the image of man. And they ascribe a son to Him, saying that Ezra ('Uzayr) is the son of God, exalted be God high above what they say.

Third: The Karaites

They were given this name because they occupied themselves with writing out the law and reciting it. They are also called the sages, or the preachers.

Their beliefs:

1. They believe in the Talmud and its sanctity. As for the Torah, they acknowledge part of it and deny the rest, holding that it was composed by the other sects and is not part of the Torah that was sent down to Moses (peace be upon him).
2. They permit independent reasoning (ijtihad) and opinion concerning the Torah, and freedom to adopt some of its rulings or not to adopt them; but in the case of the Talmud they do not permit this. (23)

(23) Al-Shahrastani, Al-Milal wa al-Nihal 1/192-200; Shalabi, Muqaranat al-Adyan: al-Yahudiyya, p. 98 ff.