Bulus ibn Raja'

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Būluṣ ibn Rajāʾ (born 950s, died after 1009), nicknamed al-Wāḍiḥ ('the Exposer' or 'Clarifier'), was a Coptic Christian monk, priest and apologist under the Fāṭimid Caliphate. He was a convert from Islam who wrote in Arabic.

Life

Ibn Rajāʾ was born probably in the 950s.

Shia Fāṭimid court.[1][2] The name of his mother is unknown. She may have been a Christian, but she was probably not a Copt, since her son grew up ignorant of the Coptic language.[4]

Ibn Rajāʾ studied the

pilgrimage to Mecca, but became lost during the return journey. He wound up in the church of Abū Sayfayn, where he converted and was baptised as Būluṣ (Paul).[2]

When his family, who believed him to be lost in the desert, found him in Abū Sayfayn, they brought him home and tried to convince him to return to Islam.

al-ʿAzīz Bi'llāh, who appointed the chief judge of Egypt to investigate the case. He received support from notable figures such as the caliph's Christian wife, al-Sayyida al-ʿAzīziyya, and was eventually let go.[6]

Ibn Rajāʾ returned to the Wādī al-Naṭrūn and was ordained a priest.[7] He built a church dedicated to Saint Michael in Raʾs al-Khalīj.[3] His father sent some Bedouin to kill him, but he escaped into the Nile Delta.[7] There he served as steward of the church of Saint Theodore in Sandafā.[3] There he also met Theodore ibn Mīnā, secretary of the Holy Synod.[7] He gave an oral account his life to Theodore, who later passed it on to Michael of Damrū, who in 1051 incorporated Ibn Rajāʾ's biography into his continuation of the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria under the patriachate of Philotheos (979–1003).[7][8] Ibn Rajāʾ was still alive in August 1009, since he wrote that 400 years had passed in the Islamic calendar.[9] He was buried in the church in Sandafā.[7][3]

The

hagiographical biography, however, refers to him as a "saint" (al-qiddīs).[10] Other medieval sources on Ibn Rajāʾ include Ibn al-Rāhib, Ibn Kabar and Yūsāb of Fuwa.[11] Ibn Kabar claims that he wrote an autobiography, but this may be a mistaken reference to the History of the Patriarchs.[12]

Works

According to the biography in the History of the Patriarchs, Ibn Rajāʾ wrote three works. The last of these is preserved and in it he cites his two earlier works.[13] These two works are not known for certain to be extant,[13] although copies may exist in a private collection in Aleppo.[14]

  • Nawādir al-mufassirīn wa-taḥrīf al-mukhālifīn[15] ('Anecdotes of the Commentators',[7] 'The Choice Passages of the Exegetes and the Corruption of the Opponents',[15] 'Rare Points of the Interpreter'[16])
  • Kitāb al-ibāna fī tanāquḍ al-ḥadīth[7][14] ('Demonstration on the Contradiction of the Hadith'[7] 'Disclosing the Contradictions in the Hadith',[14] 'Clarification Concerning the Contradiction of the Hadith'[14]), possibly also called Hatk al-maḥjūb[14][17] ('The Disclosure of the Veiled',[14] 'Unveiling the Veiled'[16])
  • Kitāb al-wāḍiḥ bi-l-ḥaqq[13] ('Clarity in Truth',[7] 'The Truthful Exposer',[13] 'Book of Evidence',[16] 'The Book of al-Wāḍiḥ',[18] or 'The Book of That Which is Clear'[18]), also called al-Iʿtirāf ('The Confession')[7][13][18]

The Nawādir and the Kitāb al-ibāna were reported by

tafsīr to this end. The title of the second work implies that it points out the contradictions in the ḥadīth corpus. The title Hatk al-maḥjūb is reported by Ibn Kabar.[14]

The Kitāb al-wāḍiḥ was translated into Latin in the 13th century under the title Liber denudationis sive ostensionis aut patefaciens ('Book of Denuding or Exposing, or the Discloser').[19] It is preserved in whole or in part in four Arabic manuscripts[20] and in one Latin manuscript.[19]

According to both the History of the Patriarchs and his own Kitāb al-wāḍiḥ, Ibn Rajāʾ was a close friend and collaborator of

Sāwīrus ibn al-Muqaffaʿ.[7][3][21] The two spent much time in discussions on biblical interpretation.[16] They were among the pioneers of Copto-Arabic literature.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Swanson 2010a, p. 541.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bertaina 2020, p. 428.
  3. ^ a b c d e Swanson 2010a, p. 542.
  4. ^ Bertaina 2021, p. 15 n48.
  5. ^ Swanson 2010a, pp. 541–542.
  6. ^ Bertaina 2020, pp. 428–429.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bertaina 2020, p. 429.
  8. ^ Swanson 2010a, pp. 542–543.
  9. ^ Bertaina 2021, p. 25.
  10. ^ Bertaina 2020, p. 429 n28.
  11. ^ Bertaina 2021, p. 3 n1.
  12. ^ Swanson 2010a, p. 543.
  13. ^ a b c d e Bertaina 2021, p. 20.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Swanson 2010a, pp. 545–546.
  15. ^ a b Swanson 2010a, p. 545.
  16. ^ a b c d Frederick 1991.
  17. ^ Frederick 1991 takes this to be a fourth work.
  18. ^ a b c Swanson 2010a, pp. 543–545.
  19. ^ a b Bertaina 2020, p. 426.
  20. ^ Bertaina 2021, pp. 93–97.
  21. ^ Bertaina 2021, p. 33.
  22. ^ Gabra 2009, p. 26.

Bibliography

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