Sabi matter -The issue of whether the concept sabi in the Qur'an signifies sabi'i/sabi'a-

Abstract

In this article, we examine whether there is a contextual similarity between the expression "sabi", a concept in the Qur'an, and "Sabi'i", which is used as the name for a member of a particular religious group. Even though "sabi", which we find three times in the Qur'an, is used as an adjective concerning religious conversion, it has been alleged that the word "sabi'a" is the name of a religious group used first for the Mandaeans and later for a flarranian pagan society and that the word in the Qur'an refers to this religion. Our study finds that there is neither a similarity nor an association between the "sabi" in the Qur'an and the religious group "Sabi'a (Sabians)" and that an artificial naming has emerged within history. Because the concept "sabi" was Arabic, and it was originally used for people who left the prevalent belief. Nonetheless, the expression "Sabi'i" was used after the arrival of Islam on the assumption that it was the name given to the religion of the Mandaeans and the Harranians.