Imagining the End: Visions of

al-

nabi al-ummi

) by the Judaizing cousin of  his wife was critical in boosting his

resolve at the outset of  his mission.

30

 The learned Ka'b al-Ahbir (d. 



), to

whom the vast majority of  the early Muslim apocalyptic traditions are traced,

belonged to one such anti-Rabbinic Jewish group in the Yemen whose priests

bore the title of  

bahr

 (Hebrew, 

haber

).

31

A rare apocalyptic figure named in the Qur'an is Idris. He is mentioned

twice among the prophets (Q. 



:

 

, 



:

 

),

32

 and is an apocalyptic figure:

‘He was a true man (

siddiq

), a Prophet; we raised him to a high place’ (Q. 



:



). Idris is commonly identified in Sunni tradition with Enoch. He is,

however, more likely a composite figure that combines Enoch (via Mani-

chaeanism) with the Zadokite Doresh ha-Torah (Interpreter of  the Law) of

the Essenes. The latter connection is strongly suggested by the ‘Zadokite’

epithet, 

siddiq

, and by root 

drs[h]

 common to Idris and Doresh.

Ezra is mentioned once in the Qur'an in the diminutive form of  'Uzayr. By

the time of  



 Ezra and in the subsequent literature, Ezra the scribe had

become Ezra the prophet.

33

 Ezra was identified with Enoch and appears as

the key figure in the mystical speculations of  the Jewish communities of

Arabia.

34

 At the beginning of  

 

Ezra, which circulated not only in Syriac but

also in Arabic, Ezra is clearly presented as a second Moses

35

 and it is as the

messianic ‘prophet like Moses’ that he enters into Islam. The assertion in the

Qur'an (



: 



) that ‘the Jews say 'Uzayr is the son of  God as the Christians

say the Messiah is the son of  God’ should be understood in this light.

According to Ibn Hazm,

36

 the Jews referred to in this verse were the Sadducees

of  the Yemen who, as we have seen, were the bearers of  the Essene apocalyptic

tradition. Furthermore, the unnamed person, whom God caused to die on

the outskirts of  the ruined city but brought back to life a hundred years later

to witness the resurrection of  his donkey (Q. 



: 



), was commonly identified

as Ezra

37

 even though Jeremiah was sometimes preferred and the ruined city

was taken to mean Jerusalem.

38

 This verse, as we shall see, formed the basis

for the apocalyptic conception of  the centennium in early Islam.

The tradition that secrets had been written in a book and kept secret also

---

112

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

begins with 



 Ezra.

39

 In the later Judaeo-Christian lore, Ezra appears as the

revealer of  magico-astrological secrets.

40

 Muslim tradition combined this with

the legend of  the book thrown to the sea by Daniel.

41

Messianism entered Islam through Christianity. The Paraclete is referred

to in the Verse 



:

 

 of  the Qur'an, where Jesus son of  Mary presents himself

to the children of  Israel as the messenger of  God who confirms the Torah and

is the ‘bearer of good tidings of a messenger who shall come after me and

whose name shall be Ahmad (