Global InformationAbba Yahiyya information
Abba Yahiyya or Abu Yahiyya, was the leader of a sect of Afghani Alenzar (Nizariun Hagarenes) who followed an independent Ishmaili Sufi Herat tradition, introduced to the west by Omar Michael Burke in his 1976 book Among the Dervishes. The tradition that Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus Christ) lived in India is followed by around one thousand Nizariun devotees of Maryam's son Isa, who live in several scattered villages in northwestern Afghanistan, centered on Herat. This was first discovered by Burke, who personally interviewed their spiritual leader, Abba Yahiyya (Father John), while researching Ishmaili Sufism in the area.[1] Alenzariun[2] devotees also lived in South India and Kenya and were an inspiration for the Ansar nation of Islam movement, which placed the Messiah above Muhammed.[3]
- ^ Omar Michael Burke, Among the Dervishes (London: Octagon Press, 1976) 107.
- ^ Followers of the non-hagarene Arab group who settled Medina from the 72 southern Ansar Havariun families and their Azwajrasul priesthood.
- ^ Istawa M. Angevine, I'm a Muslim and Jesus is my Lord: Muslims for Jesus, Bloomington: 1stBooks, 2003