Islamic Elements in the Writings of the Jewısh Scholar Suadia Gaon (d.942)

Abstract

Saadia, known as Sa'id bin Yusuf el-Fayyumî in Islamic world, plays an important role in Jewish tradition. He is the first scholar who wrote in Arabic among Jewish scholars. Saadia pioneered later Jewish scholars in transmitting Judaism via Arabic language. Having passed his entire life in Islamic civilization, Saadia used Islamic terms and expressions extensively. These uses have later become standart use of many Jewish scholars expressing Judaism in Arabic. To what extend these uses are Islamic or Arabic (linguistic) is discutable. The case can be different from one term to another. In this article, we examine each Islamic terms in Saadia's writings and evaluate them in their contexts.