CHAPTER VI

THE KARAITIC LITERATURE

Anan, Nahavendi, Abul-Faraj, Salman, Sahal, al-Bazir, Hassan,
Japhet, Kirkisani, Judah Hadassi, Isaac Troki.


In the very heart of the Gaonate, the eighth century witnessed a
religious and literary reaction against Rabbinism. The opposition to the
Rabbinite spirit was far older than this, but it came to a head under
Anan, the son of David, the founder of Karaism. Anan had been an
unsuccessful candidate for the dignity of Exilarch, and thus personal
motives were involved in his attack on the Gaonim. But there were other
reasons for the revolt. In the same century, Islam, like Judaism, was
threatened by a fierce antagonism between the friends and the foes of
tradition. In Islam the struggle lay between the Sunnites, who
interpreted Mohammedanism in accordance with authorized tradition, and
the Shiites, who relied exclusively upon the Koran. Similarly, in
Judaism, the Rabbinites obeyed the traditions of the earlier
authorities, and the Karaites (from _Kera_, or _Mikra_, i.e. "Bible")
claimed the right to reject tradition and revert to the Bible as the
original source of inspiration. Such reactions against tradition are
recurrent in all religions.

Karaism, however, was not a true reaction against tradition. It replaced