On the identity of the Syrian abdal

Scholarly discussion of the abdal (substitutes) has been limited to their appearance as the members of a saintly hierarchy first alluded to by al- akim al-Tirmidhi (d. 295/905-300/910) and systematized by Ibn Arabi (d. 638/1240). However, unlike the other members of this hierarchy, the abdal are also known through the hadith, one of which is attributed to Ali b. Abi alib. This article explores this hitherto unstudied hadith material arguing that the concept originated in hadith circles with a specific purported context, the showdown between the Syrians and Iraqis at the Battle of iffin (37/657). A gradual loss of this context went hand-in-hand with the emergence of the mystical saintly abdal. As monistic Sufism penetrated all elements of Mamluk society, the boundary between the abdal of the traditionists and of the mystics became porous. This paper concludes with an examination of the ensuing debate on the authenticity of the concept.