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SabbateanIslamic

SabbateanIslamic refers to historical patterns associated with followers of Sabbatai Zevi, the 17th-century Jewish mystic who proclaimed himself the Jewish Messiah. After Zevi’s public declaration in 1665 and his conversion to Islam in 1666 under Ottoman pressure, many of his adherents faced shifting identities. Some adopted Islam outwardly while preserving a covert Sabbatean framework, a phenomenon most clearly documented among Donmeh communities in the Ottoman world.

These communities, especially in Salonica (Thessaloniki) and nearby cities, maintained rituals and teachings that blended elements

Scholars describe SabbateanIslamic phenomena as a form of crypto-religion or double belonging rather than a formal

In modern scholarship the term SabbateanIslamic is used mainly as a descriptor for cross-religious dynamics in

of
Sabbatean
Kabbalah
with
Islamic
practice.
They
tended
to
live
publicly
as
Muslims
while
retaining
a
lineage
of
messianic
expectation
and
selective
Judaic
rituals
in
private.
The
extent
of
syncretism
varied,
and
internal
disagreements
persisted
regarding
how
to
interpret
Zevi’s
mission
and
the
proper
observance
of
Jewish
law.
sect.
It
illuminates
the
broader
Ottoman
context
in
which
religious
minorities
navigated
legal
and
social
constraints
by
concealing
aspects
of
their
beliefs.
The
Donmeh
are
the
best-known
example,
but
the
terms
and
exact
boundaries
are
debated
in
academic
literature.
the
early
modern
Mediterranean
rather
than
as
a
self-identification
by
adherents.
The
subject
continues
to
inform
discussions
on
crypto-Judaism,
esotericism,
and
the
interaction
of
messianic
movements
with
Islamic
law
and
Ottoman
governance.