Jacob Qirqisani

Who is Jacob Qirqisani?

Jacob Qirqisani was a Karaite dogmatist and exegete who flourished in the first half of the tenth century. He was a native of Circassia, which at the time probably still fell under Khazar overlordship. He seems to have traveled throughout the Middle East, visiting the centers of Islamic learning, in which he was well versed. In 937 Qirqisani wrote an Arabic work on the Jewish precepts—under the title Kitab al-Anwar wal-Marakib, with the subtitle Kitab al-Shara'i' —and a commentary entitled al-Riyad wal-Hada'iq, on those portions of the Pentateuch which do not deal with the laws.