Taha Hussein
Modern historians differed on the historicity of Ibn Saba'. Some believe that Abdullah Ibn Saba and ibn al-Sawdāʾ should be considered as two separate individuals (Hodgson). Some have described him as semi-legendary or legendary (Taha Hussein, Bernard Lewis, Wilferd Madelung, Leone Caetani, and Shia historians) Others such as Israel Friedlander, Sabatino Moscati, and Sunni historians affirm his existence. His Jewish origin has also been contested. Some modern historians assert that Sayf ibn Umar fabricated the episode about the killing of Uthman to "exonerate the people of Medina from participation in the caliph's murder" and the movement to support Ali as a successor to Muhammad did not exist in the time of Uthman. With the exception of Taha Hussein, most modern Sunni writers affirm the existence of Ibn Saba'.