Abraham ben Mordecai Anqāwa (al-Naqāwa), known by his Hebrew acronym as Rabbi Abba, was born in Salé, Morocco, in 1807 and died in Oran, Algeria, in 1891. He was a rabbi, jurist (Heb. dayyan), and editor of manuscripts.

Anqāwa began his rabbinical studies at the seminary of Raphael Bibas in Salé, later serving there as a dayyan and making a name for himself as a strict legal decisor (Heb. poseq). In 1850, fearing for his personal safety after he brought a girl who had apostatized to Islam back into the Jewish fold, he moved to Algeria, and two years later he was appointed rabbi of the community of Mas…