Then we find that Allah had given a man some of His signs but he went astray...

Then we find that Allah had given a man some of His signs but he went astray: and if We had pleased, We would certainly have exalted him thereby, but he clung to the earth and followed his low desire . . . (7:176). There are many verses clearly showing that the honour and respect with Allah depends on reality, not on appearance.

Tradition Salman al-Farisi said: “I asked the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) about the people of that religion which I followed (prior to Islam), and I described their (way of) prayer and worship. Then it was revealed: Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews. . . ” [^1] The author says: Various other Tradition with different chains of narrators, say that this verse was revealed about the people of Salman.

Ibn Faddal said: “I asked ar-Rida (a.s.) why “an-Nasara” ( النصارى = the Christians) were given that name. He said: “Because they were from a village called an-Nasirah ( الناصرة = Nazarath) in Syria.[^2] Maryam and `Isa settled there after they returned from Egypt.”[^3] The author says: We shall comment on this tradition when writing on the stories of `Isa (a.s.) in Chapter 3 (The House of `Imran), God willing.

The same tradition says that “al-Yahūd” ( اليهود = the Jews) got this name because they are descended from Yahūda, son of Ya'qūb.[^4] The Imam said: “The Sabaeans are a people, neither Zoroas­trian nor Jews, neither Christians nor Muslims; they worship the stars and planets.[^5] The author says: It is idol-worship of a special type; they worshipped only the idols of the stars, while others worshipped whatever idol caught their fancy.

A Historical Discussion Abū Rayhan at-Bīrūnī writes in his book al- 'atharu 'l-­baqiyah: “The earliest known among them (i.e., the claimants of prophethood was Yudhasaf.[^6] He appeared in India at the end of the first year of the reign of Tahmurth; and he brought the Persian script. He called to the Sabaean religion, and a great many people followed him.

The Bishdadian kings and some of the Kayanis who resided in Balkh held the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets together with other elements in high esteem and believed that these luminaries were very sacred. It continued until Zoroas­ter appeared at the end of the thirtieth year of Peshtasav's reign. The remnants of those Sabaeans are now in Harran, from which they have got their new name, Harraniyyah.