“Indeed, Allah looked upon the people of the earth and loathed them—Arabs and non-Arabs alike—except for a small remnant of the People of the Book who died just before his (the Prophet’s) mission.”

Salman the Persian—who had embraced Christianity after formerly being a Magian—encountered a handful of those who still adhered to the religion of Jesus, peace be upon him: one in Mosul, another in Nisibis, and a third in Amorium. Each of them told him that no one else remained upon the religion of Jesus, peace be upon him—