and the Sabeans—namely, the monotheist Sabeans—such as those from among the Arabs and others who adhered to the religion of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac before it was altered or abrogated.

For the Arabs, being descendants of Ishmael, together with their neighbors around the Ancient House that Abraham and Ishmael built, remained ḥanīfs, faithful to Abraham’s creed, until one of the chieftains of Khuzaʿah, ʿAmr ibn Luḥayy, changed that religion. He was the first to do so, the man who introduced idolatry and declared unlawful things that Allah had never forbidden. Concerning him the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “I saw ʿAmr ibn Luḥayy dragging his entrails in the Fire; he was the first to institute the baḥīrah and to set free the saʾibah …”