And it is well known that the greatest of the believing nations before us were the Children of Israel, as related in the hadith agreed to be authentic and recorded in the two Sahīh collections. Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came out to us and said:

“Last night, the prophets were shown to me with their nations. One prophet passed by accompanied by one man, another by two men, another by a small group, and another with no one accompanying him. I saw a vast multitude filling the horizon—in another narration, ‘the road was filled with men’—and I hoped that they were my nation. I said, ‘This is my nation.’ I was told, ‘This is Moses among the Children of Israel. But look this way and that.’