three hundred. It is therefore clear that these numbers were not to be found among them, nor could such ranks have been held by unbelievers. Then he and his Companions migrated to Medina. It was the home of migration, the Sunnah, and support for the faith; the seat of prophethood and the site of the caliphate that succeeded it. There the pledges of allegiance were given to the rightly guided caliphs—Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī, may Allah Most High be pleased with them all—even though the latter left it after receiving the pledge there. It is impossible that anyone in Mecca during their time could have been superior to them.

Islam then spread throughout the east and west of the earth. At every period, the believers included devout allies of Allah—indeed, steadfastly truthful people, foremost in faith and brought near to Him—in numbers that only the Lord of the worlds can count. They were not limited to three hundred or three thousand. After the three virtuous generations had passed away, the generations that have since passed included devout allies of Allah—indeed, people foremost in faith and brought near to Him—whose numbers are unknown. They are neither confined to a fixed number nor restricted to a particular period. Anyone who assigns them a fixed number advances a false claim, whether deliberately or mistakenly.

We therefore ask him: Who were the Pole and the three, and so on up to seven hundred, in the time of Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and before Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon them—during the interval between messengers, when people in general were unbelievers? Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, Abraham was a community in himself, devoutly obedient to Allah, upright in faith.”

That is, he alone was a believer, while all the people were unbelievers. In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, it is reported that he said to Sarah:

“There is no believer on earth today other than you and me.”

And Allah Most High says: “He is the One who