The Quran

Preface

إِنَّ الَّذينَ آمَنوا وَالَّذينَ هادوا وَالنَّصارىٰ وَالصّابِئينَ مَن آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَاليَومِ الآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صالِحًا فَلَهُم أَجرُهُم عِندَ رَبِّهِم وَلا خَوفٌ عَلَيهِم وَلا هُم يَحزَنونَ

Yusuf Ali

Those who believe (in the Qur?an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians¹,- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve².

Latest researches have revealed a small remnant of a religious community numbering about 2,000 souls in Lower Iraq, near Basra. In Arabic they are called Subbi (plural Subba). They are also called Sabians and Nasoraeans, or Mandaeans, or Christians of St. John. They claim to be Gnostics, or Knowers of the Great Life. They dress in white, and believe in frequent immersions in water. Their Book Ginza is in a dialect of Aramaic. They have theories of Darkness and Light as in Zoroastrianism. They use the name Yardan (Jordan) for any river. They live in peace and harmony among their Muslim neighbours. They resemble the Sabi'un mentioned in the Qur-ān, but are not probably identical with them.
The pseudo-Sabians of Harran, who attracted the attention of Khalifah Ma'munal Rashid in 830 A.C. by their long hair and peculiar dress probably adopted the name as it was mentioned in the Qur-ān, in order to claim the privileges of the People of the Book. They were Syrian Star-worshippers with Hellenistic tendencies, like the Jews contemporary with Jesus. It is doubtful whether they had ant right to be called People of the Book in the technical sense of the term. But I think that in this matter (though many authorities would dissent) the term can be extended by analogy to cover earnest followers of Zoroaster, the Vedas, Buddha. Confucius and other Teachers of the moral law.
There was another people called the Sabaens, who played an importantpartin the history of early early Arabia, and are known through their inscriptions in an alphabet allied to the Phoenician and Babylonian. They had a flourishing kingdom in the Yemen tract in South Arabia about 800-700 B.C., though their origin may have been in North Arabia. They worshipped the planets and stars (Moon, Sun, Venus). Probably the Queen of Sheba is connected with them. They succumbed to Abyssinia about 350 AC. and to Persia about 579 A.C. Their capital was near San'a. They had beautiful stone buildings, in which the pointed arch is noticeable. Cf. 5:69 and n. 779. (See E.B. on Sabæans.)
Cf. 2:38, where the same phrase occurs. And it recurs again and again afterwards. The point of the verse is that Islam does not teach an exclusive doctrine, and is not meant exclusively for one people. The Jews claimed this for themselves, and the Christians in their origin were a sect of the Jews. Even the modern organized Christian churches, though they have been, consciously or unconsciously, influenced by the Time Spirit, including the historical fact of Islam, yet cling to the idea of Vicarious Atonement, which means that all who do not believe in it or who lied previously to the death of Christ are at a disadvantage spiritually before the Throne of God. The attitude of Islam is entirely different. Islam existed before the preaching of Muḥammad on this earth: the Qur-ān expressly calls Abraham a Muslim (3:67). Its teaching (submission to God’s will) has been and will be the teaching of Religion for all time and for all peoples.