mentioned in the Quran as Yahya Bin Zakariya. This identified Mandaeans as among the (People of the Book). Hence, Mandaeism was recognized as a legal minority religion within the Muslim Empire. However, this account is likely apocryphal: since it mentions that Anush Bar Danqa traveled to Baghdad, it must have occurred after the founding of Baghdad in 762, if it took place at all. Nevertheless, at some point the Mandaeans were identified as the Sabians mentioned along with the Jews, the Christians and the Zoroastrians in the Quran as People of the Book. The earliest source to unambiguously do so was al-Hasan ibn Bahlul () citing the Abbasid vizier Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Muqla (–940), though it is not clear whether the Mandaeans of this period already identified themselves as Sabians or whether the claim originated with Ibn Muqla. Mandaeans continue to be called Sabians to this day. Around 1290, a Dominican Catholic from Tuscany, Ricoldo da Montecroce, or Ricoldo Pennini, was in Mesopotamia where he met the Mandaeans. He described them as believing in a secret law of God recorded in alluring texts, despising circumcision, venerating John the Baptist above all and washing repeatedly to avoid condemnation by God. Mandaeans were called "Christians of Saint John" by members of the Discalced Carmelite mission in Basra during the 16th and 17th centuries, based on reports from missionaries such as Ignatius of Jesus. Some Portuguese Jesuits had also met some "Saint John Christians" around the Strait of Hormuz in 1559, when the Portuguese fleet fought with the Ottoman Turkish army in Bahrain. Beliefs Mandaeism, as the religion of the Mandaean people, is based on a set of religious creeds and doctrines. The corpus of Mandaean literature is quite large, and covers topics such as eschatology, the knowledge of God, and the afterlife. According to Brikha Nasoraia: Principal beliefs Recognition of one God known as Hayyi Rabbi, meaning The Great Life or The Great Living (God), whose symbol is Living Water (Yardena). It is therefore necessary for Mandaeans to live near rivers. God personifies the sustaining and creative force of the universe. Power of Light, which is vivifying and personified by Malka d-Nhura ('King of Light'), another name for Hayyi Rabbi, and the uthras (angels or guardians) that provide health, strength, virtue and justice. The Drabsha is viewed as the symbol of Light. Immortality of the soul; the fate of the soul