Who are the People of the Book: Are they the Jews and Christians, or only the Children of Israel?

Messengers are sent and dispatched; they are not described as being "sent down," for what is "sent down" are the books of Allah. The People of the Book are the Jews and Christians, regardless of their lineages, as many Christians among the Romans and Copts are not from the Children of Israel. The messages of Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them) were specific to the Children of Israel, while the message of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was for all mankind. The specificity of the prophets' messages does not prevent them from having followers from outside their own people. All followers of the Jewish and Christian religions are considered People of the Book, and their slaughtered animals are permissible to eat, and marriage to their chaste women is permissible according to the majority of scholars, even if they are not from the Children of Israel or converted to their religions later, and this was confirmed in the era of the Companions. The Hanafis held that the People of the Book include anyone who believes in a prophet and acknowledges a book, while the majority of jurists held that they are limited to Jews and Christians only, and that the scriptures of Abraham and David were admonitions, not rulings.