1. The first letter sent to Asham bin Abjar Negus (It seems that this was not the first Negus before whom the case of the migrants was put and who had accepted Islam at the hands of Saiyidina Jaafar Ibn Abu Talib رضي الله عنه and whose funeral prayer in absentia was offered by Rasulullahﷺ. It is, however, a (controversial matter) was sent through Amr bin Umayyah in which the group of Muslims migrating to Abyssinia was mentioned with particular reference to Saiyidina Jaafar Ibn Abu Talib رضي الله عنه and the ruler was requested to treat the migrants properly, at the same time calling the ruler and his people to embrace Islam! The Negus [It seems that this was not the first Negus before whom the case of the migrants was put and who had accepted Islam at the hands of Saiyidina Jaafar Ibn Abu Talib رضي الله عنه and whose funeral prayer in absentia was offered by Rasulullahﷺ. It is, however, a controversial, matter.] was already influenced by Islam and he wrote a detailed reply.
2. Munzir bin Sadi was a ruler of Bahrain under the emperor of Iran. Ala'bin Hazrami was sent with a letter to him. He accepted Islam along with a number of others and wrote in reply that while some people were enlightened by Islam, there were some others opposed to it and wanted to remain to send his son as an emissary to Rasulullahﷺadding that if desired, he would himself come to Rasulullahﷺ. Rasulullahﷺ wrote again that those who wanted to remain Christians and Jews should not be forced to change their religion. They should be given religious liberty but asked to pay only Jizia.
3. Jafer and Abd were two sons of Jalandi and ruled over Oman. Amr bin Aas went to them with Rasulullahﷺ's letter and first met the younger Abd, and then a darbar was held at which in the presence of two brothers Amr bin Aas read Rasulullahﷺ's letter and answered questions put to him. They remained in suspense for some time and then both the brothers along with most of their people accepted Islam.
4. Munzir bin Haris bin Abu Shimr was the ruler of Damascus to whom Shuja bin Wahb Alasadi carried Rasulullahﷺ's letter. At first, he was angry but subsequently cooled and honourably sent back Rasulullahﷺ's emissary although he did not accept Islam.
5. Hauza bin Ali was the ruler of Yamen and a follower of Christianity. Sulait bin Amr went to him with Rasulullahﷺ's letter. Without realizing the purpose of Rasulullahﷺ's invitation he began to bargain and offered to accept Islam if half of the Islamic state was given to him as his share. He died soon after and when the report reached Rasulullahﷺ he declared that he could not surrender an inch of land or a site for a date tree as a bargain. Every part of the land on which the Islamic system was established became a sacred trust.
6. Jarih bin Mati Maquqas was the ruler of Alexandria and Egypt and a Christian, Hatib bin Abi Balt'aa went to his court with Rasulullahﷺ's letter. The emissary talked to Maquqas very frankly and warned him that someone there had once claimed to be the highest God but met with Divine punishment. They should take lessons from others they should become an example to others. Then he explained the superiority of Islam over Christianity and said that he was presenting to them the religion of Christ himself as Islam was not a new religion. Although Maquqas did not agree to accept Islam, he paid great respect to Rasulullahﷺ's emissary, put Rasulullahﷺ's letter in his treasury in the box of ivory and sent gifts of Humanity to Rasulullahﷺ which included the famous white mule. Maquqas wrote in reply that he knew that the last Prophet was to come but thought that he would be borne in Syria.
7. Heracles, the Roman emperor, ruled over the eastern empire of Roman-Byzantine and Constantinople was his capital. Rasulullahﷺ sent to his court Wahiyya bin Khalifa Kalbi رضي الله عنه with his letter. Wahiyya met the emperor in Jerusalem. Heracles held a great congress in honour of the emissary of Madinah and asked for a number of details about Rasulullahﷺ. Then he asked that if any other person from Makkah was there he should be presented. Incidentally, the leader of Rasulullahﷺ's hostile front Abu Sufian had gone to Syria on a commercial trip and he was brought to Heracles with his business partners.
Heracles told his companions that he was going to ask Abu Sufian some questions and they should correct him if he made any wrong statements. Abu Sufian said later that if he were not afraid that he would be deceived by his own partners, he would have told lies but the situation was such that even an enemy of Rasulullahﷺ could not tell a lie about him. Heracles asked Abu Sufian about Rasulullahﷺ's family, his clan, his manners, the life of his companions, the progress of the mission, the position of Muslims in wars, Islamic teachings and some other things.
Having listened to all this attentively he told Abu Sufian, "If all that you say is true, then this man will one day occupy the place where I am sitting today. I wish I could go over to Rasulullahﷺand washes his feet." Therefore, Rasulullahﷺ's letter was read out which upset the courtiers as the state of the mind of Heracles had perturbed them and so they hastened to send back the people of Makkah. This conversation greatly impressed Abu Sufian.
8. Khosrau Parvez, ruler of Iran, ruled over a vast kingdom and was a follower of Zoroaster. Rasulullahﷺ sent Abdullah bin Rawahah as his emissary with his letter. Khosrau was enraged and tore up the prophet's letter saying how a subject of his could be so impertinent as to dare address a letter to the king. He then directed Bazan, his governor of Yemen to arrest the man at once and produce him before the court. Bazan sent a military contingent for the purpose and when it passed through Taif the elders of the place rejoiced that no one could escape Khosrau's wrath.
When the contingent reached Madinah and its leader stated the object of his visit Rasulullahﷺ asked him to see him the next morning. And when they met the next morning Rasulullahﷺ told them that the king had been killed by his own son and they could verify it. When Bazan found out the truth of Rasulullahﷺ's prophecy and learnt about Rasulullahﷺ's teachings and his conduct he accepted Islam along with his entire court, followed by most of the people of his realm.
When Rasulullahﷺ heard that Khosrau had torn up his letter he replied "he has torn up his empire," and within 10-15 years this vast empire lay at the feet of the Muslim conquerors the cause of its downfall being internal strife.
Among the smaller rulers to whom the message was sent was Farwa bin Amr, governor of the Roman Empire, who accepted Islam and not only spurned his position and honour but also gave his life in the service of Islam. Next was Tamam, ruler of Najd, who embraced Islam in 6 Hijra. The third was Jibila Ghassani, who became a Muslim in 7 Hijra. The fourth was Ukaidir, ruler of Dumatul Jandal, who also accepted Islam. The fifth was Zulekah Humeri who once claimed to be God and made people bow to him. At last, he also became Muslim and as a gesture of thanksgiving freed 18,000 slaves. During the Caliphate Saiyidina Umar Al Khattab, رضي الله عنه abdicated his throne and settled in Medina to spend the rest of his life in seclusion.
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