Emissaries To Kings And Emperors
Ever since he started to receive his message, Rasulullahﷺ emphasized the universal nature of the Islamic faith. Rasulullahﷺ always stated to his people that his message was “to all mankind.” At no stage of his life is any special importance given to the Arabs as a nation or a race, despite the fact that Rasulullahﷺ grew up in a tribal society where narrow pride in one’s lineage or tribal ancestry was common to all people. At no time did Rasulullahﷺ think of himself as an Arab reformer whose task was to put his nation on the right footing.
Rasulullahﷺ always emphasized that the message he conveyed to people was meant for everyone and for all ages. If the message of Islam had not gone in its early years beyond the borders of Arabia, it was because Islam was still fighting to consolidate its base in Madinah and to win supremacy in Arabia. It was not likely that Rasulullahﷺ should expand his call beyond Arabia when his position in it was not yet secure.
In the early months of the seventh year of Rasulullahﷺ’s settlement in Madinah, the Arabian scene changed radically. First, there was the peace treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah, which was signed in the last month of the preceding year and which, in effect, neutralized the Quraysh, the major Arabian power opposing Islam. Then Khaybar fell to the Muslims, thus ending the Jewish threat to the new call of Islam. Practical head of state that he was, Rasulullahﷺ moved quickly to widen the horizon before his followers.
Rasulullahﷺ picked up a number of his companions who combined charming personalities with intelligence and the ability to handle difficult situations, and he sent them as envoys who carried his messages to the rulers of neighboring countries, some of which were the superpowers of the day: Byzantium and Persia. It is important to follow the fortunes of those ambassadors in order to gauge the likely response to Islam worldwide.
To find out which of them was successful in his mission also gives us an insight into how Islam molds the personality of a Muslim. We will begin with the one who received the best response.
Amr ibn Umayyah Al-Damri رضي الله عنه was Rasulullahﷺ’s envoy to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) carrying a letter from Rasulullahﷺ to its king, known by his title Negus. Abyssinia is in East Africa, overlooking the southwestern end of the Red Sea. It is very difficult to give any correct idea of what sort of borders it had at the time. Most probably, it included what forms present-day Eritrea with other parts of Ethiopia.
Abyssinia was a fully independent country, and its capital was Axum. Its relations with the Byzantine Empire were cordial since both were Christian countries. In the middle of the third century Byzantine Emperor Justinian appointed a man called Julian as an ambassador of Byzantium at the court of Abyssinia.
Amr’s trip to Abyssinia was not his first, nor was the letter he carried Rasulullahﷺ’s first letter to the Negus, who extended his hospitality and protection to the Muslims who sought refuge in his kingdom and had been living there for about 13 years.
There is some confusion in history books about the identity of the Negus to whom Rasulullahﷺ sent his letter with Amr ibn Umayyah Al-Damri رضي الله عنه. Many of them tend to think that he was the same king who ruled throughout this period. This is quite possible since he was a young man when he succeeded to the throne of Abyssinia, but there is a possibility that the Negus now addressed by Amr ibn Umayyah Al-Damri رضي الله عنه was a different one. Amr ibn Umayyah Al-Damri رضي الله عنه had sent earlier to Negus requesting him to extend kind treatment to his followers, which he did. Now Rasulullahﷺ called on Negus, as well as other kings and emperors of the world, to accept God’s message. This took place prior to the conquest of Makkah. Rasulullahﷺ’s letter to the Negus ran as follows:
“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent. From Muhammad, God’s messenger, to the Negus, the king of Abyssinia. Peace be with you. I praise God, the only God, the King, the Praised One, the Peace, the One who controls everything. I bear witness that Jesus, son of Mary, was God’s spirit and His word given to Mary, the virgin, the chaste. She thus conceived Jesus, whom God created of His own spirit, as He created Adam with His own hand. I call on you to believe in God alone, and to associate no other deity with Him, and to continue to obey Him, and to follow me, and to believe in what has been revealed to me. I am God’s Messenger and I call on you and on your subjects and soldiers to believe in God, the Almighty, I have thus conveyed my message and given good counsel. It is better for you to accept my good counsel. Peace be to those who follow the right guidance.”
Amr ibn Umayyah Al-Damri رضي الله عنه, Rasulullahﷺ’s emissary, also talked to the Negus and he is reported to have said to him:
“You are as kind to us as one of us, and we trust you as if we belong to your people. You have met all our good expectations and we feared nothing from you whatsoever. However, we find in your own words what supports our case. The Bible is our ultimate witness and fair arbiter. There can be no clearer evidence or stronger argument. If you do not submit to its word, then your attitude toward Rasulullahﷺ is akin to the attitude of the Jews toward Jesus, son of Mary. Rasulullahﷺ has sent his envoys to all people, but he has far greater hopes in you than in them. Rasulullahﷺ has trusted you with what he has not been able to trust them with, for your history of good deeds. Moreover, a fine reward awaits you.”
The Negus replied in these words:
“I swear by God, he is the Prophet awaited by the people of past revelations. Moses has given news of the impending appearance of the prophet who rides a donkey in the same way as Jesus has given news of the impending arrival of a prophet who rides a camel.”
Thus, the Negus declared his acceptance of the message of Muhammad and his belief in Islam. He also wrote to Rasulullahﷺ:
“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent. To Muhammad, God’s Messenger, from Negus. Peace from God is to you, Prophet, along with God’s mercy and blessings. I have received your letter, Messenger of God, and noted what you have said about Jesus. By the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, Jesus, son of Mary, is nothing more than what you have stated. I know the truth of what you have said to me, and I have extended hospitality to your cousin and his companions. I bear witness that you are God’s Messenger who tells the truth. I pledge my allegiance to you, and I have pledged this allegiance to your cousin and have become a Muslim. I submit myself to God, the Lord of all the Universe.”
This was the most favorable response Rasulullahﷺ received to all his messages and letters to the kings and emperors of other countries. It meant that Islam acquired a solid base on the other side of the Red Sea, stretching well into Africa.
Negus continued in power until his death two years later. When he died, in the ninth year of the Islamic calendar, Rasulullahﷺ announced his death to the Muslims and offered prayers for the deceased in absentia for his soul.
