As Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu
4.The Envoy to Caesar, King of Rome:
Al-Bukhari gave a long narration of the contents of the letter sent by the Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) him) to Hercules, king of the Byzantines:
[center“In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.[/center]
From Muhammad, the slave of Allah and His Messenger to Hercules, king of the Byzantines.
Blessed are those who follow true guidance. I invite you to embrace Islam so that you may live in security. If you come within the fold of Islam, Allah will give you double reward, but in case you turn your back upon it, then the burden of the sins of all your people shall fall on your shoulders.
“Say [O Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam)]: ‘O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah.’ Then, if they turn away, say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.’ ”
[[Surah Aal-‘Imran 3:64] (Al-Bukhari1/4-5)
The Muslim envoy, Dihyah bin Khalifah Al-Kalbi (Radhi Allahu Anhu), was ordered to hand the letter over to king of Busra, who would in turn, send it to Caesar.
Incidentally, Abu Sufyan bin Harb, who by that time had not embraced Islam, was summoned to the court and Hercules asked him many questions about Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam) and the religion which he preached. The testimony which this avowed enemy of the Prophet gave regarding the personal excellence of the Prophet’s character and the good that Islam was doing the human race, left Hercules wonder-struck.
Al-Bukhâri, on the authority of Ibn Abbas (Radhi Allahu Anhu), narrated that Hercules sent for Abu Sufyan and his companions, who happened to be trading in Ash-Sham, Jerusalem. That was during the truce that had been concluded between the polytheists of Quraish and the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam). Hercules, seated amongst his chiefs of staff, asked, “Who amongst you is the nearest relative to the man who claims to be a Prophet?” “I (Abu Sufyan) replied: ‘I am the nearest relative to him from amongst the group.’ So they made me sit in front of him and made my companions sit behind me. Then he called upon his translator and said (to him). ‘Tell them (i.e. Abu Sufyan’s companions) that I am going to ask him (i.e. Abu Sufyan) regarding that men who claims to be a Prophet. So if he tells a lie, they should contradict him (instantly)’. By Allah had I not been afraid that my companions would consider me a liar, I would have told lies”, Abu Sufyan later said. Abu Sufyan’s testimony went as follows: “Muhammad descends from a noble family. No one of his family happened to assume kingship. His followers are those deemed weak with numbers ever growing. He neither tells lies nor betrays others, we fight him and he fights us but with alternate victory. He bids people to worship Allah Alone with no associate, and abandon our fathers’ beliefs. He orders us to observe prayer, honesty, abstinence and maintain strong family ties.”
“Hercules, on hearing this testimony, turned to his translator bidding him to communicate to us his following impression which reveals full conviction in the truthfulness of Muhammad’s Prophethood: ‘I fully realize that Prophets come from noble families; he does not affect any previous example of Prophethood. Since none of his ancestors was a monarch, we cannot then allege that he is a man trying to reclaim his father’s monarchy. So long as he does not tell lies to people, he is for the more reason, immune to telling lies as regards Allah. Concerning his followers being those deemed weak with numbers ever growing, it is something that goes in agreement with questions of Faith until this latter assumes its full dimensions geographically and demographically. I have understood that no instance of apostasy has as yet appeared among his followers, and this points to the bliss of Faith that finds its abode in the human heart. Betrayal, as I see, is alien to him because real Prophets hold betrayal in. Bidding worship of Allah with no associates, observance of prayer, honesty and abstinence and prohibition of paganism are traits bound to subject to him all my possessions. I have already known that a Prophet must arise but it has never occurred to me that he will be an Arab from among you. If I was sure I would be faithful to him, I might hope to meet him, and if I were with him, I would wash his feet.’ Hercules then requested that the Prophet’s letter be read. The observations of the emperor and finally the definite and clear-cut exposition of the Islamic message could not but create a tense atmosphere amongst the clergy present at the court. We were ordered to go out.” Abu Sufyan said, “While coming out, I said to my companions, ‘The matter of Ibn Abi Kabshah [i.e. Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam)] has become so prominent that even the king of Banu Al-Asfar (i.e. the Romans) is afraid of him.’ So I continued to believe that Allah’s Messenger (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam) would be victorious, till Allah made me embrace Islam.”
The king did not embrace Islam — for it was differently ordained. However, the Muslim envoy was returned to Madinah with the felicitations of the emperor.
On his way back to Madinah, Dihyah Al-Kalbi (Radhi Allahu Anhu) was intercepted by people from Judham tribe in Hasmi, who looted the presents sent to the Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam). Zaid bin Haritha (Radhi Allahu Anhu) at the head of five hundred men was despatched to that spot, inflicted heavy losses on those people and captured 1000 camels, 5000 of their cattle and a hundred women and boys. The chief of Judham who had embraced Islam filed a complaint with the Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam), who gave a positive response to the former’s protest, and ordered that all the spoils and captives be returned.
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