E. Letters and Envoys

“O Messenger of Allah! Send us wherever you would like to send us. We will obey and fulfill your command.”

Ibn Sa’d, I, 264

Another means used by the Messenger of Islam (pbuh) in his call were his letters and his delegates to the rulers of neighboring countries. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) sent his emissaries to the countries where he did not have a chance to go himself. Thus he fulfilled his mission through his envoy.

According to these sources our Prophet (pbuh) sent some letters during the Meccan period. For instance, in the first years of his prophethood, when an old man named Aksam b. Sayfi from the tribe of Tamim sent a letter and asked for information about Islam, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) replied to his request by the following letter:

From Muhammad the Messenger of Allah to Aksam b. Sayfi …

May the peace of Allah be upon you. I inform you about my praises to Allah. Allah commands me to say “La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu – There is no god but Allah Who is the One with no partners.” and preach these words to everybody. All creation and rules belongs to Allah. Everything is His. Allah creates them, takes their lives, and resurrects them in the Hereafter. Return is most certainly to Him. I informed you about the prophets’ message. You will undoubtedly be asked about the Great Tiding. You will soon hear its news.” (Hamidullah, al-Wathaiq, p. 254-255)

In his letter which he sent with the first group which migrated to Abyssinia, he invited the king of Abyssinia to Islam and asked him to protect the believers who came to seek shelter in his kingdom. Nonetheless, the Prophet’s attempts to establish connections with neighboring countries through letters and envoys began in the sixth year after his migration to Medina. When the Prophet (pbuh) came back to Medina from the treaty of Hudaibiya, one day he went to his Companions and said:

“O People! Allah the Almighty has surely sent me as a mercy to everybody. Do not oppose me like the disciples of Jesus (A.S.), the son of Mary, opposed him.” Companions asked:

“How did the disciples opposed him?” Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said:

“He invited them to a thing to which I will invite you. Those whom he sent to near places obeyed him and found salvation, while those whom he sent to far lands frowned and acted slowly.” The Companions stood up and said:

“We will go wherever you would like us to go. We will fulfill your order. By Allah we will not oppose you in anything.” When Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) decided to write letters to the rulers of neighboring countries, the Companions told him:

“O Messenger of Allah! They will not read a letter unless it is sealed.” Then Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) had a silver ring made for himself and engraved upon it the words: “Muhammad, Messenger of Allah.” Later he used this ring to seal his letters.” (Muslim, Libas, 57, 58; Ibn Sa’d, I, 264)

Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) had his letter to Ashama, the king of Abyssinia, written as follows:

“In the Name of Allah The Beneficent, The Merciful,

From Muhammad the Messenger of Allah to Ashama the king of Abyssinia. Embrace Islam. I inform you of my praises to Allah that there is no god but Him. He is the Ruler, the Holy, the Peace, the Guarantor, and the Guardian. I bear testimony that Jesus son of Mary is the spirit and word of Allah. Allah dropped him into the chaste, pure, and protected Mary so that she became pregnant with Jesus. Just like Allah created Adam with His Hand and Breath, He created him (Jesus) with His Spirit and Breath.

I invite you to Allah the One Who has no partner, to be continuous in obeying Him, to abide by me, and to believe in the book revealed to me, for I am the Messenger of Allah. I sent you my cousin Ja’far and a group of Muslims. Host them and do not object. I invite you and your army to Allah. Thus, I fulfilled my duty to deliver (the message) and advised to you. Accept my advice. Peace be upon those who follow the guidance.”

When the king received the Prophet’s letter, he kissed it and rubbed it to his eyes. He modestly descended from his throne, sat down, and embraced Islam by bearing testimony. And then he said:

“If I had the possibility to go to him, I would certainly do it. May Allah be my witness this is the illiterate prophet for whom Jews and Christians were waiting. As Moses (A.S.) gave the glad tidings of Jesus (A.S.), Jesus (A.S.) gave the good news of Muhammad’s (A.S.) coming. Even though getting the news is not same as seeing him personally, what can I do? I do not have much support from the Abyssinians. I am waiting for the number of my helpers to rise and their hearts to warm to Islam.”

Then the king sent the following response to the Prophet’s letter:

“In the Name of Allah The Beneficent, The Merciful,

This is a letter from Ashama the king of Abyssinia to Muhammad the Messenger of Allah:

O the Prophet of Allah! May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. There is no god but Him, and He is the One Who has guided me to Islam.

You letter about Jesus reached me. I swear by the name of the Lord of the heavens and earth that Jesus did not say anything about himself more than what you said about him. In fact, he is just like you described him. We have perceived why you have been sent and we have hosted your cousin and his friends.

I bear testimony that you are truthful and have been sent to confirm the previous prophets. I took allegiance to your cousin as your representative and submitted myself to Allah the Lord of the worlds. I am sending my son Erha b. Ashama to you. Unfortunately, I cannot influence anybody other than my own family in this respect. If you would like me to come to you, I will do so. I bear testimony that everything you say is true. May the peace of Allah be upon you O Messenger of Allah!” (Ibn Sa’d, I, 258; Hamidullah, al-Wathaiq, p. 100, 104-105)

The Prophet’s letters were usually regarded with friendliness by their addressees. This demonstrates that the Prophet’s message was heard by neighboring countries and it achieved an influenctial state. By using this power and influence, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) invited people to Islam on every occasion.

A letter from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was brought to Hiraql (Ceasar), the Emperor of Rome (who was on a visit to Jerusalem at that time) by Dihya b. Khalifa al-Kalbi. Dihya (r.a.) delivered it to the governor of Busra and the governor passed it on to Hiraql. When Hiraql finished reading the letter, clamor and confusion was raised around him. The Emperor had first wanted to convert to Islam but he changed his mind as a result of the pressure from his people. (Bukhari, Bad’ul Wahy, 5-6; Muslim, Jihad, 74; Ibn Hanbal, I, 262)

Allah’s Apostle (pbuh) sent Abdullah b. Hudhaifa (r.a.) to the Persian Shah Chosroes. He (pbuh) stated in his letter:

“In the Name of Allah The Beneficent, The Merciful,

From Muhammad the Messenger of Allah to Chosroes the leader of Persians. May peace be upon those who find guidance, who believe in Allah and His Messenger, who bear testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is his servant and Messenger!

I invite you to belief in Allah for I am a Messenger sent by Allah to all humanity to warn those who live and inform of the punishment of those who deserve to be punished. Embrace Islam and gain safety. If you turn away from my invitation, the sins of all Zoroastrians will be upon you.”

After Chosroes had listened to the Prophet’s letter, he ordered his men to take Abdullah b. Hudaifa (r.a.) out. As soon as Abdullah left the presence of the Shah, he started his journey back to Medina. He said to himself:

“By Allah, I do not mind either of the two ways (death or life) for myself. I have delivered Allah’s Messenger’s letter and fulfilled my job.” (Ibn Hanbal, I, 305; Ibn Sa’d, I, 260; IV, 189; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah, IV, 263-6; Hamidullah, al-Wathaiq, p. 140)

For Companions it was an honor to take the letters of the Prophet to the faraway lands. They never hesitated to fulfill their task. There were those who faced dangerous moments like Abdullah b. Hudhafa (r.a.). Each one of them had only one goal in mind, that was, to deliver the Prophet’s letter to its destination. They would not even think about death, captivity, or other hardships that they might face on their path.

One day Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) asked:

“O People! Which one of you would deliver this letter to the Muqawqis of Alexandria expecting the rewards just from Allah?” Khatib b. Abi Baltaa (r.a.) stood up and came closer to the Prophet and he said:

“O Messenger of Allah! I can deliver it.” Allah’s Messenger told him:

“O Khatib May Allah bless you in this task.” Khatib took the Prophet’s letter to Muqawqis of Alexandria.[1] Below is what was written in the letter:

“In the Name of Allah The Beneficent, The Merciful,

From Muhammad the Messenger of Allah to Muqawqis, ruler of the Copts of Alexandria,

Peace be on him who has taken the right course. Thereafter, I invite you to accept Islam. Therefore, if you want security, embrace Islam. Embrace it so that Allah, the Sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do so, responsibility for the transgression of the entire nation shall be yours.

“… O People of the Book come to common terms between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than Allah…” (Al-i Imran 3; 64)

After reading the Prophet’s letter Muqawqis called Khatib b. Abi Baltaa (r.a.) and gathered the clergy. Khatib narrates the rest of the incident as follows:

“Muqawqis told me:

“I will speak with you and ask you some things that I would like to understand.” And he continued:

“Is not your master a prophet?” I replied:

“Yes, he is the Messenger of Allah.” He asked again:

“If he is really a prophet, why did not he pray against his people who forced him to leave his home town and take shelter in another one?” I said:

“You believe that Jesus son of Mary was a messenger of Allah, don’t you?” Since he was a true prophet, would it not be better if he prayed for Allah to raise him up to the skies and destroy his people when they wanted to hang him?” Muqawqis could not find anything to say. After a moment of silence, he told me to repeat what I had just said. I repeated my words. Muqawqis stayed quiet for a while and then said:

“You said a good thing. You are a wise man. You speak wisely and the words are coming from a wise man.” Then I told him:

“A man before you claimed that he was the lord almighty. Allah the Almighty punished him with the torments of this world and the Hereafter. Take a lesson from the end of those before you and do not become a lesson for the generations that will come after you.” Muqawqis said:

“We have a religion and we will not change it unless we find a superior one.” I told him:

“Islam is certainly superior to your religion. We invite you to Islam which Allah has chosen as the religion for humanity. Muhammad Mustapha (pbuh) invites not only you but the whole of humanity. Amongst them the people of Quraish treated him the harshest, and the Jews did him the worst of enmities. The Christians were the closest ones amongst the people. Jesus (A.S.) gave the glad tidings of Muhammad (A.S.) just like Moses (A.S.) had given the glad tidings of Jesus (A.S.). Our invitation to you to the Qur’an is like your invitation to the followers of the Torah to the Bible. Every man needs to follow the Prophet of their time. And you are amongst those who have reached the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, by calling you to Islam, we are not taking you away from the religion of Jesus (A.S.). By contrast, we offer you the opportunity to act in accordance to his prophethood.” Muqawqis said:

“I examined your prophet’s religion. I found that it does not order to give the world up and prohibit desirable and acceptable things. Your prophet is neither a sorcerer nor a liar who claims to obtain news from the unknown. On the contrary, he carries the signs of prophethood like disclosing the unknown world and bringing news from it. But I would like to think a little more about it.” The he wrote the following response to the Prophet’s letter:

““In the Name of Allah The Beneficent, The Merciful,

From Muqawqis to Muhammad b. Abdullah

I read your letter and understood what you have written. I know that the coming of a Prophet is still due. But I thought, he would be born in Syria – I have hosted your messenger with respect and honor. I am sending two concubines for you as presents. These concubines belong to a very respectable family amongst us. In addition, I send you some clothes and a steed for riding. May peace be upon you.”

Muqawqis neither rejected nor embraced Islam. He also enjoined me: “Be careful! Copts should not hear a single word from you.” (Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, IV, 266-267; Ibn Sa’d, I, 260-261; Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, III, 530-531)

Not only sending the Prophet’s letters and their contents are important but also the personality and manners of those delivering the letters. Because it affected the acceptance of the letters to whom they were sent. And the Messenger of Allah, who knew this fact well, paid the utmost attention to his envoys to have various praiseworthy qualities.

As we know from the sources, these delegates were intelligent, eloquent, persuasive, gifted and capable people. They knew and understood the essence of Islam and led exemplar lives.

These delegates were chosen from the people who had, for some reason, already visited the lands they were sent to and knew the customs, beliefs and thoughts of their people. They also knew their language. They were neat and organized for these are very important qualities by which to influence the audience. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said:

“You are coming to your brethren; so tidy your mounts and tidy your dress, until you become like a mole, which is the symbol of the face of beauty, among the people. Allah does not like ugly appearances, obscene words or deeds.” (Abu Dawud, Libas, 25)

Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) made very significant recommendations to his delegates. For instance, he wrote a letter to Haris, Mesruh, and Muaim b. Abdikulal, who were in Himyar. When he was sending the letter with Iyash b. Abi Rabia al-Mahdhumi, he advised him that:

“When you arrive there, do not enter at night. Wait for the morning. Then perform ablution and offer two cycles of prayer. Pray for Allah to bestow upon you success and to receive a friendly reception. And then make your preparations well. Take my letter in your right hand and give it to them with your right hand. If you do so, they will accept you.” (Ibn Sa’d, I, 282)

Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) sent many letters and envoys. He used them as instruments in his mission. He exerted the utmost effort under the circumstances of the time, and efforts bore fruits both in the short and long-run and prepared the basis for the neighboring countries to accept Islam.

In this age, when telecommunication is so easy and technology is so advanced, we need to benefit from all kinds of the technological achievements in conveying the message of Islam to humanity.