Lesson 99 Emissaries to Conquest of Makkah

1. Lesson 99Emissaries to Conquest of Makkah

2. [39]The Prophet’s (SAWS) letters to the kings

3. After this truce, which was established through the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, the Muslims were safe from the evil of Quraysh.

4. Channels of communications were wide open with others.

5. The Prophet (SAWS) started to spread and extend the Da`wah (invitation to Islam). He wrote to the kings of the world inviting them and their peoples to Islam.

6. He (SAWS) had a seal made for himself, which he engraved with “Muhammad the Messenger of Allah”.

7. He sent Dihyah Al-Kalby with a letter to Heraclius, the Byzantine King. He was in Al-Quds (Jerusalem).

8. When the letter reached him, Abu-Sufyân was nearby in Syria for business.

9. Heraclius called for him, and asked him about the lineage of the Messenger of Allah (SAWS). Abu-Sufyân said, “He comes from a noble family line."

10. Then Heraclius asked him, “Did anyone else before him talk the same?” He said, “No.” He asked him, “Did you use to accuse him of lying?”

11. He said, “No.” He asked him, “Was there a king among his forefathers?” He said, “No.” He asked him, “Who are his followers; the noble people or the weak ones?”

12. He said, “The weak.” He asked him, “Are they increasing in number or decreasing?” He said, “No, increasing.”

13. He asked him, “Do any of them revert back out of hate for his [Muhammad's] religion?” He said, “No.” He asked him, “Does he betray his pledges?”

14. He said, “No.” He asked him, “Did you fight him? Describe your fighting.” He said, “We fought him, and the war between us was alternating; one time for us, and the next for them.”

15. Heraclius asked, “What does he enjoin you to do?” He said, “He says worship Allah, and do not associate anything with Him.

16. He forbids that which our ancestors were worshipping. He enjoins prayer, truthfulness, modesty, fulfillment of promises, and returning trusts."

17. The king concluded from this questioning that Muhammad is truly a prophet.

18. He said to Abu-Sufyân, “If what you have told me is true, one day my kingdom will belong to him, and he will rule this place.”

19. He then gathered the Roman noblemen and tried to talk them into following this prophet, but they refused.

20. The love of his power was more important to him, so he did not follow Islam. However, he returned Dihyah in a decent manner.

21. The Messenger of Allah also sent Al-Hârith ibn `Umayr with a letter to the Prince of Busrâ in Syria.

22. When he reached Mu'tah (a village in Syria), Shurahbîl Al-`Assâly confronted him and killed him. He was the only messenger of the Prophet (SAWS) to be killed.

23. The Prophet (SAWS) sent a letter to the prince of Damascus, who was appointed by the Byzantine King.

24. When the letter reached him and he read it, the prince threw it away and planned to fight the Muslims. He asked his king for permission, but it was not granted.

25. The Prophet (SAWS) sent Hâtib ibn Abu-Balta`ah with a letter to Al-Muqawqis, the prince of Egypt, also appointed by the Byzantine King.

26. He was in Alexandria at the time he read the letter.

27. He told Hâtib, “What is preventing him, if he is a prophet, from making supplication against those who disagreed with him, and driving them out of his land?”

28. Hâtib told him, “Don’t you believe that `Îsâ (Jesus) the messenger of Allah is the son of Allah?

29. Why didn’t Allah shield him when his people took him to be killed?” Al-Muqawqis said to Hâtib, “Good.

30. I have looked into the matter of this prophet and I found out that he does not enjoin anything harmful, nor does he forbid a necessity.

31. I did not find him to be a harmful magician, nor a lying monk. I will see.”

32. Then, he wrote a reply to the letter of the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) containing neither acknowledgement nor denial.

33. He sent him a gift of two slave women. The prophet married one of them, Mâriyah, and she gave birth to his son Ibrâhîm.

34. He (SAWS) sent a letter to the Negus, the king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

35. When he read it, he said to the messenger, “I know, by Allah, that `Îsâ (Jesus) spoke of him, but my supporters in Abyssinia are few.”

36. He sent a letter to Khusraw Parvez, the King of Persia, who acted arrogantly and destroyed the letter; so Allah Almighty later destroyed his empire.

37. He sent a letter to Al-Mundhir ibn Sâwâ, the king of Bahrain.

38. He accepted Islam and declared his faith, together with some of his people.

39. The prophet approved him as a prince representing him in the province of Bahrain.

40. He sent a letter to Ja`far and `Abdullâh sons of Al-Julundâ, the two kings of Oman. They declared their faith in Islam, after they inquired about what the Prophet enjoins and forbids.

41. The messenger of the Prophet (SAWS) told them that he enjoins obedience to Allah Almighty and forbids his disobedience.

42. He calls for righteousness and keeping the ties of blood relationships.

43. He forbids injustice, aggression, adultery, drinking alcohol and the worshipping of stones, idols and the cross.

44. He sent a letter to Hawdhah ibn `Ali, the king of Al-Yamâmah. He asked the Messenger of Allah for some authority for himself, but the prophet denied his request.

45. [40] The Battle of Khaybar

46. After the treaty of Hudaybiyah, the Muslims were relieved from having to fight with Quraysh.

47. The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) decided to eliminate the threat of his nearby enemies, who had evil intentions against him.

48. Those were the people of Khaybar, who gathered the allies against the Muslims in the Battle of the Trench.

49. He (SAWS) set off for Khaybar in the beginning of the 7th year A.H.

50. Khaybar was well-protected by eight forts. The Muslims set up camp outside it.