Letters of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace
University of Mosul
Faculty of Arts
Department of History
Course name : Biography of the Prophet
name : Mohammed Ali Saleh
Academic year : 2024_2025
A model of a letter from the Prophetic era
The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, sent missions with sealed letters from him, may God bless him and grant him peace, to the kings of the countries. This is a list of the names of the envoys and the kings to whom they were sent.
1_ Dihya bin Khalifa Al-Kalbi to Caesar called: Heraclius, King of the Romans, 2
Abdullah bin Hudhafah Al-Sahmi to Khosrau, King of Persia ,
3 Amr ibn Umayya al-Damri to the Negus, King of Abyssinia ,
4 Hattab ibn Abi Balta’a to Al-Muqawqis, King of Alexandria,
5 Amr ibn al-As al-Sahmi to Jafar and Abd, the sons of al-Julanda al-Azdi, kings of Oman,
Sulayt ibn Amr to Hudhah ibn Ali al-Hanafi, King of Yamamah ,
Al-Ala’ bin Al-Hadrami to Al-Mundhir bin Sawa Al-Abdi, King of Bahrain ,
Shuja’ bin Wahb Al-Asadi was sent to Al-Harith bin Abi Shammar Al-Ghassani, the king of the borders of the Levant.
The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, wrote to Heraclius inviting him to Islam. He sent his letter with Dihya al-Kalbi, ordering him to give it to the ruler of Busra, to deliver it to Caesar. The ruler of Busra delivered it to Caesar. When God defeated the Persian armies, Caesar walked from Homs to Ilia in gratitude to God Almighty for what He had done for him. When the letter of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, reached Caesar, he asked about one of his people. He happened to find Abu Sufyan ibn Harb in Syria with some men from Quraysh who had come as traders. This was during the truce that had been between the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the infidels of Quraysh. Caesar began asking Abu Sufyan about the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his circumstances. If it were not for his shame at that time, lest they should accuse him of lying, he would have lied about him. But he felt ashamed and believed it, although he was reluctant. Then he called for the letter of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and it was read. It said: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, from Muhammad, the Messenger of God, to Caesar, the ruler of…” The Romans, peace be upon those who follow guidance. Now then: (O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we worship none but God) the verse to His saying: (Bear witness that we are Muslims) in verses from the Book of God calling him to God and making him renounce his kingdom and desiring what God has desired for him in the Hereafter, and warning him of God’s punishment and wrath. And when he finished, he acknowledged what was in it, except that he did not believe out of fear of his people.
The most important contents of the message
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote to Khosrau inviting him to Islam. He sent his letter with Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi. It reached his door and he asked permission to enter. He reached him and gave him the letter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It was read to him and it said: “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Khosrau, the Great King of Persia. Peace be upon him who follows guidance and believes in Allah and His Messenger and bears witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. I call you to the one who calls to Allah, for I am the Messenger of Allah to all mankind, to warn whoever is alive and to justify the word against the disbelievers. Accept Islam and you will be safe. If you refuse, then upon you is the sin of the Magians.” When he had finished, he took it and tore it up. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) heard of that, he said : “Tear up his kingdom.”
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, sent Hatib to Al-Muqawqis with a letter in which he said: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, the Messenger of God, to Al-Muqawqis, the leader of the Copts. Peace be upon him who follows the guidance. As for what follows, I call you to the caller of Islam. Convert to Islam and you will be safe, and convert to Islam and God will give you your reward twice over. If you turn away, then upon you is the sin of the Copts (Say, “O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except God and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords besides God.” But if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we are Muslims”). [8]
Message problems
Problems in the history of letters�
In Ibn Ishaq's narration
The solution to the problem is that the verse was revealed about the Jews, so it was used by the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace.
All the narrations that were reported about the reason for the revelation of the verse have mursal chains of transmission, as stated by the scholar Akram Al-Omari.
Another problem is that Al-Bukhari mentioned the Prophet’s letter to Khosrow after the Battle of Tabuk.
However, Al-Bukhari included the long hadith of Abu Sufyan in his Sahih, confirming the sixth year, i.e. after Al-Hudaybiyah.
The matter was resolved by Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar when he said that the matter was up to the copyists of Al-Bukhari.