Al-Bukhari gave a long narration of
the contents of the letter sent by the Prophet [pbuh] to Hercules,
king of the Byzantines:
"In the Name of Allâh,
the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
From Muhammad, the
slave of Allâh 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, Allâh
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 [pbuh]): ‘O people of the Scripture (Jews and
Christians), come to a word that is just between us and you,
that we worship none but Allâh, and that we associate no
partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as
lords besides Allâh.’ Then, if they turn away, say: ‘Bear
witness that we are Muslims.’ " [Al-Qur'an 3:64] [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1/4,5]
The Muslim envoy, Dihyah bin
Khalifah Al-Kalbi, 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 [pbuh] 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, 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 Allâh [pbuh].
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 Allâh 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 Allâh 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 Allâh. 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 abhorrence. Bidding worship
of Allâh 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
[pbuh]) 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 Allâh’s Messenger [pbuh] would be victorious, till
Allâh 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 was intercepted by people from Judham tribe in Hasmi, who
looted the presents sent to the Prophet [pbuh]. Zaid bin
Haritha 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, who gave a positive response to the former’s protest, and
ordered that all the spoils and captives be
returned.