| Prophet Muhammad's (p.b.u.h) Letter to Roman King-Heraclius and His Reaction: |
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| Prophet Muhammad's (p.b.u.h) Letter to Roman King-Heraclius and His Reaction: |
After the
conclusion of Hudaibiya Treaty with the pagan Makkan Leadership, in 6th
'Hijra' (Hijra is the event of the Migration of Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon
him- from Makkah to Madina) God revealed to Prophet to give universal invitation
unto Islam. For doing this, he dispatched several envoys to neighboring
sovereigns. On the eastern part of Arabia, Persia (Iran of today) was a
superpower of those times. On the western part was the Byzantine or Roman
empire, the opponent of Iran. Khosro Parvez was the Emperor of Persia and
when Prophet's envoy presented him the letter of invitation to Islam from the
Prophet, out of fury he tore it into pieces. Because he considered the
Prophet of God as an ordinary person and how could a subject address an
Emperor? He treated the envoy with great contempt. When the Prophet was informed about this treatment, he
observed : "Thus will the Empire of Khosros be
torn to pieces".
This really happened during the Glorious reign of second Rightly Guided Khalifa (Caliph)- Omar Ibn Al Khattab (Ruled from 635-646 A.D). Both The Roman and the Persian Empire were defeated and became part of vast Islamic State.
Prophet Muhammad's Invitation Letter to Emperor Heraclius:
Unlike Khosro of Persia, Heraclius, the Emperor of Romans received the embassy of Prophet Muhammad with respect and politeness. He treated the Ambassador with great respect and sent the Prophet a gracious reply to his message.
The Eye witness to the event is Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb, who was not yet a Muslim. He was from the dominant Quraish Clan of Makkah as was Prophet Muhammad. But he was one of the Lords of Makkah City and the bitter enemy of Islam, the Prophet and his followers. Now, see what happens in the end.....
Following is the Narration of this great event by
Abdullah Ibn Abbas (one of the noble companions of the Prophet-peace be upon
him) from Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb (Abu Sufyan narrated this event some time after he
embraced Islam) : -
<Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb
informed me (the narrator-Abdullah Ibn Abbas) that Heraclius had sent a
messenger to him while he had been accompanying a caravan from Quraish.
They were merchants doing business in Sham (stretching from Syria, Palestine,
Lebanon and Jordan) at the time when Allah's Messenger had a truce with Abu
Sufyan and Quraish infidels. So Abu Sufyan and his companions went to
Heraclius at Ilya (Jerusalem). Heraclius called them in the court and he
had all the senior Roman Dignitaries around him. He called in his
translator. Heraclius questioned the Arab Merchants
: "Who among you is closely related to that man who claims to be a
Prophet?" Abu Sufyan replied: "I am the
nearest relative to him (among the group)."
Heraclius said : "Bring him (Abu Sufyan) close to me and make his companions stand behind him." Abu Sufyan added : "Heraclius told his translator to tell my companions that he wanted to put some questions to me regarding that man (The Prophet) and that if I told a lie, they (my companions) should contradict me. By Allah! Had I not been afraid of my companions labeling me a liar, I would not have spoken the truth about the Prophet." Abu Sufyan continues as follows: "The first question he asked me about the prophet was :
"What is his family status among you?" I replied : "He belongs to a good (noble) family amongst us." Heraclius further asked : "Has anybody among you ever claimed the same (i.e. to be a Prophet) before him?" I replied: "No". He said : "Was anybody amongst his ancestors a king?" I replied : "No". Heraclius asked : "Do the nobles or the poor follow him?" I replied : "It is the poor who follow him." He said : "Are his followers increasing or decreasing (day by day)?" I replied : "They are increasing". He then asked : "Does anybody amongst those who embrace his Religion become displeased and renounce the Religion afterwards?" I replied : "No." Heraclius said : "Have you ever accused him of telling lies before his claim (to be a Prophet)?" I replied : "No".
Heraclius said : "Does he break his promises?" I replied : "No. We are at truce with him but we do not know what he will do in it." I could not find opportunity to say anything against him (the Prophet) except that .
Heraclius asked : "Have you ever had a war with him?" I replied : "Yes". Then he said : "What was the outcome of the battles?" I replied : "Sometimes he was victorious and sometimes we". Heraclius said : "What does he order you to do?" I said : "He tells us to worship Allah and Allah alone and not to worship anything along with Him and renounce all that our ancestors had said. He orders us to pray, to speak the truth, to be chaste and to keep good relations with our kith and kin".
Heraclius asked the translator to convey to me the following : "I asked you about his family and your reply was that he belonged to a very noble family. In fact, all the Messengers come from noble families among their respective peoples. I questioned you whether anybody else among you claimed such a thing; your reply was in the negative. If the answer had been in the affirmative, I would have thought that this man was following the previous man's statement. Then I asked you whether anyone of his ancestors was a king. Your reply was in the negative, and if it had been in the affirmative, I would have thought that this man wanted to take back his ancestral kingdom.
I further asked whether he was ever accused of telling lies before what he said, and your reply was in the negative. So I wondered how a person who does not tell a lie about others could ever tell a lie about Allah. I then asked you whether the rich people followed him or the poor. You replied that it was the poor who followed him. And in fact, all the Messengers have been followed by this very class of people. Then I asked you whether his followers were increasing or decreasing . You replied that they were increasing, and in fact, this is the way of true faith, till it is complete in all respects. I further asked you whether there was anybody, who after embracing his religion, became displeased and discarded his religion. Your reply was in the negative, and in fact, this is (the sign of) true faith, when its delight enters the hearts and mixes with them completely. I asked you whether he had ever betrayed, you replied in the negative, and likewise the Messengers never betray. Then I asked you what he ordered you to do. You replied that he ordered you to worship Allah and Allah alone and not to worship anything along with Him and forbade you to worship idols and ordered you to pray, to speak the truth and to be chaste. If what you have said is true, he will very soon occupy this place underneath my feet and I knew it (from the scriptures) that he was going to appear but I did not know that he would be from you and if I could reach him, definitely, I would go immediately to meet him and if I were with him, I would certainly wash his feet."
Heraclius then read the letter addressed to him by
Allah's Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It
read as follows : "In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent,
The Merciful. (This letter is) from Muhammad the slave of Allah and His
Messenger to Heraclius the Ruler of Byzantine. Peace be upon
him who follows the right path. Furthermore I invite you to Islam and if you become a Muslim
you will be safe and Allah will double your reward and if you reject
this invitation of Islam, you will be committing a sin by misguiding your
subjects. (And I recite to you Allah's
Statement:)
<Say (O Muhammad): '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'>
Abu Sufyan then added : When Heraclius had finished his speech and had read the letter, there was a great hue and cry in the Royal Court. So we were turned out of the court. I told my companions that the question of Ibn-Abi-Kabsha (the Prophet Muhammad) had become so prominent that even the King of Bani-Al-Asfar (Byzantine) was afraid of him. Then I started to become sure that he (the Prophet) would be the conqueror in the near future till I embraced Islam>
Now, the other part of the Story of Heraclius: - Once it so happened that Heraclius got up in the morning with a sad mood. His priests questioned the reason. He was an astrologer, so he replied : "At night when I looked at the stars, I saw that the leader of those who practice circumcision had appeared (become the conqueror). Who are they who practice circumcision?" The people replied : "Except the Jews, nobody practices circumcision, so you should not be afraid of them (Jews). Just issue orders to kill every Jew present in the country"
While they were discussing it, a messenger sent by the King Ghassan to convey the news of Allah's Messenger to Heraclius was brought in. Having heard the news, he (Heraclius) ordered the people to go and see whether the messenger of Ghassan was circumcised. The people, after seeing him, told Heraclius that he was circumcised. Heraclius then asked him about the Arabs. The messenger replied : "Arabs also practice circumcision". (After hearing that) Heraclius remarked that sovereignty of the Arabs had appeared. Heraclius then wrote a letter to his friend in Rome who was as good as Heraclius in Knowledge. Heraclius then left for Homs (a town in Syria) and stayed there till he received the reply of his letter from his friend, who agreed with him in his opinion about the emergence of the Prophet and the fact that he was a Prophet. On that Heraclius invited all the heads of the Byzantines to assemble in his palace at Homs. When they assembled, he ordered that all the doors of his palace be closed. Then he came out and said : "O Byzantines! If success is your desire and if you seek right guidance and want your empire to remain, then give a pledge of allegiance to this Prophet (i.e. embrace Islam).
(On hearing the views of Heraclius) the people ran towards the gates of the palace but found the doors closed. Heraclius realized their hatred towards Islam and when he lost the hope of their embracing Islam, he ordered that they should be brought back in audience.
(When they returned) he said : "What was already said was just to test the strength of your conviction and I have seen it." The people prostrated before him and became pleased with him> This is how Heraclius could not make it to the path of salvation because he calculated the worldly benefits and losses and failed to do the calculation of benefits and losses in the Future Permanent World after Death. In that world, no father, no priest, no vicar, no minister, no bishop.... would come to a person's help. All would be under the command of Almighty Allah and Angels of Allah would question after death about the wrong acts man did in this life. All of us must not fail to seek God's protection by seeking His pardon for our sins. If He pardons, you will be free from troubles in the Next World. So no amount of tongue twisting and falsifying the Truth sent by Allah will be useful. Jesus will not help anyone. If that was the case, he must have helped himself, while he was about to be harmed physically by his enemies and was about to be put to death on cross. But they missed him because Almighty Allah the God of all, rescued him (and lifted him to the heavens), which he confirmed in the Holy Qur'an.
So far millions of people from Christianity and
Judaism have crossed over to Islam confirming the Truth of Holy Qur'an and
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him ) and the true status of Jesus (peace be
upon him). Muslim community, you see today, is nothing but the
'ocean' of men and women who have joined in from all the Religions and Beliefs
of the world. Now it begs a correct answer, how many of Muslims have
crossed over to Christianity in 1,400 years since Prophet Muhammad came and
declared the Truth of Jesus and His Message? None wants to hit one's head
against a concrete wall, and then breaking the head itself, a wise person would
realize that it is no wisdom to do so. Even a fool would not try to do so,
unless he has lost all hopes. This is nothing but suicidal. Then how
could they fight against the Holy and True Words of Almighty Allah, who is
unimaginably stronger than everything in the creation.
It is now the duty of all Bishops, Fathers and Priests to declare
the Truth of Islam and be on safe side. Are you still waiting for Jesus
(peace be upon him) to come? Will you listen to Holy Qur-an and accept
Allah's words (like millions of other Christians who joined Islam in the recent
history) and be happy when Jesus arrives, as the follower of Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him)?
You know when Jesus comes second time, he will fight against those who refuse to join Islam. So please don't play with fire by denying the Truth of Islam. Instead return to the Religion of All Prophets of God.
Message to All who have still not joined the Path of Holy Qur-an:- Tell your relatives and friends to return to the Religion of Holy Qur-an and Jesus and other Prophets of God Almighty Allah. Let not the miserable conditions of muslins or their faults drive you to commit mistake with regard to Truth of God. You are not living for them nor are they. Every one has a separate account and record with God in so far as his/her actions and life are concerned. They will reap what they have done. One will reap what he sows. This applies to all as God's law is uniform for all. Can you give up your arrogance and return to Islam, immediately, before death attacks from no where? You just can't wait for that.... can you?
DO IT NOW, OR NEVER...
"What kind of a wise person he or
she is, who does not wish to respect and follow Muhammad,
whom God Himself
and His Angels, the universal things, Heavenly creatures, Noble People,
The
Good among the Genies and all Prophets of God, including Jesus himself, love and
respect?
While they
(the worldly people) go after making friendship with common (sometimes useless)
people,
yet remain far away from the one (Prophet
Muhammad-The Leader of the Universe), who is the Most
Beloved for all Good
People and God Himself? Do they have a bit of commonsense?
Those who hate Muhammad and his
followers are doing the worst harm to themselves, though
invisible in this
world, but the history and the lessons of the past people are there, like Abu
Lahab and
his wife (please read the chapter no.111 of Holy Qur-an to get an
insight of them and such people who
have come after them on this earth with
similar characteristics and their end would be doomed for ever).
But
it's quite disturbing and painful to notice that almost all leaders of Christian
Priest-class have done
so much harm to themselves by teaching falsehood about
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),
for almost 2,000 years now, whom
Jesus and Moses loved and all prophets prayed for being among his followers due
to the greatest status with God for his followers. But God accepted the
prayer of only one Prophet- Jesus (Eisa or Isa Alaihissalam-peace be upon him) who was
the predecessor of Final Prophet Muhammad. And because Jesus was not
dead, he only could get this chance! One who is dead shall not return
to this world to live again on this earth as per the Decree of God. But on
the Day of Judgment, Allah -The Almighty God will raise all for giving their
rewards of this life and a permanent life afterwards either in the Heaven or
Hell. So if you want to be among all the Prophets (in the Heaven)
please follow the path of all the Prophets of God Almighty Allah and don't
hate Muhammad. Instead come to his path willingly and this is the prime
condition for your worldly success and the salvation in the next
world.
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Last updated: Thursday September 13, 2007
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