Narrated
'Abdullah bin 'Abbas:
Abu Sufyan bin
Harb informed me that Heraclius had sent a messenger to
him while he had been accompanying a caravan from
Quraish. They were merchants doing business in Sham
(Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan), at the time when
Allah's Apostle had 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 for his translator who,
translating Heraclius's question said to them, "Who
amongst you is closely related to that man who claims to
be a Prophet?" Abu Sufyan replied, "I am the
nearest relative to him (amongst 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." Abu Sufyan
added, "By Allah! Had I not been afraid of my
companions labeling me a liar, I would not have spoken
the truth about the Prophet. The first question he asked
me about him was:
'What is his
family status amongst you?'
I replied, 'He
belongs to a good (noble) family amongst us.'
Heraclius further
asked, 'Has anybody amongst 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 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 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 to 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 Apostles come
from noble families amongst their respective peoples. I
questioned you whether anybody else amongst 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 he
said 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 Apostle 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 Apostles 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 any thing 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 asked for the letter
addressed by Allah's Apostle
which was
delivered by Dihya to the Governor of Busra, who
forwarded it to Heraclius to read. The contents of the
letter were as follows: "In the name of Allah the
Beneficent, the Merciful (This letter is) from Muhammad
the slave of Allah and His Apostle 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
Arisiyin (peasants). (And I recite to you Allah's
Statement:)
'O people of
the scripture! Come to a word common to you and us that
we worship none but Allah and that we associate nothing
in worship with Him, and that none of us shall take
others as Lords beside Allah. Then, if they turn away,
say: Bear witness that we are Muslims (those who have
surrendered to Allah).' (3:64).
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) has become so prominent that even
the King of Bani Al-Asfar (Byzantine) is 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 (i.e. Allah guided me to it)."
The sub narrator
adds, "Ibn An-Natur was the Governor of llya'
(Jerusalem) and Heraclius was the head of the Christians
of Sham. Ibn An-Natur narrates that once while Heraclius
was visiting ilya' (Jerusalem), he got up in the morning
with a sad mood. Some of his priests asked him why he
was in that mood? Heraclius was a foreteller and an
astrologer. 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 of Ghassan
to convey the news of Allah's Apostle 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
Syrian 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 like onagers 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 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, and this was the end of Heraclius's story (in
connection with his faith).
