A Thoughtful Inquiry
Furthermore the Prophet displayed numerous qualities which Heraculus, the
Byzantine Roman Emperor, recognized as indicating that Muhammad was indeed
the Prophet who they (the Christians) had been expecting as the following
narration shows:
"Abdullah ibn Abbas reported that Abu Sufyan bin Harb informed me that Heraculus
had sent a messenger to him while he had been accompanying a caravan from
Quraish. They were merchants doing business in Sham (i.e. Syria, Palestine,
Lebanon and Jordan), and at the time when Allah's messenger had a truce with
Abu Sufyan and the idolatrous Quraish. So Abu Sufyan and his companions went
to Heraculus at Ilya (Jerusalem). Heraclius called them in the court and he
had all his dignitaries around him. He called for his translator who, translating
Heraculus'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." Heraclius said, "Bring him close to me and make his companions
stand behind him." Heraclius told his translator to tell Abu Sufyan's companions
that he wanted to put some questions to me regarding that man and that if
I told a lie they 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 noble
family amongst us." Heraclius further asked, "Has anybody else amongst you
ever claimed the same 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?" 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?" 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 Prophets 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 suspected that this man was following the previous
mans 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 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 or the poor followed him. You replied that it was the poor
who followed him. And in fact all the Prophets 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, until it is complete in all respects. I further asked
you if 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 whether he had ever betrayed. You replied in the
negative and likewise the Prophets 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 not to commit illegal
fornication. If what you 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 the Allah's Messenger which
was delivered by Dihya to the Governor of Bura, who forwarded it to Heraclius
to read. The contents of the letter were as follows:
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad, the slave
of Allah and his Messenger to Heraclius the ruler of Byzantines. 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 you will be committing a sin by misguiding
your peasants: "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 (i.e. those who surrendered
to will of Allah)."
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 issue of Ibn Abi-Kabsha (a
derogatory nick name for the Prophet) has become so prominent that even the
King of the Byzantines is afraid of him. then I started to become sure that
he would be the conqueror in the near future until I embraced Islam." The
sub-narrator adds: "Ibn An-Natur was the governor of Jerusalem and Heraclius
was visiting Jerusalem, he got up in the morning in 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. Who are they who
practice circumcision?" The people replied, "Except the Jews nobody practices
circumcision, so you should not be afraid of them. 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 Messenger to Heraclius
was brought in. Having heard the news, he 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 left for Homs and stayed there until 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!" On hearing this, 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 hope of their embracing Islam,
he ordered that they should be brought back in audience. He said: "What I
just said was 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 Heraculus's story (in connection with his faith.)Important note to learn and read quran online
Reading Quran to seek the light to the right path. The holy Quran is the ultimate source and light for all Muslims. To seek this light of it one needs to read Quran. The importance of the text of Quran cannot be doubted or questions. At the same time, the significance of learning Quran with translation holds a great strength for a holy quran reciter.
There are number of issue in the daily life of Muslims, in which Muslims need to improve according to the Quran. Muslims have been practicing the same conventions from long time, without consulting Quran themselves. Unfortunately, many times Muslims ignore the negative side and only see the positive side of what has been written in the Quran.
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