Abdullah carries Prophet's letter to Persian king

HISTORY would have bypassed this man as it had bypassed thousands of Arabs before him, had the greatness of Islam not given Abdullah ibn Hudhafah ibn as-Sahmi the opportunity to meet two world potentates of his time, including Khusraw Parvez, the King of Persia.

The story began in the sixth year of the hijrah when Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, decided to send delegations to rulers outside the Arabian peninsula inviting them to Islam. The Companions would go to distant lands with whom there was no agreement or treaty. They did not know the languages nor anything about the ways and disposition of their rulers. They were to invite these rulers to give up their religion and forsake their power and glory and enter the religion of a people who shortly before were almost their subjects. The mission was hazardous.

The Prophet commissioned six of his Sahabah to carry his letters to Arab and foreign rulers. Abdullah ibn Hudhafah was to take the Prophet's letter to Khusraw. Abdullah got his camel ready, set out alone and traversed mountains and valleys until he reached the land of the Persians.

Abdullah entered the palace and saw the Persian potentate dressed in delicate, flowing robes and turban. On Abdullah was the plain, coarse clothes of the bedouin. His head though was held high and his feet were firm. The honour of Islam burned fiercely in his breast and the power of faith pulsated in his heart.Khusraw signalled to one of his men to take the letter from Abdullah's hand.

"No," Abdullah said. "The Prophet commanded me to hand over this letter to you directly and I shall not go against a command of the Messenger of God." He then went forward and handed over the letter.

Thus the king began to read. "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of God, to Khusraw the ruler of Persia. Peace on whoever follows the guidance . . ."

Khusraw only heard this much of the letter when the fire of anger burst within him. He snatched the letter and began tearing it to pieces and shouted, "Does he dare to write to me like this, he who is my slave."

Abdullah was taken away, not knowing what would happen to him. Would he be killed or would he be set free? He said, "By God, I don't care what happens to me after the letter of the Prophet has been so badly treated." He managed to get to his camel and rode off.

Back in Madinah, Abdullah told the Prophet how Khusraw had torn his letter to pieces and the Prophet's only reply was, "May God tear up his kingdom."

Meanwhile, Khusraw wrote to Badhan, his deputy in Yemen, to send two strong men to "that man who has appeared in the Hijaz" with orders to bring him to Persia.

Badhan dispatched two of his strongest men to Madinah to find the Prophet and take him.

They said: "We have come to take you with us. If you come willingly, Khusraw has said that it will be good for you and he will spare you any punishment. If you refuse, you will know the power of his punishment. He has power to destroy you and your people."

"You shall not meet Khusraw after today," replied the Prophet. "God has killed him and his son Shirwaih has taken his place on such a night and on such a month."

The two men stared, dumbfounded: "Do you know what you are saying?" they asked. "Shall we write about this to Badhan?"

"Yes," replied the Prophet, "and say to him that my religion has informed me about what has happened to the Kingdom of Khusraw and that if Badhan should become Muslim, I would appoint him ruler over what he now controls."

The two men returned to the Yemen and told Badhan what had happened.

Badhan said, "If what Muhammad has said is true, then he is a Prophet."

Not long afterwards a letter from Shirwaih came to Badhan: "I killed Khusraw because of his tyranny against our people. He regarded as lawful the killing of leaders, the capturing of their women and the expropriating of their wealth."

Badhan then threw the letter aside and announced his entry into Islam.

The Persians with him in the Yemen also became Muslim.

MELS Publishing