The Public Reading of the Letter
_001.jpg) After Heraclius had confirmed that he believed Muhammad
to be a prophet, he said:
“I knew that he was going to appear, but I
did not know that he would be from among you. If what you have said is true,
he will rule the very the ground beneath my feet; if I knew I would definitely see
him in person, I would undertake the journey to meet him; and if I were with
him, I would wash his feet.”
This is in keeping with the placement of this
story after the ibn al-Natur’s report of the attempt by Heraclius to foretell
the future astrologically. It is apparent that he ‘knew’, or at least suspected,
that a powerful prophet had arisen among the Arab people. It was at this stage
that he asked for the letter he had received from the Messenger of God so as to
read it aloud to the assembly.
“When Heraclius had finished his speech and
had read the letter, there was a great hue and cry in the Royal Court, so the
Meccans were ejected. Abu Sufyan wondered aloud to his companions, “The
affairs of ibn abi-Kabsha
have become so prominent that even the King of the Bani-Asfar (the fair
skinned ones) fears him.”
Abu Sufyan later told the narrator
“I lay low, by God, and reserved, certain that the affairs of Muhammad would
emerge triumphant, until God brought my heart to the point of embracing Islam.”
Heraclius in Homs
Meanwhile, according to ibn al-Natur’s
narration, Heraclius had written a letter to a friend in Rome concerning the
letter he had received whose
knowledge he trusted as comparable to his own. Then he left Jerusalem
for Homs (Emesa in Roman times) in Syria, where he awaited the reply.
“When he received the reply from his friend,
he saw that the man agreed that the signs portended the appearance of a new
leader, and that the leader was the expected prophet. On that, Heraclius
invited all the Grandees of Byzantium to assemble in his palace at Homs.
“When his Grandees had 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 the emerging
Prophet!
“On hearing this invitation, the Grandees of
the Church ran towards the gates of the palace like a herd of wild asses, but
found the doors closed. Heraclius, realizing their hatred towards Islam, lost
hope that they would ever embrace Islam, and he ordered that they should be
brought back to the audience room. After they returned, he said, “What I have
just said was simply to test the strength of your conviction, and I have seen
it.
“The people prostrated before him and
became pleased with him, and Heraclius turned away from faith.”
A legend has grown up around the
events at Homs. It is said that Heraclius first suggested that his bishops
embrace Islam, but when they refused, he suggested that the Empire pay tribute
to the Prophet of Islam. When they refused this in turn, he suggested making
peace with the Muslims and agreeing to a pact of non-belligerence. When this
too was refused, he left Syria for Byzantium, and gave up all interest in
preserving the Empire south and east of Antioch – never taking the field
against the Muslim advance in person, and sending incompetent generals as the
defenders of his Middle Eastern lands. What is certain is that he treated the
letter and the claim to prophethood therein seriously, and he made every effort
to sway his people before turning back.
The Heirloom
The historian, al-Suhayli was the source of two
more stories associated with the letter to Heraclius, both of which ibn Hajar
included in the commentary on the stories above.
He commented that al-Suhayli recalled hearing of a letter that was kept in a
jeweled diamond case, which showed the high status of its owner, that had been
left as an heirloom even until that day, and had reached the hands of the King
of Franja. His
descendants thought that it had come into his possession at the time of the
conquest of Toledo, and the
Commander of the Muslim Army, Abdul Malik bin Saad came to know of it through
one of these descendants in the 12th
Century. Some of Abdul Malik’s companions related that the Commander of the
Muslim Army sat with the King of Franja, who took
out the letter in its jeweled case. When Abdul Malik saw the treasured scroll
he realized it was very ancient, and asked if he could kiss the venerable
antiquity. However, the King of Franja refused to let him.
Al Suhayli further said that he had been told by
more than one source that the jurist, Nuraddin ibn Saygh al-Dimashqi said that
he had heard that Sayfuddin Flih al-Mansuri was sent with a gift by King
al-Mansur Qalaun to the
King of Morocco, who then
sent the gift to the King of Franja in
exchange for an unmentioned favor, which was granted. The King of Franja
invited the messenger to stay in his Kingdom for a while, but he turned the
offer down. Before he left, however, the King asked Sayfuddin if he would like
to see a valuable object which may have been of interest to him (as a Muslim).
Then he had a chest brought out full of compartments, each compartment filled
with treasures.
From one of the compartments he took out a long,
thin diamond encrusted box (rather like a pencil case). He opened it and took
out a scroll. The ancient paper of the scroll was damaged and the writing on
it somewhat faded, but most of the body had been preserved by dint of
sandwiching it between two silk cloths when rolling it for storage. The King
of Franja said: “This is the letter that my ancestor, Caesar, received from
your Prophet, which has been handed down to me as an heirloom. Our ancestor
left behind a will that his descendents should keep this heirloom if they
wished their rule of the Kingdom to last. With it we are strongly protected as
long as we respect the letter and keep it hidden. So has the Kingdom come down
to us.”
Exactly how valid the claim that the Kingdom of
Heraclius (who had officially been Caesar of the entire Roman Empire) had
descended to him is questionable, as the Byzantine Empire still existed in the
east, and would continue for a further 150 years. However, Heraclius could
have sent the letter to Rome, as mentioned earlier, and the letter could have
been kept there and passed down into the Visigoth line of Emperors when
Charlemagne was crowned Emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in 800CE.
We cannot categorically say that
the letter actually did survive the centuries, though these stories point to
that possibility. One of the Prophet’s letters still exists on its original
parchment in Topkapi museum.
Conclusion
Many may think that Heraclius secretly became
Muslim, for he sought to establish whether Muhammad’s prophetic claim was true
by considering his background, motivations, and effects on his people; his
character, accomplishments and message. Judging from his reply to Abu Sufyan
and the invitation to his pillars of society in Homs, he seems to have been
convinced that Muhammad was genuine. Perhaps his heart was swayed towards the
monotheism expressed by Muhammad in his letter, and he certainly tried to
follow his advice to avoid the sin of misguiding those he ruled. His subjects,
however, proved too strong in their rejection, and he capitulated to their
pressure, unable to submit to this new faith because he feared the rebellion of
the people. For this reason, like the uncle of the Prophet, Abu Talib, who
believed that Muhammad was a prophet and guarded him throughout his latter life
until death but still did not submit to Islam due to the shame brought on by
his peers, Heraclius died as a disbeliever in Islam and the Prophet of God..
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