Abū Sufyān Before Heraclius

When Hiraql received the letter from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the letter was not hand-delivered by Diḥyah al-Kalbī. Diḥyah al-Kalbī was one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), from the tribe of Kalb, and he was described as a very handsome man; that is why they say that when Jibrīl came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he would come in the form of Diḥyah al-Kalbī. He was very handsome. Did that have something to do with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) choosing him as an ambassador? Allah knows. Anyway, he did not hand it to Hiraql himself; the letter was given to one of the governors of Hiraql, and this governor in turn handed it over to Hiraql.

When Hiraql read the letter, he told one of his deputies: qallib liya al-Shāma ẓahran li-baṭn — I want you to turn al-Shām upside down until you bring me a man of this man's tribe, of this man's people. He wanted someone from the people of Muḥammad (peace be upon him). So the forces of Hiraql searched in al-Shām until they found Abū Sufyān and the merchants of Quraysh who were with him, in Gaza, in Palestine. They stormed in and asked them: where are you from? They said: we are Arabs. They gave them the details, and they said: come with us. So they were summoned before Hiraql; they ended up meeting the emperor himself.

Abū Sufyān — and he is the one narrating the story (al-Bukhārī 7) — said that his companions were told to stand behind him, because Hiraql asked: which of you is his closest relative? They said: Abū Sufyān. He said: what is your relationship to him? He said: he is my cousin. He was not literally the cousin of Abū Sufyān, but he was the closest of the group: Abū Sufyān's name is Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf, and Muḥammad is ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf; so they meet in ʿAbd Manāf; the grandfathers are cousins. Hiraql said: I want you to stand behind him, behind Abū Sufyān, and if he lies I want you to tell me — make a sign. He did not have them stand next to Abū Sufyān, so as not to embarrass them by refuting Abū Sufyān to his face; rather, stand behind him and make me a sign, a gesture, if he lies. Hiraql wanted to confirm the information.

Abū Sufyān says: I have never met a man more astute and intelligent than this man. So Hiraql was going to question Abū Sufyān. Abū Sufyān says about this: I knew that they would not refute me even if I did lie — they were loyal to him — but I was a man of dignity and honour, and I would have been ashamed to lie. I also knew that if I did, it was likely that they would report it to others, and that people would talk about me in Makkah; so I did not lie to him. These men, even in their Jāhiliyyah, had dignity and honour and virtues; he did not want to lie.

It says that Abū Sufyān started^* with a question: he said, who is Muḥammad? And Abū Sufyān said: he is a magician and a liar. What did Hiraql say? He said: I am not interested in hearing curses; I want you to tell me about him. Hiraql wanted an objective answer: leave these curses aside; I am not interested in hearing your curses; give me some valid news, give me valid information; do not give me curses. So the questioning began. What questions did Hiraql have in mind?

First question: what sort of family lineage does he have among you? Abū Sufyān: his ancestry is a distinguished one. Was any of his forefathers a king? No. Has anyone among you come out with a similar claim before him? No. Do the majority of his followers belong to the aristocracy, or are they poor people? They are poor. Do they increase or decrease? They are on the increase. Does anyone of them turn away from his religion after having embraced it? No. Have you ever known him to lie before he started making this claim? No. Is he given to treachery? No; we have, however, an armistice agreement with him for the time being, and we do not know what he will do during this period.

Abū Sufyān said: this is the only thing I was able to sneak in. The only thing he was able to say against Muḥammad (peace be upon him) without being a liar was this: well, he never committed treachery before, but now we are in a truce, and we do not know what he is going to do in the future. Abū Sufyān wanted to speak against Muḥammad (peace be upon him), but he was bound by his word not to lie. Hiraql said: have you ever fought him? Abū Sufyān: yes. How did your fighting go? Sometimes he wins and sometimes we win. What sort of commandments does he give you? He tells us to worship Allah alone, without ascribing divinity to anyone else; he tells us not to follow our fathers; he commands us to pray, and to be truthful, and chaste, and kind to our fellow human beings.

Hiraql said: you have mentioned that he enjoys distinguished ancestry, and this is the case with all prophets and messengers. Since you say that no one else among you has made similar claims, I cannot say that he is imitating anyone. You also denied that any of his forefathers was a king, which means that he is not a claimant to a kingdom. You also say that he was not known to tell a lie before he came out with this message; well, I know that he would not start by lying about Allah. You have stated that the poor are his followers, and this is the case with all messengers from Allah. The fact that his followers are on the increase again confirms a phenomenon which is always associated with true faith until it is completed. You have also mentioned that no one turns away from his religion after having embraced it; this is a characteristic of faith when its light shines in people's hearts. You also denied that he is treacherous, and no messenger of Allah was a treacherous person. You also said that he calls on you to believe in the oneness of Allah, and to pray, and to be truthful and chaste. If what you have told me is true, then he will have supremacy right here where I stand. I knew that his time was due, but I did not think that he would be from your people. Had it been in my power, I would certainly have taken the trouble to meet him, and to wash his feet.

In these words of Hiraql one sees intelligence; one sees an understanding of history, an understanding of religion, an understanding of the laws of Allah, and an understanding of the traits that distinguish truth from falsehood — who is a true prophet and who is not. And then Hiraql is saying something, and to whom is he saying these words? To Abū Sufyān, the man who was leading the war against Muḥammad (peace be upon him). Hiraql, the Roman emperor himself, is telling Abū Sufyān: if I met Muḥammad, I would wash his feet. Now these words had an effect on Abū Sufyān.