‘ Yes’, Abu Sufyan replied. ‘Did you ever fight against him?’ inquired the Emperor. To which Abu Sufyan answered: ‘Yes. Sometimes we won, sometimes he won, but he never broke his word in any agreement.’ The emperor then asked: ‘What does he say people must do?’ ‘To worship one God’, said Abu Sufyan. ‘He forbids people to worship as their fathers worshipped, and says they must pray to Allah alone, give elms, keep their word, and fulfil their duties and responsibilities.’ Abu Sufyan had spoken the truth even though he was an enemy of the prophet (pbuh), and did not become a Muslim until the very end of his life. But he was afraid to lie before the members of his caravan who were also there with him. The meeting ended with these words from the Emperor: ‘I see from this that he is indeed a prophet. You said that his followers don not leave him which proves they have true faith, for faith does not enter the heart and then go away. I knew he was coming and if what you say is true, he will surely conquer me. If I were with him now, I would wash his feet. You may leave now.’
71
It was not long after this that the messenger, Dihyah, arrived at the Syrian court bearing the Prophet Mohammed’s letter which said, ‘If you accept Islam you will be safe and Allah will give you a double reward. If you do not, you will have to live with results of your decision.’ Heraclius grabbed the letter. He was so upset he could hardly control himself. He said to Dihyah, ‘I know your master is a true prophet of Allah. Our books tell of his coming.
If I were not afraid that the Romans would kill me, I would join Islam. You must visit Bishop Daghatir and tell him every thing. His word is more respected among the people than mine.’ So Dihyah related the message to the Bishop and when he heard it, Daghatir said, ‘Yes, your master whom we call Ahmed is mentioned in our scriptures.’ He then changed from his black ropes into white ones and went and spoke to the people gathered in the church. ’O Romans, a letter has come to us from Ahmed, in which he calls us to Allah. I bear witness that there is no Divinity but Allah and that Ahmed is his slave and messenger.’ (Ahmed is another name for the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).) But on hearing this the crowd grew angry and attacked Daghatir, beating him until he was dead.
Heraclius was afraid that the same thing would happen to him, so he spoke to his generals from a balcony saying, ‘O Romans! A man has written to me calling me to his religion I believe he is truly the prophet we have been told to expect. Let us follow him so that we can be happy in this world and the next.’ The Romans cried out in anger when they heard this, so Heraclius quickly said, ‘I was only pretending; I wanted to see how strong your faith was. I am pleased to see that you are true to your religion.’ Heraclius then suggested that they attack or give land to the Muslims in order to maintain peace, but the Romans refused. Realizing that he could do no more, and knowing that one day Islam would conquer Syria, Heraclius left the province and returned to Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Roman Empire.
72
¥