بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والعاقبة للمتقين
In
the third part of this series on the fateful and destructive end of the Prophet
Muhammad’s ﷺ most implacable enemies, I will now
discuss the story of the Sasanian Iranian emperor, Chosroes II, known by his
title ‘Parvez’. The
Prophet ﷺ sent an epistle to him,
inviting him to Islam and to accept him as God’s Prophet, otherwise the
misdeeds of the Magians would be upon him for refusing. However, Chosroes
arrogantly tore up the letter, saying “He writes this to me while he is my
subject!” When the Prophet was informed about how Chosroes has torn his letter
in two, the Prophet ﷺ predicted “Likewise, his
kingdom shall be torn up”.
Chosroes
was so incensed by this letter, that he in fact sent instructions to his
viceroy in Yemen, Bādhān, to have the Prophet ﷺ arrested and brought to him in Iran. Two envoys were then sent
to find the Prophet ﷺ in Medina and inform him that
he had to return with them, otherwise “he will destroy you, destroy your
people, and lay waste to your lands”. When the Prophet ﷺ saw these two Iranian envoys, he was disgusted by their custom
of shaving their beards while keeping unnecessarily large mustaches and so
refused to look at them while speaking to them. The Prophet told them to return
to him tomorrow when he would inform them of his decision. That night the
Prophet received a revelation from Allah, so when the two envoys returned to
him the next day, he said:
أَنَّ رَبِّي قَدْ قَتَلَ رَبَّهُ كِسْرَى
فِي هَذِهِ اللَّيْلَةِ
“Tonight my Lord has killed your lord”
Dumbfounded,
the two envoys returned to Yemen and informed Bādhān about their encounter with
the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Meanwhile,
the same night the Prophet had received his revelation, Chosroes son, Shīrūya,
known as Kavadh II, had murdered his father and seized the throne for himself.
The new emperor immediately sent a letter to Bādhān informing him about the
state of affairs and nullifying his father’s orders to arrest the Prophet ﷺ. Bādhān was then compelled to accept
Islam, saying “Surely this man [Muhammad] is a Prophet”. (Tarikh al-Tabari)
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*Note: In response to the message from Badhan, (the client king for the Persians in Yemen), the Prophet ﷺ told the two envoys to relay his message to him: "My religion and my dominion shall reach as far as the kingdom of Chosroes has reached and extend to the utmost reach of camel's pad and horse's hoof. Say to him, 'If you submit yourself and become a Muslim, I will give you what you possess and make you king over your people." (History of al-Tabari v. VIII, pp. 113-114) This proves that kingship is not forbidden in Islam.
ReplyDeleteThe execution of Chosroes II by his own son (Kavadh II) was an historical event that occurred in late February of the year 628 CE, corresponding to the year 6 H of the Islamic calendar, the same year the Prophet sent out his foreign missions inviting the various kings and emperors of the world to accept him as a Prophet.