We have already looked at how Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, received the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) message and how he tried to confirm the status of the Prophet, as well as his final position, preferring to keep his kingdom, rather than follow the truth he knew. The other superpower of the day was the Persian Empire. Its emperor was Khosrow II, who acceded to the Persian throne in the year 590 AD. Shortly afterward he faced rebellion that ended in his defeat. He was forced to seek refuge at the court of Maurice, the Byzantine emperor, who helped him regain his throne. When Maurice was killed by the usurper Phocas, Khosrow marched on the Byzantine Empire to avenge the killing of his old friend and patron. He was able to score great victories against “the old enemy”. It took quite a few years for Heraclius to be able to gain power in Byzantium and regain the occupied provinces of the Byzantine Empire. He followed that by a concentrated campaign against the capital city of the Persian Empire. Khosrow was thus forced to leave his capital and seek refuge elsewhere. He was later killed in an uprising that took place in the year 628 AD .
Historians agree that Khosrow II was one of the most powerful emperors of Persia. In his reign, the Persian Empire reached the pinnacle of its affluence. He even claimed that he was a god in the shape of a man.
The Prophet sent his companion Abdullah ibn Hudhafah with a message to Khosrow. The Prophet’s letter ran as follows:
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent. From Muhammad, God’s Messenger, to Khosrow, the leader of Persia. Peace be to him who follows right guidance, believes in God and His Messenger, and declares that there is no deity but God, the only God who has no partners, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. I wish to convey to you God’s call, for I am God’s Messenger to all mankind, sent with the task of warning all those who are alive that doom will befall the unbelievers. If you submit to God you will be safe. If you refuse, you shall bear the responsibility for the Magians.”
When Khosrow read the Prophet’s letter, he tore it to pieces, saying: “How dare he write this sort of letter to me when he is my slave?” Khosrow then wrote to Badhan (or Badham), who was governor of Yemen, a Persian province. He ordered him to send two able-bodied soldiers to arrest the Prophet and take him to Persia. Immediately Badhan sent Abadhaweih, one of his assistants, and a Persian officer called Kharkharah, with a warrant that required the Prophet to surrender himself to them and go with them to Khosrow. Badhan, however, asked his assistant to find out the truth about the Prophet.
Abadhaweih and his companion traveled from Yemen until they arrived in Taif, which is about 90 km from Makkah. Its people told them that the Prophet was now in Madinah. The Taif people — who were not Muslims at the time — and the Quraysh were very pleased when they learned that the Persian emperor had ordered the arrest of Muhammad. They felt that Muhammad was now facing his most difficult test.
Clean-shaven but with large moustaches, the two officers from Yemen came to the Prophet in Madinah. Abadhaweih said to him: “Khosrow, the king of kings, has written to Badhan, the king of Yemen, commanding him to send us to take you to him. If you comply, Badhan will write to the king of kings interceding on your behalf. This will spare you a great deal of trouble. If you reject his order, you know how powerful he is. He is sure to destroy you and your people as well as your country.”
The Prophet did not like their appearance. He asked them who ordered them to shave their beards and their reply was: “Our Lord”, meaning Khosrow. The Prophet said: “But my Lord has commanded me to wear a beard and to trim my moustache.” He also asked them to wait till the following day when he was to meet them again. In the meantime, the Prophet received information through the Angel Gabriel that God had caused Khosrow to be killed by Shirweih, his own son, giving him the exact time of night and the date when Khosrow was killed.
The Prophet called in the Persian messengers and told them of the killing of their emperor. They said to him: “Do you realize what you are saying? Your arrest has been ordered for something much more trivial than this. Do you still wish us to write this down and inform King Badhan of what you have just said?”
The Prophet replied: “Yes. Tell him also on my behalf that my religion and my kingdom will replace that of Khosrow and will sweep all before it. Tell him also that if he accepts Islam, I will give him what he has now under his authority and will make him a ruler in the area he now governs.” The Prophet also gave Kharkharah a sack of gold and silver that was sent to him as a present by another king.
The two envoys left and went back to Yemen where they told Badhan of what the Prophet had said. He told them: “This is not the sort of thing a king would say. To my mind, the man is a prophet, as he claims. If he is, what he has just told you will come to pass. If it is true that Khosrow has been killed, the man is a prophet and a messenger. If not, we will make up our mind about what to do with him.”
Presently Badhan received a message from Shirweih informing him that he had killed his father after he had adopted despotic measures against the Persian nobility. He also commanded him to ask his commanders to swear allegiance to him as the new emperor. He further asked him not to disturb the Prophet until he had received further instructions.
Badhan then realized that Muhammad was truly God’s Messenger. He called Abadhaweih in and questioned him further about the Prophet. The latter told him that the Prophet did not keep any guard to protect him from his people or from anyone else. “Nevertheless, I have never spoken to a man who has inspired me with awe as much as he does.” Badhan was then certain that Muhammad was truly the Messenger of God and he communicated his conviction to his advisers and counselors. He declared that he wished to become a Muslim and they all joined him in accepting the message of the Prophet.
This was the beginning of the spread of Islam in Yemen. The majority of its population, Christians and Magians alike, started to accept Islam. They conveyed this to the Prophet and he sent them some of his companions to teach them the principles of Islam and instruct them in how to lead an Islamic life.
