Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 187
187 join with me in attaching ourselves to the One and Only God and in obeying Him. I invite you also to follow me and believe in the God Who hath sent me. I am His Messenger. I invite you and your armies to join the Faith of the Almighty God. I discharge my duty hereby. I have delivered to you the Message of God, and made clear to you the meaning of this Message. I have done so in all sincerity and I trust you will value the sincerity which has prompted this message. He who obeys the guidance of God becomes heir to the blessings of God. 215 When this letter reached the Negus, he showed very great regard and respect for it. He held it up to his eyes, descended from the throne and ordered an ivory box for it. Then he deposited it in the box and said, "While this letter is safe, my kingdom is safe. " What he said proved true. For one thousand years Muslim armies were out on their career of conquest. They went in all directions, and passed by Abyssinia on all sides, but they did not touch this small kingdom of the Negus; and this, out of regard for two memorable acts of the Negus–the protection he afforded the refugees of early Islam and the reverence he showed to the Prophet’s letter. The Empire of Rome became dismembered. The Chosroes lost his dominions. The kingdoms of China and India disappeared but this small kingdom of the Negus remained inviolate, because its ruler received and protected the first Muslim refugees and showed respect and reverence for the Prophet’s letter. Muslims returned the magnanimity of the Negus in this way. Compare with this the treatment which a Christian people, in this age of civilisation meted out to this Christian kingdom of the Negus. They bombarded from the air the open cities of Abyssinia and destroyed them. The royal family had to take refuge elsewhere and to stay away from their country for several years. The same people have been treated in two different ways by two different peoples. Muslims held Abyssinia sacred and inviolate because of the magnanimity of one of its rulers. A Christian nation attacked and plundered it in the name of civilisation. It shows how wholesome and lasting in their effects are the Prophet’s teaching and example. Muslim gratitude to a Christian kingdom made the kingdom sacred to Muslims. Christian greed attacked the same kingdom, not caring it was Christian. Letter to the Ruler of Egypt The letter to Maqawqis was carried by Hatib bin Abi Balta‘ah. The text of this letter was exactly the same as that to the Roman Emperor. The letter to the Roman Emperor said that the sin of the denial of the Roman subjects would be on his head. The letter to the Maqawqis said that the sin of the denial of the Copts would be on the head of the ruler. It ran as follows: In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. This letter is from Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Maqawqis, the Chief of the Copts.