In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
A Summary of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
Authored by Shaykh Musa ibn Rashid Al-Azmi,
May Allah preserve him.
The Seventh Year of the Hijrah.
The Letters of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to Kings and Princes.
In Muharram of the seventh year of the Hijrah,
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dispatched his envoys to the kings of the Arabs and non-Arabs,
Writing letters to them in which he invited them to Islam.
Indeed, Imam Muslim recorded in his *Sahih*
On the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
"The Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wrote to Chosroes, Caesar,
Negus, and to every tyrant ruler,
Inviting them to Allah Almighty."
This was not the same Negus for whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed the funeral prayer.
The Prophet's Adoption of a Ring for His Letters.
When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) intended to write to the kings and princes,
It was said to him, "They do not accept any letter unless it bears a seal."
So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) adopted a ring made of silver.
Indeed, the two Shaykhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) recorded in their *Sahihs*
On the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
"The Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) intended to write to a group or people among the non-Arabs,
And it was said to him, 'They do not accept a letter unless it has a seal upon it.'
So the Prophet (peace be upon him) adopted a ring made of silver,
Engraved with: 'Muhammad Messenger of Allah'."
In another wording in *Sahih al-Bukhari*,
On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
"The engraving on the ring was in three lines:
'Muhammad' on one line,
'Messenger' on one line,
And 'Allah' on one line."
The Letter of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to the Negus, Ashamah (may Allah be pleased with him).
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dispatched Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri (may Allah be pleased with him)
To the Negus, Ashamah (may Allah be pleased with him).
It appears from the accounts that he dispatched him more than once
And at different times.
The letters of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the Negus, Ashamah, included several matters, among which were:
First: Inviting him to Islam.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dispatched Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri (may Allah be pleased with him)
To the Negus with his letter,
And he embraced Islam (may Allah be pleased with him)."
Second:
Entrusting him with the care of the emigrants in Abyssinia.
Third:
Arranging his marriage to Umm Habibah,
Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with them both).
Ibn Sa'd stated in his *Tabaqat*:
"The Messenger of Allah dispatched Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri to the Negus,
Writing two letters to him:
In one of them, he invited him to Islam
And recited the Qur'an to him;
And in the other letter,
He requested that he marry him to Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan,
Who had emigrated to Abyssinia."
Imam Ahmad recorded in his *Musnad* with a good chain of transmission
On the authority of Habib ibn Abi Aws, who said:
"Amr ibn al-Aas narrated to me directly from his own mouth,
Saying:
'When we returned from the Confederates at the Trench,
I gathered some men of Quraysh
Who held my opinion in high regard and listened to me,
And I said to them,
"You know,
By Allah, I see that the affair of Muhammad
Is rising to great heights.
Indeed, I have formed an opinion,
So what do you think of it?"
They asked,
"And what is your opinion?"
He said,
"I think we should join the Negus and stay with him.
If Muhammad prevails over our people,
We will be with the Negus,
For being under his authority
Is preferable to us than being under the authority of Muhammad.
And if our people prevail,
We are people whom they know well,
So nothing but good will come to us from them."
They said,
"Indeed, this is a sound opinion."
He said:
"So I said to them,
'Let us gather gifts that we may present to him.'
And the most beloved gift to him from our land was leather,
So we collected much leather for him,
Then we set out until we came to him.
By Allah, while we were with him,
Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri arrived,
Whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Had sent regarding Ja'far and his companions."
Al-Bayhaqi recorded in *Dala'il al-Nubuwwah*
On the authority of Muhammad ibn Ishaq,
Who said:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent
Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri
(May Allah be pleased with him) to the Negus
Concerning Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and his companions,
And he sent a letter with him:
'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah,
To the Negus al-Asham,
King of Abyssinia.
Peace be upon you.
I praise Allah to you, the King, the Holy, the Source of Peace, the Guardian.
And I bear witness that Jesus, son of Mary, is the Spirit of Allah
And His Word which He bestowed upon Mary, the chaste, pure, and immaculate virgin.
Thus she conceived Jesus,
Whom He created from His Spirit and breathed into him,
Just as He created Adam with His hand and breathed into him.
Indeed, I invite you to Allah, Alone without partner,
And to allegiance in His obedience,
And that you follow me and believe in me and in that which has come to me,
For I am the Messenger of Allah.
I have sent to you my cousin Ja'far
Along with a group of Muslims;
When they come to you,
Receive them hospitality and abandon arrogance.
I call you and your hosts to Allah,
And I have conveyed the message and offered sincere advice,
So accept my advice.'"
“So go ye unto him and say: Lo! we are two messengers of thy Lord. So let the children of Israel go with us, and torment them not. We bring thee a token from thy Lord. And peace will be for him who followeth right guidance.” (20:47)
I say:
It appears from the phrasing of this letter of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
That the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
Sent it after the arrival of the Abyssinian emigrants
During the second emigration to Abyssinia,
And that was prior to the emigration to Medina.
This is the view held by Al-Bayhaqi in *Dala'il al-Nubuwwah*,
Where he placed it after the events of the second emigration to Abyssinia,
And Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir deemed it most probable in *Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah*.
Abu Dawud recorded in his *Sunan* and Al-Hakim in his *Mustadrak* with an authentic chain of transmission
On the authority of Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her),
That she was married to Ubayd Allah ibn Jahsh,
Who died in the land of Abyssinia.
Thereupon, the Negus married her to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
And gave her a dower on his behalf of four thousand [dirhams],
And he sent her to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
In the company of Shurahbil ibn Hasanah.
Al-Hafiz said in *Al-Talkhis al-Habir*:
"It is well known in the biographies
That he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Sent Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri (may Allah be pleased with him)
To the Negus (may Allah be pleased with him),
Who then married Umm Habibah to him.
It is possible that he [Amr] was the agent authorized to accept the marriage proposal, or that it was the Negus.
However, the apparent meaning in the collections of Abu Dawud and Al-Nasa'i
Is that the Negus conducted the marriage contract on behalf of the Prophet (peace be upon him),
While the guardian who officiated the marriage was Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-Aas,
As stated in *Al-Maghazi*.
It was also said to be Uthman ibn Affan,
But that is an error."
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said:
"And his marriage to Umm Habibah—
Her name being Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan
Sakhr ibn Harb,
The Qurashite, Umayyad woman;
And it was also said her name was Hind—
He married her while she was an emigrant in the land of Abyssinia.
The Negus paid her a dower on his behalf of four hundred dinars,
And she was escorted to him from there.
She passed away during the reign of her brother Mu'awiyah.
This is the well-known and widely attested account among scholars of biography and history,
Held by them in the same certainty as his marriage to Khadijah in Mecca,
To Hafsah in Medina,
And to Safiyyah after Khaybar."
He also stated in *Tahdhib Sunan Abi Dawud*:
"The Negus officiating her marriage was in fact genuine,
For he was a Muslim
And the ruler and sovereign of that land.
Some commentators have interpreted it
As meaning he merely provided the dower from himself,
And thus the marriage was attributed to him figuratively.
Others interpreted it
As meaning he was the suitor on the Prophet's behalf,
While the guardian who executed the contract was Uthman ibn Affan,
Or, as some said, Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri.
The correct view is that Amr ibn Umayyah
Was the representative of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in that matter,
Dispatched by him to the Negus to marry her to him.
And it was said that the guardian who executed her marriage contract
Was Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-Aas,
Her father's cousin."
A Summary of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
Though the longings of all creation for one another grow intense,
The longing felt for you knows no bound.
May Allah send blessings upon you as long as the call to prayer is raised,
And as long as lips move
With the enduring words of remembrance.