Letter of the Holy Prophet(sa) Addressed to the King of Ghassān

The fifth letter of invitation was sent to the Ruler of the kingdom of Ghassān, whose name was Ḥārith bin Abī Shamir. This is the same Ḥārith who has already been mentioned in relation to the letter sent to Caesar. The kingdom of Ghassān was situated adjacent to Arabia in the northern front and its King was subservient to the Caesar. The Holy Prophet(sa) dispatched this letter with a Companion named Shujā‘ bin Wahab. In this letter, the Holy Prophet(sa) invited Ḥārith to Islām and also wrote that if he accepted Islām, his kingdom would receive a long life. At the time, Ḥārith was preparing to celebrate the victory of Caesar. Prior to meeting Ḥārith, Shujā‘ bin Wahab met with his attendant. The attendant was a good man who testified to the message of the Holy Prophet(sa) as conveyed by Shujā‘ on the whole, but told Shujā‘ that he should not hold any high hopes from Ḥārith, because he fears the Caesar, and will not take any step without his approval. After waiting for a few days, Shujā‘ bin Wahab, gained access to the royal court of the King of Ghassān, and presented the letter of the Holy Prophet(sa) before him. Upon reading the letter, he became enraged and threw away the letter saying, “Who possesses the power to snatch my kingdom from me? In fact, I shall myself march against this claimant and even if I must go to Yemen, then I shall go and apprehend him.” Then, he ordered his mounted contingent to begin preparations. On the other hand, he wrote a letter to the Caesar informing him that he had received such and such letter from a claimant in Ḥijāz and I am about to march out against him. The Caesar responded to this letter instructing him not to take military action, and that he should meet him in Īlyā or Jerusalem1 for royal court. After this, the accounts that unfolded in Īlyāh with Diḥyah Kalbī, the emissary of the Holy Prophet(sa) have already been mentioned with reference to the letter sent to Caesar. The incident of the King of Ghassān comes to an end at this juncture. He did not accept Islām.2 However, it is ascertained from Ḥadīth and history that apprehension of an attack against the Muslims by the Ghassān tribes prevailed in Madīnah for some time.3

It is also worthy of mention that sometime thereafter, Jabalah bin Aiham, the successor of Ḥārith bin Abī Shamir and the last to rule over the Kingdom of Ghassān, accepted Islām in the era of Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar(ra) and also came to Madīnah. However, when he slapped a poor Muslim, Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar(ra) reprimanded him and said, “As far as rights are concerned, all Muslims are equal. Retribution shall be sought from you.” As a result, he began to exhibit arrogance as was demonstrated in the era of the Jāhiliyyah and fled saying, “Can an ordinary Muslim be my equal?” Then, he died in this very state of apostasy.4