Letter of the Holy Prophet(sa) to the Chief of Yamāmah

The sixth letter of invitation was addressed to Haudhah bin ‘Alī, the Chief of Yamāmah. The person appointed to take this letter was Ṣalīṭ bin ‘Amr Qarashī. In this letter, the Holy Prophet(sa) invited Haudhah to Islām, but he was a man of arrogant nature and was a servant of the world. Apparently, he warmly welcomed Ṣalīṭ bin ‘Amr but responded to the Holy Prophet(sa) saying, “I possess a great status among the Arabs (perhaps the inference was that his person could prove to be very beneficial for the dispensation of the Holy Prophet(sa)); if you bequeath to leave behind a portion of your kingdom to me, I will accept Islām.” When the Holy Prophet(sa) read this letter, he angrily stated, “Rule belongs to God; if Haudhah had asked of me an unripe date, I would not have given it to him.” After the victory of Makkah, Haudhah bin ‘Alī died in a state of disbelief. When the Holy Prophet(sa) received news that Haudhah had died, he said, “A false prophet shall soon emerge from the region of Yamāmah, and he shall be killed after my demise.” Someone inquired of the Holy Prophet(sa), “O Messenger of Allāh! Who shall kill him?” The Holy Prophet(sa) responded, “You and your Companions, who else?” This prophecy of the Holy Prophet(sa) was fulfilled by the appearance of Musailamah Kadhdhab, who after fighting a number of savage wars against the Muslims, was destroyed in the era of the Khilāfat of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr(ra).1

It is related in various narrations that upon sending Ṣalīṭ bin ‘Amr towards Yamāmah, the Holy Prophet(sa) committed two letters of invitation to him: one addressed to Haudhah and the other to Thumāmah bin Uthāl. However, this is not correct, because as already mentioned earlier in this book, Thumāmah had already been taken captive in a Sariyyah, and then subsequently accepted Islām of his own accord. Hence, at this occasion, if the Holy Prophet(sa) did in fact write a letter to Thumāmah, it was definitely not an invitation to Islām, rather, it would have been an instruction to deliver the letter of the Holy Prophet(sa) to Haudhah and assist Ṣalīṭ bin ‘Amr in preaching to him. This is how ‘Allāmah Zarqānī has settled this difference of opinion.2

The six letters of invitation to Islām described above were dispatched by the Holy Prophet(sa) immediately after the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah. According to certain narrations, all of these letters were sent out on the same day, and according to some narrations, they were written one after the other, and then dispatched.3 The letters written after this were sent with intervals, and God-willing, we shall mention them at their appropriate place.

The six letters of invitation to Islām mentioned above gives a person the opportunity to understand the immensely active and tireless nature in which the Holy Prophet(sa) fulfilled his obligation of preaching as soon as he became free after his treaty with the Quraish. In a single instance, the Holy Prophet(sa) threw the seeds of Islām in all the four corners of Arabia. This action of the Holy Prophet(sa) sheds great light on a statement he made upon returning from an expedition of war:

“Now we are returning from the lesser Jihād of the sword, to the greater Jihad of preaching and worship.”4

The truth is that every moment of the life of the Holy Prophet(sa) was spent in the service of religion and service of humanity. According to the prevailing circumstances, the soul of the Holy Prophet(sa) would dash towards whatever task was needed, in the same manner that a mother, who is full of emotions of love runs towards a lost child who is found again. The world was no more to him than the temporary stop in a journey; and service to his Heavenly Master, worship, and love for His creation was everything.

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