Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
6. The Path of the Prophet
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the day—the Sassanians and the Byzantines. To
the north lay the emirates of Basra and
Ghasasina, and the Roman province of Petraea,
ruled through Arab chieftains. Roman influence
there had led most of the inhabitants to embrace
Christianity. To the south and north-east were the
emirates of Bahrayn, Yamamah, Yemen and
Oman, the last being known as the Mazun
province. These states were under the Persian
(Sassanian) Empire, and the religion of their
Persian masters—Zoroastrianism—had spread
among their peoples.
In the year A.H. 6 (A.D. 628), the Prophet had made
a ten-year truce with the Quraysh at Hudaybiyyah.
With peace on the home front, he sent letters to the
rulers of territories surrounding Arabia, inviting
them to accept Islam. One such letter was taken by
the Prophet’s envoy, Shuja’ ibn Wahb al-Asadi, to
al-Harith ibn Abu Shimr of Ghasasina. The words in
the letter, “have faith in God, you will retain your
sovereignty” incensed the Arab chieftain. He threw
the letter aside, saying: “Who can take away my
kingdom?”
