Hayatus Sahabah - The Lives of the Sahabah - Part 1 of 3

THE LIVES OF W E SRHABAH @G&!&j' (Vol-I) . 151
Sa'eed bin Abi Raashid narrates that it was in Hims that he once saw the man
from the Tanookh tribe whom Heraclius had sent to ~asulullaah as an
env,oy. The man wag his neighbour and had was extremely old, close to death.
Sa'eed bin Abi Raashid asked the man, "Will you not tell me about the letter that
Heraclius sent to Rasulullaah @?%' and the letter that Rasulullaah @%% sent to
Heraclius." He readily agreed and'related that Rasulullaah @!@ was in Tabook
when he sent Hadhrat Dihya %l!X%j to Heraclius. When the letter of Rasulullaah
@% re ched Heraclius, he summoned all the priests and learned scholars of
Rome t d his court and had all the doors locked. He then addressed them saying,
"This person has reached the place you see (Tabook) and has sent to me a letter
with three options. He invites me to (1) follow him in his religion, (2) to pay him
our wealth Uizya) in which case we keep our land or (3) to prepare for battle. By
Allaah! You know from what you have iead in the scriptures that he shall
definitely take the land from beneath my feet. Come! Let us follow him in his
religion'or give him part of our wealth to keep our land."
(When those present heard this) They snorted simultaneously like the snort of a
single person and threw down their hats shouting, "Are you proposing that we
forsake Christianity and become the slaves of a villager from Hijaaz?!" When
Heraclius sensed that they would incite a rebellion among the citizens if they left
(in that condition), he added, Heraclius "I have said this only to test your
steadfastness in your religion."
Thereafter, Heraclius sent for a person from the Tujayb tribe who had been the
leader of the Arab Christians and said to him, "Get me someone with a good
memory who speaks Arabic so that I may send him to that man (Rasulullaah
@@) with a reply to his letter." (The narrator of this report from the Tanookh
tribe) says that it was he who was sent to Heraclius, who handed over to him a
letter inscribed on the sternum of an animal. Heraclius then said to the man,
"Take this letter to that person and from everything you hear him say, take
careful note of three things. See whether he
-
mentions anything about the letter
that he wrote to me. See whether he mentions the night when reading my
letter and look carefully at his back to see for anything that puts you in
doubt."
The envoy carried the letter to Rasulullaah @&% in Tabook and found
Rasulullaah @% sitting with the Sahabah near a watering place. When
he asked for their leader, one of the Sahabah Ww pointed Rasulullaah k$@
out to him. The envoy walked up to Rasulullaah @%%, sat before him and handed
over the letter to him. Placing the letter in his lap, Rasulullaah asked the
man, "Which tribe do you belong to?" When he identified himself as a member of
the Tanookh tribe, Rasulullaah asked him, "Do you wish to enter into the
religion of your father Ibraheem w, which is far removed .from all deviation
and is securely on the straight path?" The envoy replied, "I am an envoy for a
nation and follow their religion, I shall not leave their religion until I first return
to them."