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In late 6 AH, after the Hudaybiyya truce, the Prophet ﷺ sent eight Companions with letters of invitation to the world's kings — on a silver seal ring engraved 'Muhammad Messenger of God' in three lines. Some entered Islam — the Negus, al-Mundhir ibn Sawa, the kings of Oman; al-Muqawqis came close; Heraclius nearly did; and Khusraw tore the letter.

In late 6 AH, after the Hudaybiyya truce ended the war with Quraysh, the call went out to address the world's kings. The Prophet took a silver seal engraved in three lines 'Muhammad Messenger of God' and chose eight senior Companions of wisdom and tongue, sending them close together with the letters: Amr ibn Umayya (may God be pleased with him) al-Damri (may God be pleased with him) to the Negus, who honored the letter, entered Islam and sent the emigrants' ships; Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a to al-Muqawqis, chief of the Copts, who answered warmly and gifted two maids, a mule and a garment; Abdullah ibn Hudhafa al-Sahmi (may God be pleased with him) to Khusraw of Persia, who tore the letter; Dihya ibn Khalifa al-Kalbi to Heraclius, who nearly embraced it but for his patricians; al-Ala ibn al-Hadrami to al-Mundhir ibn Sawa, who entered Islam; Salit ibn Amr (may God be pleased with him) to Hawdha ibn Ali; Shuja' ibn Wahb to al-Harith al-Ghassani; and Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him) to the kings of Oman, who embraced it willingly with their land.

Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.

In late 6 AH, after the Hudaybiyya truce ended the war with Quraysh and secured the southern front, the Islamic call turned to addressing the kings and princes of the world to convey the universal message. The Prophet took a silver seal engraved in three lines — 'Muhammad', 'Messenger', 'God' — and chose eight senior Companions of wisdom and tongue, sending them close together: Amr ibn Umayya (may God be pleased with him) al-Damri (may God be pleased with him) to Ashama the Negus of Abyssinia, who honored the letter, entered Islam and sent the emigrants' two ships; Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a to al-Muqawqis, chief of the Copts in Egypt, who answered warmly and gifted the maids Mariya and Sirin, a mule and a garment; Abdullah ibn Hudhafa al-Sahmi (may God be pleased with him) to Khusraw of Persia, who tore the letter — the Prophet ﷺ praying his kingship be torn piecemeal; Dihya ibn Khalifa al-Kalbi to Heraclius emperor of Rome, who summoned Abu Sufyan in Syria, heard him affirm the Prophet's truth and nearly embraced but for fear of his patricians; al-Ala ibn al-Hadrami to al-Mundhir ibn Sawa in Bahrain, who entered Islam; Salit ibn Amr (may God be pleased with him) to Hawdha ibn Ali in Yamama; Shuja' ibn Wahb to al-Harith al-Ghassani in Damascus; and Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him) to the kings of Oman, who embraced willingly with their land. Ibn Hisham records the Prophet's charge to the envoys — 'God sent me as a mercy to all; do not differ over me as the Apostles differed over Jesus' — and names further envoys, to Jabala ibn al-Ayham and al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya to the Himyarite king.

Ibn Hisham's account (volume 4)

Ibn Hisham reports that after the Farewell Pilgrimage the Prophet had sent envoys from among his Companions to the kings, with letters inviting them to Islam. He relates, on the authority of a transmitter he trusted, from Abu Bakr al-Hudhali, that the Prophet came out to his Companions one day after the umra from which he had been barred at Hudaybiyya, and said: "People, God has sent me as a mercy and for all the worlds, so do not differ over me as the disciples differed over Jesus son of Mary." He explained to them that Jesus had called people to the same thing he had called them to; the one sent to a near place was content, while the one sent far away was reluctant, so he complained of that to God, and the reluctant ones then each began to speak the language of the people he had been sent to. ¹ He then names the envoys: Dihya ibn Khalifa al-Kalbi to Caesar, king of the Romans; Abdullah ibn Hudhafa al-Sahmi to Khosrow, king of Persia; Amr ibn Umayya al-Damri to the Negus, king of Abyssinia; Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a to al-Muqawqis, king of Alexandria; Amr ibn al-As to Jayfar and Iyad, the two sons of al-Jalanda al-Azdi, kings of Oman; Salit ibn Amr, of the clan of Amir ibn Lu'ayy, to Thumama ibn Uthal and Hawdha ibn Ali of the Banu Hanifa, kings of al-Yamama; al-Ala ibn al-Hadrami to al-Mundhir ibn Sawa al-Abdi, king of Bahrain; and Shuja' ibn Wahb al-Asadi to al-Harith ibn Abi Shamir al-Ghassani, king of the Syrian frontier. ¹ Ibn Hisham adds that Shuja' ibn Wahb was also sent to Jabala ibn al-Ayham al-Ghassani, and that al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya al-Makhzumi was sent to al-Harith ibn Abd Kulal al-Himyari, king of Yemen, and that it was he who traced the lineages of Salit, Thumama, Hawdha and al-Mundhir. ²

Ibn Ishaq relates, on the authority of Yazid ibn Abi Habib al-Misri, that he found a document naming those whom the Prophet had sent to the lands and to the kings of the Arabs and the non-Arabs, and what he had told his Companions when he sent them. He sent it to al-Zuhri, who recognised it. It contains the Prophet's words: "God has sent me as a mercy and for all mankind, so convey from me, may God have mercy on you, and do not differ over me as the disciples differed over Jesus son of Mary." ² Ibn Ishaq lists those whom Jesus sent out from among the disciples and followers: Peter, with Paul, to Rome; Andrew and Matthew to the land whose people eat people; Thomas to the land of Babylon; Philip to Carthage, which is Africa; Yuhannis to Ephesus, the town of the people of the cave; Ya'qubus to Urashlim, which is Aelia, Jerusalem; the son of Talma' to the Arabs, which is the land of the Hijaz; Simon to the land of the Berbers; and Judas, who was put in the place of Judas Iscariot. ² The editors confirm that two manuscripts read "Thalmali", and that the older parts of the Sira end at that point in the nineteenth section. ²

Notes on the transmission

The account of the disciples from Abu Bakr al-Hudhali is introduced with "it reached me", and Yazid ibn Abi Habib's book has similar wording. ¹ ²
The recipient differs: al-Harith ibn Abi Shamir in Ibn Ishaq's account, Jabala ibn al-Ayham in Ibn Hisham's. ¹ ²
Ibn Hisham does not give the date of the mission in this passage; he says only "after the umra from which he was barred". Al-Baladhuri places it in the year 7 AH. ¹ ³

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The Letters to Rulers and Kings

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Ibn Hisham's account (volume 4)

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