Practical Examples from the Life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

here are some examples of the prophet’s actions during the honourable life he led. these examples show the ways by which the prophet (pbuh) talked with and addressed other nations and civilizations inviting them to unity under one truth.

after the prophet (pbuh) reached a truce between his people and his enemies in makkah, who battled with him for over eighteen years, the prophet (pbuh) took advantage of the truce to contact the leaders and kings in the world for the purpose of introducing islam to them. in his letters to them he concentrated on the values of peace and freedom and that was very clear in the contents of those letters.

to contemplate on one of his admirable examples, we shall take the prophet’s letter to the king of egypt and alexandria whose full name was jurayj bin matti known as al-muqawqes. the prophet wrote:

“in the name of allah the most gracious, most merciful.

“o people of the book! come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we do not erect, from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than allah; if then they turn back, you say: ‘bear witness that we are muslims (bowing to allah’s will)’” [qur’an 3:64]

the prophet chose his companion hatib bin abi balta’a to deliver this letter to the king. it is worth mentioning here the conversation that took place between hatib and al-muqawqes, which is a great proof to the west that these letters and messages aimed directly for the fulfilment of their purpose and that their language were highly eloquent.

hatib said: “this prophet preached and called people to islam, the cruellest to him were the people of quraish, and his worst enemies were the jews; while the closest to him were the christians. and i swear upon my life that the prophecy of moses about the arrival of jesus is no different than the prophecy of jesus about the arrival of muhammad. and our call to you to accept the qur’an is no different than your call to the jews to accept the bible. and any nation that witness a sent prophet must follow him and adhere to him. now you are among those who witnessed muhammad’s arrival and we are not asking you to forsake the religion of jesus, we rather are ordering you to follow it.”

al-muqawqes replied: “i have looked in the matter of this prophet and found that he does not order us to accept what we renounce, or to forsake what we desire; neither have i found him to be an aberrant magician nor a fake preacher; and with him i found the signs of prophecy of revealing what is hidden and uncovering what is secret, i’ll see.” he then took the prophet’s letter and kept it in a socket of ivory; he sealed it and handed it to one of his slave-girls and then called for a clerk to write in arabic. the king wrote the following:

“in the name of allah the most gracious, most merciful.

may peace be upon you”

however, al-muqawqes did not add anything more and did not embrace islam later on. the prophet (pbuh) then married maria (one of the girls sent by al muqawqes) who gave birth to the prophet’s son “ibrahim”, that muhammad named in respect and recognition of prophet ibrahim (the father of all prophets). as for sirin (the 2ed slave sent by al muqawqes), she married the prophet’s poet hassan bin thabit.

that was an example of the letters sent to some christians kings and their reactions to them. the prophet (pbuh) also sent his messengers to the leaders of the magi to introduce islam to them and call them to the light of allah, explaining how accepting islam will lead them out of the darkness into the light. some replied with kindness while others with violence; some accepted islam while others refused.

hence, prophet muhammad (pbuh) was among the first to begin intercultural exchange between people and countries. his goal was to spread high and valuable moral principles. his manners were of utmost courtesy, great morality, and respect for the opinions of others.

he further sent messengers and mediators to other leaders and kings. following is a list of the companions that were sent by the prophet for the noble cause: