associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allâh.’
Then, if they turn away, say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.’ ” 3:64
The Muslim envoy, Dihyah bin Khalifah Al-Kalbi, was ordered to hand the letter over to king of Busra,  who would in turn, send it to Caesar.
Incidentally, Abu Sufyan bin Harb, who by that time had not embraced Islam, was summoned to the  court and Hercules asked him many questions about Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and the religion  which he preached. The testimony which this avowed enemy of the Prophet gave regarding the  personal excellence of the Prophet’s character and the good that Islam was doing the human race, left
Hercules wonder-struck.
Al-Bukhâri, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, narrated that Hercules sent for Abu Sufyan and his  companions, who happened to be trading in Ash-Sham, Jerusalem. That was during the truce that had  been concluded between the polytheists of Quraish and the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him).
Hercules, seated amongst his chiefs of staff, asked, “Who amongst you is the nearest relative to the  man who claims to be a Prophet?” “I (Abu Sufyan) replied: ‘I am the nearest relative to him from  amongst the group.’ So they made me sit in front of him and made my companions sit behind me.
Then  he called upon his translator and said (to him). ‘Tell them (i.e. Abu Sufyan’s companions) that I am  going to ask him (i.e. Abu Sufyan) regarding that men who claims to be a Prophet. So if he tells a lie,  they should contradict him (instantly)’. By Allâh had I not been afraid that my companions would  consider me a liar, I would have told lies”, Abu Sufyan later said.
Abu Sufyan’s testimony went as follows: “Muhammad descends from a noble family. No one of his  family happened to assume kingship. His followers are those deemed weak with numbers ever  growing.
He neither tells lies nor betrays others, we fight him and he fights us but with alternate victory. He  bids  people to worship Allâh Alone with no associate, and abandon our fathers’ beliefs. He orders us to  observe prayer, honesty, abstinence and maintain strong family ties.” “Hercules, on hearing this  testimony, turned to his translator bidding him to communicate to us his following impression which  reveals full conviction in the truthfulness of Muhammad’s Prophethood: ‘I fully realize that Prophets  come from noble families; he does not affect any previous example of Prophethood. Since none of his  ancestors was a monarch, we cannot then allege that he is a man trying to reclaim his father’s  monarchy. So long as he does not tell lies to people, he is for the more reason, immune to telling lies  as regards Allâh. Concerning his followers being those deemed weak with numbers ever growing, it is  something that goes in agreement with questions of Faith until this latter assumes its full dimensions  geographically and demographically. I have understood that no instance of apostasy has as yet  appeared among his followers, and this points to the bliss of Faith that finds its abode in the human  heart. Betrayal, as I see, is alien to him because real Prophets hold betrayal in . Bidding worship of
Allâh with no associates, observance of prayer, honesty and abstinence and prohibition of paganism  are  traits bound to subject to him all my possessions. I have already known that a Prophet must arise but  it  has never occurred to me that he will be an Arab from among you. If I was sure I would be faithful to  him, I might hope to meet him, and if I were with him, I would wash his feet.’ Hercules then  requested  that the Prophet’s letter be read. The observations of the emperor and finally the definite and  clear-cut  exposition of the Islamic message could not but create a tense atmosphere amongst the clergy  present  at the court. We were ordered to go out.” Abu Sufyan said, “While coming out, I said to my  companions, ‘The matter of Ibn Abi Kabshah i.e. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has become so  prominent that even the king of Banu Al-Asfar (i.e. the Romans) is afraid of him.’ So I continued to  believe that Allâh’s Messenger (Peace be upon him) would be victorious, till Allâh made me embrace
Islam.” The king did not embrace Islam — for it was differently ordained. However, the Muslim envoy  was returned to Madinah with the felicitations of the emperor.
On his way back to Madinah, Dihyah Al-Kalbi was intercepted by people from Judham tribe in Hasmi,  who looted the presents sent to the Prophet     ﻠﻋ ﷲ ﻰﻠﺻ. Zaid bin Haritha at the head of five hundred  men was despatched to that spot, inflicted heavy losses on those people and captured 1000 camels,
5000 of their cattle and a hundred women and boys. The chief of Judham who had embraced Islam  filed