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The letter of Prophet Mohamed to the Negus of Abyssinia: its full text, Ibn Kathir’s dating (before the Conquest), the single version of the letters to the kings according to az-Zuhri and the second letter carried by ’Amr ibn Omayya, from al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Ishaq.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
al-Bayhaqi says in the Dala’il: chapter on what is related of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) letter to the Negus. He related, from al-Hakim, from al-Asamm, from Ahmad ibn Abd al-Jabbar, from Younous, from Ibn Ishaq: “This is a letter from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to the Negus: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. This is a letter from Muhammad, Messenger of Allah, to the Negus al-As-ham, great king of Abyssinia. Peace upon him who follows the guidance, believes in Allah and His Messenger, testifies that there is no deity but Allah, alone without partner, who took no consort nor child, and that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger. I call you by Allah’s call, for I am His messenger: submit, and you will be safe. Say: O People of the Book, come to a word equal between us and you: that we worship none but Allah, associate nothing with Him, and take none of us for lords beside Allah. Should they turn away, say: bear witness that we are submissive. If you refuse, upon you is the sin of the Christians of your people.”
Such is what al-Bayhaqi mentioned after the story of the Hijra to Abyssinia. Ibn Kathir notes that its mention here calls for reflection: it appears that this letter was written to the Negus who came AFTER the Muslim Negus, host of Ja’far and his companions; it was at the time when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wrote to the kings of the earth, calling them to Allah, shortly before the Conquest, as he wrote to Heraclius, great king of the Romans and Caesar of Syria, to Chosroes king of the Persians, to the master of Egypt and to the Negus.
az-Zuhri said: the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) letters to those kings were of one single version, all containing this verse, from sura Al ’Imran, which is Medinan without divergence, for it stands at the sura’s beginning: three or eighty-three verses descended at its beginning, at the Najran delegation, as we established in our book of exegesis. This letter is thus addressed to the second Negus, not the first; and the words “to the Negus al-As-ham”: the term “al-As-ham” may be interpolated by the transmitter according to what he understood. Allah is most knowing.
More fitting still is what al-Bayhaqi likewise mentioned, from al-Hakim, from Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Faqih at Marw: Hammad ibn Ahmad related to us, from Muhammad ibn Humayd, from Salama ibn al-Fadl, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent ’Amr ibn Omayya ad-Damri to the Negus concerning Ja’far ibn Abi Talib and his companions, and wrote with him a letter: “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah, to the Negus al-As-ham, king of Abyssinia. Peace upon you. I praise toward you Allah, the King, the Holy, the Granter of security, the Watcher, and I testify that ’Issa is Allah’s spirit and His word, deposited in Mary the pure, the virtuous, the preserved: she conceived ’Issa, whom He created of His spirit and breathed into him, as He created Adam with His hand and breathed into him; and I call you to Allah, alone, without partner.”