1. Part 1: The Christians Ambassadors from Yemen Who Were Forced to Acknowledge the Prophethood of Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
2. Part 2: Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was Sent to All Mankind
   

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Part 1: The Christians Ambassadors from Yemen Who Were Forced to Acknowledge the Prophethood of Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)

In refuting the claim of the Christians that the message of Islām was not directed towards them, Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah [d. 728 AH] retorted:¹

As for the Christians: The people of Najrān in Yemen were Christians who sent sixty ambassadors who rode [all the way from Najrān] to him [the Prophet Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in Madīnah] and debated him in his masjid about which the beginning of sūrah Āli ʿImrān was revealed. When his, [may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him]’s evidence overcame them, and it became clear to them that he was naught but a Messenger from Allāh to them, Allāh ordered that if they choose not to respond to his call that he call them towards an agreement, the Most High says: ‘Say (O Muḥammad): “O People of the Scripture, come to a just word between us and you: That we worship none but Allāh (alone) and that we do not associate anything with Him (in His worship) and that we do not take among ourselves, lords besides Allāh (who are given unrestricted obedience).” So if they turn away (in rejection), then say:

‘Bear witness that we are Muslims (who worship and obey Him alone).’
[Āli ʿImrān, 3:64]

So when this agreement was mentioned, they requested that he give them time for a joint deliberation amongst themselves, which they were granted. During which they said to one another: ‘You know well that he is a prophet, and that no people has ever entered into an agreement with a prophet except that some punishment came to them.’ Thus they refused this agreement and instead chose to enter into a peace treaty that stipulated them willingly and humbly paying the jizyah [tax].

They only agreed to this out of fear of him supplicating against them, for their knowledge that he was indeed a prophet, so they chose to enter under the banner of his rule just as Ahl al-Dhimmah² in Muslim countries have entered under the rule of Allāh and His Messenger, who pay the jizyah willingly and humbly. They [ambassadors of Najrān] were the first to agree to the jizyah from the Christians. [The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)] assigned ʿAmr ibn Hazm al-Anṣārī over them [as his representative] and the ones who accepted Islām from them for whom he wrote the famous book mentioning legislations of this religion. They remained under the banner of Muslim protection, under the rule of Allāh and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his representative ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥazm al-Anṣārī (may Allāh be pleased with him) and their story is famous, substantiated from multiple lines of independent enquiry, as narrated by the historians, scholars of ḥadīth, and jurisprudence. Just as it has been narrated in books dedicated to authentic narrations and the sunnah.

Part 2: Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was Sent to All Mankind

In refuting the claim that the message of the Prophet Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is only directed toward the Arabs, Imām Ibn Taymiyyah [d. 728 AH]  responded:³

Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) called the People of the Book from the Jews and the Christians towards believing in him and all that he brought, just as he directed his call to the ones who possessed no book from the Arabs and other delineations. He also related from Allāh, the Bountiful, the Most High, the disbelieving status of those who reject him, whether they be from the People of the Book or other than them; that they will be driven into the fire, and what an evil destination it is. He also ordered to strive against them and to call them [towards Islām], as was enacted by himself and his representatives. Thus, their [i.e. the Jew’s and Christian’s] claim that the Book [the Qurʾān] did not come to us, rather it only came to the ignorant ones from among the Arab—regardless of if they intend by this that Allāh only sent him [Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)] to the Arabs and not us, or that he himself claimed to only be sent to the Arab and not to us—it is well-known that Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) indeed called the Jews and the Christians towards believing in him. For he mentioned that Allāh sent him to them, and that he was ordered to strive against those who do not believe in him from among them.

Hence, if it is ever said in spite of this that he said: ‘I have not been sent except to the Arabs’ the speaker has indeed lied an apparent and outright lie against him, regardless of whether mankind believes this claim to be true or false. Our goal here is to establish firmly that he called all of the people of the world in its entirety towards believing in him; he definitely called the People of the Book just as he called the illiterate [those without a revealed book].

As for the Jews: they were his neighbours in Ḥijāz within Madīnah and also at Khaybar. Indeed, all of the Muhājirīn [those who emigrated from Makkah] and Anṣār [denizens of Madīnah] believed in him without the drawing of a sword or any form of fighting. Rather, their belief in him was borne from what they witnessed from the signs of prophethood he possessed, and the various evidences of his truthfulness that were displayed to them. As a result, those who believed were harmed for the cause of Allāh, the instances of which are well-known historically. Just as many from among the Jews and Christians believed in him during his lifetime, some of them were in Makkah and some in Madīnah, and there were many from elsewhere. When he emigrated to Madīnah, he entered into a treaty with those who chose disbelief from among the Jews. They later broke the terms of this agreement and thus some were relegated [from Madīnah] while others were killed for their brazen declaration of war against Allāh and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

Just as they were fought against time and time again; they fought [the Jewish tribe of] Banī al-Naḍīr regarding which Allāh the Most High revealed Sūrah al-Ḥashr, and [the Jewish tribe of] Banī Quraydhah the year of the [Battle of] al-Aḥzāb and they were mentioned in Surah al-Aḥzāb, and before them they fought [the Jewish tribe of] Banī Qaynuqāʿ and after them he, and the people of the treaty of Riḍwān fought the [Jewish] people of Khaybar which led to those Jews being left on that land as farmers as was revealed in Surah al-Fatḥ. Thus, how could one ever deign to make such a claim that he [the Prophet Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)] was only sent to the Arab polytheists, while such is the state of the Jews in relation to him.

Endnotes:

[1] Al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ: 169-171
[2] Free non-muslim subjects living in a Muslim state who enjoy protection and safety in return for a capital tax.
[3] Al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ: 165-168

Translated by: Riyāḍ al-Kanadī