of noble character.

When he read the Prophet’s letter and inquired about his identifying signs, he recognized that he was the prophet whose coming the Messiah had foretold—the very one whom Allah had promised Abraham concerning his son Ishmael. He began calling his Christian people to follow him. He honoured the Prophet’s letter, kissed it, and placed it against his eyes, saying: “I wish I could reach him and wash his feet. Were it not for my royal position, I would go to him.”

As for the Negus, the Christian king of Abyssinia, when news of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, reached him through the Companions who had emigrated to his land, he believed in him and acknowledged his truthfulness. He sent his son and his companions to join him as emigrants. When he died, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offered the funeral prayer for him.

When he heard the surah “Kāf Hā Yā ‘Ayn Sād,” he wept. When they told him what they believed about the Messiah, he said: “By Allah, Jesus does not exceed what you have said by so much as this twig.” He also said: “This and what Moses brought surely come from the same source of light.”

The practice of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was that any Christian who believed in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His messengers became a member of his community, enjoying the same rights and bearing the same obligations as its other members. Such a person received two rewards: one for his faith in the Messiah and another for his faith in Muhammad.

As for those among the nations who did not believe in him, Allah commanded that they be fought, as He said in His Book:

“Fight those among the People of the Scripture who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day, do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, until they pay the jizya with their own hands, humbled.”