APPENDIX
I
LETTER OF AL-HASHIMI
INVITING AL-KINDI TO EMBRACE
ISLAM.
the following is the text of al-Hashimi's
letter inviting al-Kindi to embrace Islam:—" In the name of God, the
Merciful, the Compassionate. I have begun this letter with the salutation of
peace and blessing after the fashion of my lord and the lord of the prophets,
Muḥammad, the Apostle of God (may the peace and mercy of God be upon him !).
For those trustworthy, righteous and truthful persons who have handed down to
us the traditions of our Prophet (peace be upon him!) have related this
tradition concerning him that such was his habit and that whenever he began to
converse with men he would commence with the salutation of peace and blessing
and made no distinction of dhimmis and illiterate, between Muslims and
polytheists, saying ' I am sent to be kind and considerate to all men and not
to deal roughly or harshly with them/ and quoting the words of God, ' Verily
God is kind and merciful to believers.' Likewise I have observed that those of
our Khalifahs that I have met, followed the footsteps of their Prophet in
courtesy, nobility, gracious-ness and beneficence, and made no distinctions in
this matter and preferred none before another. So I have followed this
excellent way and have begun my letter with the salutation of peace and
blessing, that I be blamed of none who sees my letter.
" I have been guided therein by
my affection towards you because my lord and prophet, Muḥammad (may the peace
and mercy of God be upon him !) used to say that love of kinsmen is true piety
and religion. So I have written this to you in obedience to the Apostle of God
(may the peace and mercy of God be upon him !), feeling
bound to show gratitude for the services you have done us, and because of the
love and affection and inclination that you show towards us, and because of
the favour of my lord and cousin the Commander of the Faithful (may God assist
him !) towards you and his trust in you and his praise of you. So in all
sincerity desiring for you what I desire for myself, my family and my parents,
I will set forth the religion that we hold, and that God has approved «i for us
and for all creatures and for which He has promised a good reward in the end
and safety from punishment when unto Him we shall return. . . . So I have
sought to gain for you what I would gain for myself; and seeing your high moral
life, vast learning, nobility of character, your virtuous behaviour, lofty
qualities and your extensive influence over your co-religionists, I have had
compassion on you lest you should continue in your present faith. Therefore I
have determined to set before you what the favour of God has revealed to us and
to expound unto you our faith with good and gentle speech, following the
commandment of God, ' Dispute not with the people of the book except in the
best way; (xxix. 45.) So I will discuss with you only in words well-chosen,
good and mild; perchance you may be aroused and return to the true path and incline
unto the words of the Most High God which He has sent down to the last of the
Prophets and lord of the children of Adam, our Prophet Muhammad (the peace and
blessing of God be upon him!). I have not despaired of success, but had hope of
it for you from God who showeth the right path to whomsoever He willeth, and I
have prayed that He may make me an instrument to this end. God in His perfect
book says ' Verily the religion before God is Islam' (iii. 17), and again,
confirming His first saying, ' And whoso desireth any other religion than
Islam, it shall by no means therefore be accepted from him, and in the next
world he shall be among the lost' (iii. 79), and again He confirms it
decisively, when He says, ' O believers, fear God as He deserveth to be feared;
and die not without having become Muslims; (iii. 97.)
" And you know- (May God deliver you from the
ignorance of unbelief and open your heart to the light of faith!)- that I am
one over whom many years have passed and I have sounded the depths of other
faiths and weighed them and studied many of their books especially your
books." [Here he enumerates the chief books of the Old and New Testaments,
and explains how he has studied the various Christian sects.] " I have met
with many monks, famous for their austerities and vast knowledge, have visited
many churches and monasteries, and have attended their prayers. ... I have
observed their extraordinary diligence, their kneeling and prostrations and
touching the ground with their cheeks and beating it with their foreheads and
humble bearing throughout their prayers, especially on Sunday and Friday
nights, and on their festivals when they keep watch all night standing on their
feet praising and glorifying God and confessing Him, and when they spend the
whole day standing in prayer, continually repeating the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, and in the days of their retreats which they call Holy
Week when they stand barefooted in sackcloth and ashes, with much weeping and
shedding of tears continually, and wailing with strange cries. I have seen also
their sacrifices, with what cleanliness they keep the bread for it, and the
long prayers they recite with great humility when they elevate it over the
altar in the well-known church at Jerusalem with those cups full of wine, and I
have observed also the meditations of the monks in their cells during their six
fasts,—i. e. the four greater and the two less, etc. On all such occasions I
have been present and observant of the people. Also I have visited their
Metropolitans and Bishops, renowned for their learning and their devotion to
the Christian faith and extreme austerity in the world, and have discussed with
them impartially, seeking for the truth, laying aside all contentiousness,
ostentation of learning and imperiousness in altercation and bitterness and
pride of race. I have given them opportunity to maintain their arguments and
speak out their minds, without interruption or browbeating, as is done by the
vulgar and illiterate and foolish persons among our co-religionists who have no
principle to work up to or reasons on which to rest, or religious feeling or
good manners to restrain them from rudeness; their speech is but browbeating
and proud altercation and they have no knowledge or arguments except taking
advantage of the rule of the government. Whenever I have held discussions with
them and asked them to speak freely as their reason, their creed and their
conclusion prompted, they have spoken openly and without deception of any kind,
and their inward feelings have been laid bare to me as plainly as their outward
appearance. So I have written at such length to you (may God show you the
better way !) after long consideration and profound inquiry and investigation,
so that none may suspect that I am ignorant of the things whereof I write and
that all into whose hands this letter may come, may know that I have an
accurate knowledge of the Christian faith.
"So, now (may God shower His
blessings upon you !) with this knowledge of your religion and so long-standing
an affection (for you), I invite you to accept the religion that God has chosen
for me and I for myself, assuring you entrance into Paradise and deliverance
from Hell. And it is this,—You shall worship the one God, the only God, the
Eternal, He begetteth not, neither is He begotten, who hath no consort and no
son, and there is none like unto Him. This is the attribute wherewith God has
denominated Himself, for none of His creatures could know Him better than He
Himself. I have invited you to the worship of this the One God, whose attribute
is such, and in this my letter I have added nothing to that wherewith He has
denominated Himself (high and exalted be His name above what they associate
with Him !). This is the religion of your father and our father, Abraham (may
the blessings of God rest upon him !), for he was a Hanif and Muslim.
" Then I invite you (may God have you in His keeping
!) to bear witness and acknowledge the prophetic mission of my lord and the
lord of the sons of Adam, and the chosen one of the God of all worlds and the
seal of the prophets, Muḥammad . . . sent by God with glad tidings and warnings
to all mankind. ' He it is who hath sent His Apostle with the guidance and a
religion of the truth, that He may make it victorious over every other
religion, albeit they who assign partners to God be averse from it.' (ix. 33.)
So he invited all men from the East and from the West, from land and sea, from mountain
and from plain, with compassion and pity and good words, with kindly manners
and gentleness. Then all these people
accepted his invitation, bearing witness that he is the apostle of God, the
Creator of the worlds, to those who are willing to give heed to
admonition. All gave willing assent
when they beheld the truth and faithfulness of his words, and sincerity of his
purpose, and the clear argument and plain proof that he brought, namely the
book that was sent down to him from God, the like of which cannot be produced
by men or Jinns. ' Say : Assuredly if mankind and the Jinns should
conspire to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce its like,
though the one should help the other;
(xvii. 91.) And this is
sufficient proof of his mission. So he
invited men to the worship of the One God, the only God, the Self-sufficing,
and they entered into his religion and accepted his authority without being
forced and without unwillingness, but rather humbly acknowledging him and
soliciting the light of his guidance, and in his name becoming victorious over
those who denied his divine mission and rejected his message and scornfully
entreated him. So God set them up in
the cities and subjected to them the necks of the nations of men, except those
who hearkened to them and accepted .their religion and bore witness to their
faith, whereby their blood, their property and their honour were safe and they
were exempt from humbly paying jizyah." [He then enumerates the various
ordinances of Islam, such as the five daily prayers, the fast of Ramadan,
Jihad; expounds the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and the last
judgment, and recounts the joys of Paradise and the pains of Hell.] " So I have admonished you: if you believe in this faith and accept
whatever is read to you from the revealed Word of God, then you will profit
from my admonition and my writing to you.
But if you refuse and continue in your unbelief and error and contend
against the truth, I shall have my reward, having fulfilled the
commandment. And the truth will judge
you." [He then enumerates various
religious duties and privileges of the Muslim, and concludes.] " So now in this my letter I have read
to you the words of the great and high God, which are the words of the Truth,
whose promises cannot fail and in whose words there is no deceit. Then give up
your unbelief and error, of which God disapproves and which calls for
punishment, and speak no more of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, these words that
you yourself admit to be so confusing : and give up the worship of the cross
which brings loss and no profit, for I wish you to turn away from it, since
your learning and nobility of soul are degraded thereby. For the great and high
God says : ' Verily, God will not forgive the union of other gods with Himself;
but other than this will He forgive to whom He pleaseth. And whoso uniteth gods
with God, hath devised a great wickedness.' (iv. 51.) And again : ' Surely now
are they infidels who say, " God is the Messiah, Son of Mary; " for
the Messiah said, " O children of Israel ! worship God, my Lord and your
Lord." Verily, those who join other gods with God, God doth exclude from
Paradise, and their abode the Fire; and for the wicked no helpers! They surely
are infidels who say, " God is a third of three : " for there is no
god but one God; and if they refrain not from what they say, a grievous
chastisement shall assuredly befall such of them as believe not. Will they not,
therefore, turn unto God, and ask pardon of Him ? since God is Forgiving,
Merciful 1 The Messiah, Son of Mary, is but an Apostle; other Apostles have
flourished before him; and his mother was a just person; they both ate food (v.
76-9.) Then leave this path of error and this long and stubborn clinging to
your religion and those burdensome and wearisome fasts which are a constant
trouble to you and are of no use or profit and produce nothing but weariness of
body and torment of soul. Embrace this faith and take this, the right and easy
path, the true faith, the ample law and the way that God has chosen for His
favoured ones and to which He has invited the people of all religions, that He
may show His kindness and favour to them by guiding them into the true path by
means of His guidance, and fill up the measure of His goodness unto men.
" So I have advised you and paid
the debt of friendship and sincere love, for I have desired to take you to
myself, that you and I may be of the same opinion and the same faith, for I
have found my Lord saying in his perfect Book : Verily
the unbelievers among the people of the Book and among the polytheists, shall
go into the fire of Hell to abide therein for ever. Of all creatures they are
the worst. But they verily who believe and do the things that are right— these
of all creatures are the best. Their recompense with their Lord shall be
gardens of Eden, 'neath which the rivers flow, in which they shall abide for
evermore. God is well pleased with them, and they with Him. This, for him who
feareth his Lord.' (xcviii. 5-8.) ' Ye are the best folk that hath been raised
up for mankind. Ye enjoin what is just, and ye forbid what is evil, and ye
believe in God : and if the people of the book had believed, it had surely been
better for them. Believers there are among them, but most of them are
disobedient.' (iii. 106.) So I have had compassion upon you lest you might be
among the people of Hell who are the worst of all creatures, and I have hoped
that by the grace of God you may become one of the true believers with whom God
is well pleased and they with Him, and they are the best of all creatures, and
I have hoped that you will join yourself to that religion which is the best of
the religions raised up for men. But if you refuse and persist in your
obstinacy, contentiousness and ignorance, your infidelity and error, and if you
reject my words and refuse the sincere advice I have offered you (without
looking for any thanks or reward)—then write whatever you wish to say about
your religion, all that you hold to be true and established by strong proof,
without any fear or apprehension, without curtailment of your proofs or
concealment of your beliefs; for I purpose only to listen patiently to your
arguments and to yield to and acknowledge all that is convincing therein,
submitting willingly without refusing or rejecting or fear, in order that I may
compare your account and mine. You are free to set forth your case; bring
forward no plea that fear prevented you from making your arguments complete and
that you had to put a bridle on your tongue, so that you could not freely
express your arguments. So now you are free to bring forward all your
arguments, that you may not accuse me of pride, injustice or partiality : for
that is far from me.
" Therefore bring forward all the
arguments you wish and say
whatever you please and speak your mind freely. Now that you are safe and free
to say whatever you please, appoint some arbitrator who will impartially judge
between us and lean only towards the truth and be free from the empery of
passion : and that arbitrator shall be Reason, whereby God makes us responsible
for our own rewards and punishments. Herein I have dealt justly with you and
have given you full security and am ready to accept whatever decision Reason
may give for me or against me. For ' there is no compulsion in religion ' (ii.
257) and I have only invited you to accept our faith willingly and of your own
accord and have pointed out the hideousness of your present belief. Peace be
with you and the mercy and blessings of God! "
There can be very little doubt but
that this document has come down to us in an imperfect condition and has
suffered mutilation at the hands of Christian copyists : the almost entire
absence of any refutation of such distinctively Christian doctrines as that of
the Blessed Trinity, and the references to such attacks to be found in
al-Kindi's reply, certainly indicate the excision of such passages as might
have given offence to Christian readers.(1)
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1-
Similarly, the Spanish editor of the
controversial letters that passed between Alvar 'and '' the transgressor "
(a Christian convert to Judaism), adds the following note after Epist. xv. :
" Quatuordecim in hac pagina ita abrasae sunt liniae, ut nec verbnm unum
legi possit. Folium subse-quens exsecuit possessor codicis, ne transgressoris
deliramenta legeren-tur." (Migne, Patr. Lat., torm. cxxi. p. 483.)
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