Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 129with a commercial caravan. The court officials took himto the Kaiser. Abu Sufyan ra was ordered to stand in frontof the other Arabs, who were told to correct him if heshould tell a lie or make a wrong statement. ThenHeraclius proceeded to interrogate Abu Sufyan ra . Theconversation is thus recorded in history:H: Do you know this man who claims to be a Prophet sa andwho has sent me a letter? Can you say what sort of familyhe comes from?A-S: He comes of a noble family and is one of my relations.H: Have there been Arabs before him who have madeclaims similar to his?A-S: No.H: Did your people ever charge him with lying before heannounced his claim?A-S: No.H: Has there been a king or a ruler among hisforefathers?A—S: No.H: How do you judge his general ability and his capacityfor judgement?A—S: We have never found any fault in his ability and hiscapacity for judgement.H: What are his followers like? Are they big andpowerful persons or are they poor and humble?A—S: Mostly poor and humble and young.H: Do their numbers tend to increase or decrease?A—S: To increase.H: Do his followers ever go back to their old beliefs?A—S: No.H: Has he ever broken a pledge?A—S: Not so far. But we have recently entered into anew pact with him. Let us see what he does about it.H: Have you had any fight with him yet?