Introduction
Hudaibiya treaty between Prophet Muhammad and Qoraish was a beginning of a new phase in the prophet’s journey to accomplish his mission and preach his call for the divine faith to all nations. The prophet planned to spread the message of Islam beyond Arabia. He decided to write to neighboring kings, including those of the superpowers, inviting them to Islam. In order to make the selection of ambassadors to the rulers, he asked his companions to assemble in the Mosque. After performing the obligatory prayer, he addressed them: “ O people! Allah has sent me as the one who is compassionate to mankind and the prophet to the world. Therefore, preach(the message of Islam) on my behalf, Allah will have Mercy upon you…” The prophet then selected some of his very competent companions as ambassadors to kings and heads of States. The ambassadors were conversant with the languages spoken as well as with the political conditions of the countries to which they were sent.
Research Questions
The scope of this research is to answer the following questions:
1) How did Prophet Muhammad communicate with the other world leaders in his time in particular and the mankind in all the times in general?
2) What values and communication strategies are evident from the letters to the world leaders and the last sermon of the prophet to all mankind?
Methodology
Content analysis is the method of data collection for this research: “ Prophet Muhammad style of Communication as a world leader.” This methodology is an approach to qualitative and quantitative research that is used to identify specific characteristics in textual messages (Morris R., 1994). The textual messages in this research are the letters that the prophet sent to the world leaders at his time. In addition, his speeches, orations or sermons that he delivered to address the mankind in general, especially the last sermon of the farewell pilgrimage.
During the twenty-three years of the prophethood of Muhammad, there were many of the speeches, orations or sermons that Prophet Muhammad communicated through to deliver his message to people. The message of Islam was not only for the people of the Arabia, but also was intended to be universal.
Contents analysis looks at the characteristics of communication messages, their contents and the producers of these messages ( Rubin, R.B., Rubin, A.M. & Piele, L.J. 1996). The study is analyzing some of the speeches and events through which the prophet communicated the message of Islam to the people.
The unit of analysis of this study is the Prophet Muhammad’s individual speeches to his followers or the written messages to world leaders at his time. Codes such as dates, events, locations and circumstances (peace or war). Using the content analysis, as a method to collect the data requires defining the categories involved in the research study. The definition of the categories will help to clarify the coding scheme and that will lead to the reliability of the research. (Hamza, M. J., May 1997)
The researcher is investigating the effects that the speeches of the prophet had on his followers. What were the results of the written messages to the world leaders, at his time? This will shed the light on the communication techniques and strategies that the prophet used to deliver his message to the world.
Significance of the Study
The Prophet Muhammad’s techniques in communication and his leadership style played a significant role in accomplishing his goal in delivering the message of Islam to the world. Researching these techniques and style will uncover an important phase of the methods through which the religion of Islam is reaching 1.2 billion Muslims on the planet of Earth.
Findings - Review of literature
The prophet sent ambassadors to:
1. Heraclius, Emperor of Bayzantines ( Eastern Roman Empire)
2. Chosroes II ( Emperor of Persian Empire)
3. Negus, King of Abyssinia
4. Muqawqis, Ruler of Egypt
5. Harith Gassani, Governor of Syria
6. Al- Mundhir bin Sawa, Ruler of Bahrain
The dominion, prestige, splendour and might of the above kings and rulers who devided the world among themselves during the seventh century, would indicate what a memorable step was taken by the prophet.
The wording of the Prophet’s letters was similar. The text of the letter sent to Heraclius was as follows:
“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This letter is from Muhammad the slave of Allah and his Apostle to Heraclius, the ruler of the Byzantines. Peace be upon him who follows the right path. Furthermore, I invite you to Islam and if you become a Muslim you will be safe, and Allah will double your reward, and if you reject this invitation of Islam you will be committing a sin by misguiding your subjects. And I recite to you Allah's statement: |
