Diplomacy In Early Islam

The Arabian Peninsula Lay Between The Two World Powers Of The Sixth Century, The Persian And The Byzantine Empires, Yet, With Only Commerce To Help Them The Arabs Could Maintain Their Centrality, A Feat Which Points To A Native Genius In Diplomacy.

Arab messengers played a vital role in the medieval Islamic world and its diplomatic relations with foreign powers. An innovative treatise from the 10th Century ("Rusul al-Muluk", "Messengers of Kings") is perhaps the most important account of the diplomacy of the period, and it is here translated into English for the first time. "Rusul al-Muluk" draws on examples from the Qur'an and other sources which extend from the period of al-jahiliyya to the time of the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim (218-227/833-842). In the only medieval Arabic work which exists on the conduct of messengers and their qualifications, the author Ibn al-Farr rejects jihadist policies in favor of quiet diplomacy and a pragmatic outlook of constructive realpolitik. "Rusul al-Muluk" is an extraordinarily important and original contribution to our understanding of the early Islamic world and the field of International Relations and Diplomatic History.

The purpose of writing this chapter is to present a brief historical background dealing with the origins and development of diplomacy from the earliest times to the modern days and to discuss the problems surrounding diplomacy. It may be asked however, that while the diplomacy of Prophet Muhammed was not possibly derived or influenced, on account of the relative isolation of Arabia, by the ancient and early medieval diplomacy what the relevancy of it is for the Prophet's diplomacy? There may perhaps be more than one answers to this question. But the one that appears to be more pertinent here is that we may study it not as the one that influenced the prophet 1 s diplomacy or to take it as a frame of reference to his diplomacy but as a source from where to generate analytical insights for the diplomacy of any country or any responsible ruling elite. Moreo-.rer, a study of the history of diplomacy in other contexts and other parts of the world and other ages will illuminate our path towards a better understanding of the Prophet 1 s diplomacy because, after all, diplomatic practices in substance may traverse the same general path as their purposes are believed to be more or less the- same in a normal state. This view has also been supported by Nicolson. While dealing with the history of diplomacy Nicolson asserts, "Diplomacy is neither the invention nor the pastime of some particular political system, but is an essential element in any reasonable relation between man and man and between nation and nation". 1 This does not however mean that the special spatialtemporal and civilizational conditions of Arabia and the surrounding countries during the days of the prophet will be ignored.