An-Naml 27:28–31

Letters and writings are enough proof on religious matters in the normal circumstances

اذْهَب بِّكِتَابِي هَٰذَا (Go with this letter of mine - 28). Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) considered it enough to write to the queen of Saba' (Sheba) for the fulfillment of his duty to invite her to faith, and hence sent her a letter. This shows that in the normal circumstances the letter or writing is an acceptable proof. The religious jurists did not accept a letter as an evidence only where a proper personal evidence is required under Islamic law, because testimony is not allowed on telephone or by letter. It has been made mandatory for the witnesses to appear in person before the court. There is a lot of wisdom in this law. Under any law of the world prevalent in any country it is compulsory for the witnesses to appear before the court in person, and the testimony through letter or telephone is not accepted.

Writing letters and sending them to the disbelievers is permissible

Another matter that has been pro-ved by the letter of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) is that in preaching of religion and invitation to Islam it is permissible to write letters to disbelievers and infidels. According to many Sahih ahadith it is established that the Holy Prophet ﷺ had also written letters to many infidels.

Social etiquettes should always be observed, no matter if it is a gathering of infidels

فَأَلْقِهْ إِلَيْهِمْ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ

Throw it down to them, then turn back from them - 27:28

When Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) made use of the hoopoe as a courier, he also taught him the social etiquette that after delivering the letter to Queen of Saba' it should move out of her court, which is the norm of the royal courts. This shows that observance of social etiquettes and good human behavior is desirable as a general rule.

Commentary

قَالَتْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْمَلَأُ إِنِّي أُلْقِيَ إِلَيَّ كِتَابٌ كَرِ‌يمٌ

She (the queen) said (to her officials after receiving the letter), "0 chieftains, there has been thrown to me an esteemed letter, 27:29.

Literal meaning of Karim is respectable, honorable or esteemed, and idiomatically this word is used for a letter when it is sealed. This is why Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، Qatadah, Zohair رحمۃ اللہ علیہما etc. have interpreted the expression کِتَابپ کَرِیم as the sealed book, which indicates that Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) had put his seal on the letter. When the Holy Prophet ﷺ learnt about the tradition of the non-Arab kings that they do not read the letter if it is not sealed, he got a seal made for himself, and used it on the letters he sent to Caesar and Chosro. It shows that the practice of sealing a letter is to show respect to the letter as well as to the addressee. The present day practice is to secure the letter in an envelope, which is as good as sealing it. Where show of respect to the addressee is intended, it is closer to the practice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ to secure it in an envelope.

The language of the letter of Sulaiman

Although Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) was not an Arab, yet it is not unlikely that he knew the Arabic language, especially when he knew the languages of the animals. As the Arabic language is supreme among all the languages, it is possible that he might have written the letter in Arabic. It is also probable because Bilqis was an Arab by race, and she read the letter and understood it. The other probability is that he had written the letter in his own language and an interpreter read it for her. (Ruh)

Some rules of writing letters

إِنَّهُ مِن سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّ‌حْمَٰنِ الرَّ‌حِيمِ

It is from Sulaiman and it is (in the following words:) With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful. 27:30

There is not a single aspect of human life on which Qur'an does not provide guidance. Mutual exchange of welfare and other information through letters is part of human requirements. In this Surah, full text of the letter from Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) to Queen Saba' has been reproduced. This is a letter from a prophet, and Qur'an has reproduced it as an approved format for a letter. Hence, it should be taken in that light and Muslims should try to follow the guidance provided in it for letter writing.

Writer should first write his name and then of the addressee

The very first guidance provided in this letter is that Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) has begun it by writing his name. How did he write the name of the addressee, it is not mentioned in the Qur'an. However, it does tell us that it was the practice of the prophets to write their name first, in which there are many benefits: For instance, the addressee would know even before reading the letter from whom it has come. So he would read the letter in the backdrop of his relations with the writer, and any confusion about the identity of the writer would be eliminated right in the beginning. The Holy Prophet ﷺ had also adopted the same practice in all his letters addressed to various persons, and began the letter with the wordings مِن مُحَمَّد عبد اللہ و رسولہٖ (From Muhammad, the slave of Allah and His messenger)

A question may arise here as to whether it would be a disrespect to the addressee if a junior writes his name first while writing to his elder, teacher or senior in status? So, is it appropriate to follow this practice or not? In this respect the companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ had acted differently. Most of them preferred to follow the practice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and not the requirement of the formality, and wrote their names first even when writing to the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself. Ruh al-Ma’ ani has reproduced a narration of Sayyidna 'Anas ؓ from al-Bahr ul-Muhit as follows:

مَا کَان احد اعظم حرمۃ مِن رسول اللہ ﷺ، و کان اصحابہٖ اذا کتبوا کتاباً بدأوا بانفسھم۔ قلت : و کتاب علاء الحضرمی ؓ یشھد لہ، علی ما روی۔

"No human is more revered than the Holy Prophet ﷺ 0, but when his companions used to write to him, they would first write their names, and I say that Sayyidna ` Ala' Al-Hadrami's letter, which he wrote to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ", is a proof to that."

However, after quoting these narrations in Ruh ul-Ma’ ani it is observed that all this discussion is about the preferred way, otherwise both ways are permissible. If someone writes his name in the last, that too is correct. Religious jurist Abu al-Layth has written in his Bustan that if someone starts with the name of the addressee, no one can question its permissibility, because this has also been the practice among the Muslims for long, and no one has objected to that. (Ruh ul-Ma’ ani, Qurtubi)

Replying to letters is also a practice of the prophets

It is observed in Tafsir ul-Qurtubi that if someone receives a letter, it is incumbent upon him to answer it, because a letter from someone not present is as good as the greeting of the one who is present. It is attributed to Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ in a narration that he used to regard the reply of a letter as much obligatory as the reply to a greeting by salam. (Qurtubi)

Starting letters with Bismillah

The letter of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) and all the letters sent by the Holy Prophet ﷺ have established that writing Bismillah at the beginning of a letter was the practice of the prophets. As to the question whether Bismillah should precede the name of the writer or not, the practice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was that he always put Bismillah before his name, and the name of the addressee after his own name. But in the Qur'an the order is reversed and the name of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) is written first and then Bismillah. Therefore, it is also in order if the name of the writer is written first and then Bismillah. But Ibn Abi Hatim has reported on the authority of Yazid Ibn Rauman that in fact Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) had written his letter in this manner: بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم ۔ من سلیمان بن داؤد الٰی بلقیس ابنۃ شرح و قومھا۔ ان لا تعلوا عَلَیَّ وَاتُونِی مُسلِمِینَ (which means that he wrote Bismillah before his name) but when Bilqis read out this letter to her people, she mentioned the name of Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) first in order to let them know the name of the writer. The Holy Qur'an has copied what Bilqis had uttered. There is no mention in the Qur'an whether Bismillah was written first or the name of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) in the original letter. There is yet another possibility that the name of Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) was written on the envelope and Bismillah at the top of the letter, and when Bilqis read out the letter to her people she announced the name of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) first.

Ruling

The original tradition (Sunnah) of letter writing is that all letters should begin with Bismillah. However, the religious jurists have ruled, on the authority of the indications given in the Qur'an and Sunnah, that if there is a risk of disrespect to the name of Allah on the apprehension that the paper on which Bismillah is written would be thrown away, then it is not right to write Bismillah, lest one should get involved in sin. The present day practice is that letters are thrown away after reading and they end up in garbage. Hence, it is better to perform Sunnah by reciting Bismillah orally before starting the letter, rather than writing it on paper.

Can a paper bearing a Qur'anic verse be given in the hands of a disbeliever?

Sayyidna Sulaiman علیہ السلام had sent this letter to Bilqis when she was not a Muslim, but بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم was written on it. It confirms that this is permissible. The non-Arab kings to whom the Holy Prophet ﷺ had written letters were disbelievers. But the letters contained some Qur'anic verses too. It should be understood that although it is not permitted to hand over the Holy Qur'an to infidels, but any book or paper containing some verses of the Qur'an does not qualify to be the Qur'an itself; hence, such papers or books can be handed over to an infidel or to someone without وُضُو wudu' (ablution). (Alamgiri)

Letters should be written short, comprehensive, eloquent and effective

Looking at the letter of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) one cannot avoid noticing that it is so comprehensive that all important matters have been put together in a few sentences, maintaining the high standard of eloquence along with the royal grandeur in front of the infidels. At the same time perfected attributes of Allah Ta’ ala are also described along with an invitation towards Islam. The condemnation of conceit and arrogance is also noticeable. As a matter of fact, this letter is a specimen of the marvel of Qur'an. Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ has stated that it was the practice in letter writing by all the prophets to make it brief but at the same time ensuring that nothing mentionable is left out. (Ruh ul-Ma’ ani)