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Al-Muqawqis (Arabic: المقوقس, Coptic: ⲡⲭⲁⲩⲕⲓⲁⲛⲟⲥ, ⲡⲓⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ, romanized: p-khaukianos, pi-kaukos, lit. 'man of the Caucasus'^[1]^[2]^[3]) is mentioned in Muslim history as a ruler of Egypt who corresponded with Muhammad. He is widely identified with the last prefect of Egypt, Cyrus of Alexandria, who was the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria of the second era of Byzantine Egypt (628-642).

An alternative view identifies al-Muqawqis with the governor of Sasanian Egypt, said to be a Greek man named "Kirolos, leader of the Copts",^{[citation needed]} although the Sassanian governor at the time was the military leader named Shahrbaraz.

When being presented with the letter of invitation to Islam by Muhammad, he said he couldn’t risk his kingdom, therefore not accepting Islam. He sent the messenger back with several gifts, including two women, and told his servants not to say anything.

Account by Muslim historians

Ibn Ishaq and other Muslim historians record that sometime between February 628 and 632, Muhammad sent epistles to the political heads of Medina's neighboring regions, both in the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East, including to al-Muqawqis:

[Muhammad] had sent out some of his companions in different directions to the kings [recte sovereigns] of the Arabs and the non-Arabs inviting them to Islam in the period between al-Ḥudaybiya and his death...[he] divided his companions and sent...Ḥāṭib b. Abū Baltaʿa to the Muqauqis ruler of Alexandria. He handed over to him the...^[5]

Al-Tabari states that the delegation was sent in Dhu al-Hijja in the sixth hijri year (April or May 628).^[6] Ibn Sa'd states that the Muqawqis sent his gifts to Muhammad in 7 A.H. (after May 628).^[7] This is consistent with his assertion that Maria al-Qibtiyya bore Muhammad's son Ibrahim in late March or April 630,^[7] so Maria had arrived in Medina before July 629.

Letter of invitation to Islam

The epistle that Muhammad sent to al-Muqawqis, through his emissary Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah, and his reply are both available.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، من محمد عبد الله و رسوله إلى المقوقس عظيم القبط: سلام على من اتبع الهدى، وأما بعد فإني أدعوك بدعاوية الإسلام، أسلم تسلم يؤتك الله أجرك مرتين، فإن توليت فعليك إثم القبط و{يَآ أَهْلَ الْكِتٰبِ تَعَالَوْا إِلٰى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَآءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهٖ شَيْئًا وَّلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ}

In the name of God, the Gracious One, the Merciful
From Muhammad, servant of God and His apostle to al-Muqawqis, premier of Egypt:
Peace unto whoever followeth the guided path!
And thereafter, I verily call thee to the call of Submission [to God] ("Islam"). Submit (i.e., embrace Islam) and be safe [from perdition, as] God shall compensate thy reward two-folds. But if thou turn away, then upon thee will be the guilt [of delusion] of the Egyptians.
Then "O People of the Scripture, come to a term equitable between us and you that we worship none but God and associate [as partners in worship] with Him nothing, and we take not one another as Lords apart from God. [Then God says] But if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Submitters [to God] ("Muslims").^[8]

The epistle was signed with the seal of Muhammad.

Al-Muqawqis ordered that the letter be placed in an ivory casket^[7] to be kept safely in the government treasury. The letter was found in an old Christian monastery among Coptic books in the town of Akhmim, Egypt and now resides in the Topkapi Palace Museum's Department of Holy Relics after the Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid I brought it to Istanbul.^[9] Al-Muqawqis is said to have replied with a letter that read:^[10]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، لمحمد بن عبد الله من المقوقس عظيم القبط، سلام عليك، أما بعد فقد قرأت كتابك، وفهمت ما ذكرت فيه، وما تدعو إليه، وقد علمت أن نبيا قد بقي، وقد كنت أظن أنه يخرج بالشام، وقد أكرمت رسولك، وبعثت إليك بجاريتين لهما مكان في القبط عظيم وبثياب، وأهديت إليك بغلة لتركبها، والسلام عليك

In the name of God, the Gracious One, the Merciful
To Muhammad son of Abd-Allah from al-Muqawqis, premier of Egypt:
Peace unto thee!
Thereafter, I have already read thy letter, and comprehended what thou mentioned therein and what thou called me to. I have known that a prophet is still due [to come] but I thought he would emerge in the Levant (aš-Šām).
I have already treated with dignity thy messenger, and I am sending to thee two slave-girls whose position in Egypt is great, and [also] clothes, and I am sending as gifts to thee a she-mule for thee to ride. Then [I end here:] Peace unto thee!

The two slave-girls mentioned are Maria al-Qibtiyya, whom Muhammad married, and her sister Sirin bint Shamun, whom Hassan ibn Thabit married.^[7]

It is said that a recluse in the monastery pasted it on his Bible and from there a French Orientalist obtained it and sold it the Sultan for £300.^{[citation needed]} The authenticity of the preserved sample and the elaborate accounts by medieval Islamic historians regarding the events surrounding the letter have also been questioned by modern historians.^[11]

Explanation of the name

The word muqawqis is the Arabized form of Coptic ⲡⲓⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ, meaning "the man from the Caucasus," an epithet among the Copts for the Melchite patriarch Cyrus, who was seen as a corrupt and foreign usurper of Pope Benjamin I of Alexandria.^[2]^[3] The word was subsequently used by Arab writers for some other patriarchs in Alexandria such as George I of Alexandria (Jurayj ibn Mīnā "Georgios son of Menas Parkabios";^[12] alternatively, "Jurayj ibn Mattá"),^[13]

Film and television depictions

Al-Muqawqis was portrayed by Egyptian actor Salah Zulfikar in Muhammad, Messenger of Allah to the World, TV series aired on Egyptian TV in 1993.^[14]

References

^ Werner., Vycichl (1984) [1983]. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue copte. Leuven: Peeters. ISBN 9782801701973. OCLC 11900253.
^ ^a ^b Coquin, René-Georges (1975). Livre de la consecration du sanctuaire de Benjamin (in French). Paris: Institut Francais D - Archeologie Orientale. pp. 110–112.
^ ^a ^b Alcock, Anthony (1983). The Life of Samuel of Kalamun by Isaac the Presbyter. Warminster [Wiltshire], England: Aris & Phillips.
^ Khan, Muhammad Zafrulla (1980). Muhammad, seal of the prophets. Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya. pp. x. ISBN 978-0-85525-992-1. [T]he original of the letter was discovered in 1858 by Monsieur Etienne Barthelemy, member of a French expedition, in a monastery in Egypt and is now carefully preserved in Constantinople. Several photographs of the letter have since been published. The first one was published in the well-known Egyptian newspaper Al-Hilal in November 1904. The drawing of the letter published in Al-Hilal was reproduced in David Samuel Margoliouth, Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, London (1905), p. 365, which is the source of this image.
^ Guillaume, Alfred (1967). The Life Of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah (13th ed.). Karachi: Oxford University Press. p. 653. ISBN 0-19-636033-1. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
^ Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk, vol. 8. Translated by Fishbein, M. (1997). The Victory of Islam, p. 98. New York: State University of New York Press.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Salloomi, M. Abd Allah Al (1996). Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kubra of Muhammad Bin Sa'd (d.230/844): The Missing and Unpublished Part of the Third Generation (Tabaqah) of the Sahabah : a Critical Study and Edition. Lampeter: University of Wales. p. 260.
^ al-Jawzīyah, Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr Ibn Qayyim (1973). Zad al-Ma'ad Fi Huda Khayr al-'Ibad (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar al-Fikr. p. 72.
^ Öz, Tahsin (1953). Hirka-i saadet dairesi ve Emanat-i mukaddese (in Turkish). İsmail Akgün Matbaasi. p. 47.
^ "حاطب بن أبي بلتعة سفيراً إلى المقوقس - الرياضي - البيان". albayan.ae (in Arabic). AlBayan. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
^ Bolshakov, Oleg Georgievich (1989). История Халифата (History of the Caliphate) (in Russian). "Наука, " Глав. ред. восточной лит-ры. ISBN 978-5-02-016552-6.
^ Ibn Jirjis, Abū al-Mukārim Saʿd Allāh (1895). The Churches & Monasteries of Egypt and some neighbouring countries attributed to Abû Ṣâlih, the Armenian. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-813156-4.
^ Mubârakpûrî, Safî-ur-Rahmân (2002). Sealed Nectar : Biography of the Noble Prophet. Medina, Saudi Arabia: Dar-Us-Salam Publications. ISBN 978-1-59144-071-0.
^ Series - Muhamad Rasul Allah Ila Elalam - 1993 Cast، Video، Trailer، photos، Reviews، Showtimes, retrieved 2022-02-18

[1] Werner., Vycichl (1984) [1983]. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue copte. Leuven: Peeters. ISBN 9782801701973. OCLC 11900253.

[coquin-2] Coquin, René-Georges (1975). Livre de la consecration du sanctuaire de Benjamin (in French). Paris: Institut Francais D - Archeologie Orientale. pp. 110–112.

[kalamun-3] Alcock, Anthony (1983). The Life of Samuel of Kalamun by Isaac the Presbyter. Warminster [Wiltshire], England: Aris & Phillips.

[4] Khan, Muhammad Zafrulla (1980). Muhammad, seal of the prophets. Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya. pp. x. ISBN 978-0-85525-992-1. [T]he original of the letter was discovered in 1858 by Monsieur Etienne Barthelemy, member of a French expedition, in a monastery in Egypt and is now carefully preserved in Constantinople. Several photographs of the letter have since been published. The first one was published in the well-known Egyptian newspaper Al-Hilal in November 1904. The drawing of the letter published in Al-Hilal was reproduced in David Samuel Margoliouth, Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, London (1905), p. 365, which is the source of this image.

[5] Guillaume, Alfred (1967). The Life Of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah (13th ed.). Karachi: Oxford University Press. p. 653. ISBN 0-19-636033-1. Retrieved 18 August 2021.

[6] Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk, vol. 8. Translated by Fishbein, M. (1997). The Victory of Islam, p. 98. New York: State University of New York Press.

[tabaqat-7] Salloomi, M. Abd Allah Al (1996). Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kubra of Muhammad Bin Sa'd (d.230/844): The Missing and Unpublished Part of the Third Generation (Tabaqah) of the Sahabah : a Critical Study and Edition. Lampeter: University of Wales. p. 260.

[8] -Jawzīyah, Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr Ibn Qayyim (1973). Zad al-Ma'ad Fi Huda Khayr al-'Ibad (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar al-Fikr. p. 72.

[9] Öz, Tahsin (1953). Hirka-i saadet dairesi ve Emanat-i mukaddese (in Turkish). İsmail Akgün Matbaasi. p. 47.

[10] "حاطب بن أبي بلتعة سفيراً إلى المقوقس - الرياضي - البيان". albayan.ae (in Arabic). AlBayan. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

[11] Bolshakov, Oleg Georgievich (1989). История Халифата (History of the Caliphate) (in Russian). "Наука, " Глав. ред. восточной лит-ры. ISBN 978-5-02-016552-6.

[12] Ibn Jirjis, Abū al-Mukārim Saʿd Allāh (1895). The Churches & Monasteries of Egypt and some neighbouring countries attributed to Abû Ṣâlih, the Armenian. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-813156-4.

[13] Mubârakpûrî, Safî-ur-Rahmân (2002). Sealed Nectar : Biography of the Noble Prophet. Medina, Saudi Arabia: Dar-Us-Salam Publications. ISBN 978-1-59144-071-0.

[14] Series - Muhamad Rasul Allah Ila Elalam - 1993 Cast، Video، Trailer، photos، Reviews، Showtimes, retrieved 2022-02-18

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+{{Short description|Ruler of Egypt during the time of Muhammad}}
-'''al-Muqawqis''' ({{lang-ar|المقوقس}}) is mentioned in [[Islamic history]] as a ruler of [[Egypt]], who corresponded with the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]].
+{{More citations needed|date=August 2009}}
+'''Al-Muqawqis''' ({{langx|ar|المقوقس}}, {{langx|cop|ⲡⲭⲁⲩⲕⲓⲁⲛⲟⲥ, ⲡⲓⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ|p-khaukianos, pi-kaukos|man of the Caucasus}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue copte|last=Werner.|first=Vycichl|orig-year=1983|date= 1984|publisher=Peeters|isbn=9782801701973|location=Leuven|oclc=11900253}}</ref><ref name=coquin>{{cite book |last1=Coquin |first1=René-Georges |title=Livre de la consecration du sanctuaire de Benjamin |date=1975 |publisher=Institut Francais D - Archeologie Orientale |location=Paris |pages=110–112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXY9AAAAYAAJ |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=kalamun>{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Anthony |title=The Life of Samuel of Kalamun by Isaac the Presbyter |date=1983 |publisher=Aris & Phillips |location=Warminster [Wiltshire], England}}</ref>) is mentioned in [[Muslim history]] as a ruler of [[Egypt]] who corresponded with [[Muhammad]]. He is widely identified with the last [[prefect of Egypt]], [[Cyrus of Alexandria]], who was the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria]] of the second era of [[Byzantine Egypt]] (628-642).
-He is often identified with '''[[Cyrus of Alexandria|Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria]]''', who administered Egypt on behalf of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. However, this identification is challenged as being based on untenable assumptions. According to this alternative view, al-Muqaqis is identified with the Sassanid governor of Egypt.
+An alternative view identifies al-Muqawqis with the governor of [[Sasanian Egypt]], said to be a Greek man named "Kirolos, leader of the Copts",{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} although the Sassanian governor at the time was the military leader named [[Shahrbaraz]].
-==Account by Muslim historians==
+When being presented with the letter of invitation to Islam by Muhammad, he said he couldn’t risk his kingdom, therefore not accepting Islam. He sent the messenger back with several gifts, including two women, and told his servants not to say anything.
-[[Ibn Ishaq]] and other Muslim historians record that some time between February 628 and 632, Muhammad sent out letters to Arabian and non-Arabian leaders, including to al-Muqawqis: "The apostle (Muhammad) had sent out some of his companions in different directions to the kings of the Arabs and the non-Arabs inviting them to Islam in the period between al-Hudaybiya and his death ... [He] sent ... Hatib b. Abu Baitah to al-Muqawqis ruler of Alexandria. He handed over to him the apostle's letter and the Muqawqis gave to the apostle four slave girls, one of whom was Mary (Mariah) mother of Ibrahim the apostle's son ... "
+==Account by Muslim historians==
-[[Tabari]] states that Ibrahim was born in the year 8 A.H. (May, 629-April 19, 630 AD). If one assumes that Ibrahim was born towards the end of April 630 AD then nine months earlier, by July 629 AD, Mariah was definitely in Medina. Therefore, the letter that Muhammad sent was written sometime in between February 628 and July 629 AD
+[[File:Muhammad's Letter to Mukaukis.png|thumb|300px|Muhammad's Letter to Muqauqis discovered in Egypt in 1858.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Muhammad Zafrulla |title=Muhammad, seal of the prophets |date=1980 |publisher=Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya |isbn=978-0-85525-992-1 |pages=x |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zl3KelLEwtYC |quote=[T]he original of the letter was discovered in 1858 by Monsieur Etienne Barthelemy, member of a French expedition, in a monastery in Egypt and is now carefully preserved in Constantinople. Several photographs of the letter have since been published. The first one was published in the well-known Egyptian newspaper Al-Hilal in November 1904.}} The drawing of the letter published in Al-Hilal was reproduced in [[David Samuel Margoliouth]], ''Mohammed and the Rise of Islam'',  London (1905), [https://archive.org/stream/mohammedriseofis00margrich#page/364/mode/2up p. 365], which is the source of this image.</ref>]]
+[[File:Muhammad letter maqoqas egypt.jpg|thumb|300px|Muhammad's letter maqoqas egypt, discovered in Egypt in 1858, coloured version.]]
+[[Ibn Ishaq]] and other Muslim historians record that sometime between February 628 and 632, Muhammad sent epistles to the political heads of [[Medina#Under Muhammad and the Rashidun|Medina]]'s neighboring regions, both in the [[Arabian Peninsula]] and the [[Near East]], including to al-Muqawqis:
+{{Blockquote|[Muhammad] had sent out some of [[companions of the Prophet|his companions]] in different directions to the kings [''recte'' sovereigns] of the [[Arabs]] and the non-Arabs inviting them to [[Islam]] in the period between ''[[Treaty of al-Hudaybiya|al-Ḥudaybiya]]'' and his death...[he] divided his companions and sent...[[Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah|Ḥāṭib b. Abū Baltaʿa]] to the Muqauqis ruler of [[Alexandria]]. He handed over to him the...<ref>{{cite book |last1=Guillaume |first1=Alfred |title=The Life Of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah |date=1967 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Karachi |page=653 | isbn= 0-19-636033-1|edition=13th |url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad |access-date=18 August 2021 |language=English}}</ref>}}
+[[Al-Tabari]] states that the delegation was sent in [[Dhu al-Hijja]] in the sixth [[hijri year]] (April or May 628).<ref>Tabari, ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk'', vol. 8. Translated by Fishbein, M. (1997). ''The Victory of Islam'', p. 98. New York: State University of New York Press.</ref> [[Ibn Sa'd]] states that the Muqawqis sent his gifts to Muhammad in 7 A.H. (after May 628).<ref name=tabaqat>{{cite book |last1=Salloomi |first1=M. Abd Allah Al |title=Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kubra of Muhammad Bin Sa'd (d.230/844): The Missing and Unpublished Part of the Third Generation (Tabaqah) of the Sahabah : a Critical Study and Edition |date=1996 |publisher=University of Wales |location=Lampeter |page=260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eWEMvwEACAAJ |language=en}}</ref> This is consistent with his assertion that [[Maria al-Qibtiyya]] bore [[Ibrahim ibn Muhammad|Muhammad's son Ibrahim]] in late March or April 630,<ref name=tabaqat/> so Maria had arrived in Medina before July 629.
-== Letter of Invitation to Islam ==<ref>[http://www.alquraan.net/letters/letters_2.html translation of the letters and commentary]</ref>
+==Letter of invitation to Islam==
-The letter that Muhammad sent to al-Muqawqis, through his emissary [[Hatib ibn Abu Baitah]], and his reply are both available but their authenticity is questionable.
+{{Main|Diplomatic career of Muhammad#Correspondence with other leaders}}
+{{see also|Expedition of Zayd ibn Harithah (Hisma)}}
+The epistle that Muhammad sent to al-Muqawqis, through his emissary [[Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah]], and his reply are both available.
-The letter read:
+{{Text and translation|بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، من محمد عبد الله و رسوله إلى المقوقس عظيم القبط: سلام على من اتبع الهدى، وأما بعد فإني أدعوك بدعاوية الإسلام، أسلم تسلم يؤتك الله أجرك مرتين، فإن توليت فعليك إثم القبط و{يَآ أَهْلَ الْكِتٰبِ تَعَالَوْا إِلٰى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَآءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهٖ شَيْئًا وَّلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ} |[[Basmala|In the name of God, the Gracious One, the Merciful]]<br />From Muhammad, servant of God and His apostle to ''al-Muqawqis'', premier of Egypt:<br />Peace unto whoever followeth the guided path!<br />And thereafter, I verily call thee to the call of Submission [to God] ("Islam"). Submit (i.e., embrace Islam) and be safe [from perdition, as] God shall compensate thy reward two-folds. But if thou turn away, then upon thee will be the guilt [of delusion] of the Egyptians.<br />Then "O [[People of the Book|People of the Scripture]], come to a term equitable between us and you that we worship none but God and associate [as partners in worship] with Him nothing, and we take not one another as Lords apart from God. [Then God says] But if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Submitters [to God] ("Muslims").<ref>{{cite book |last1=al-Jawzīyah |first1=Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr Ibn Qayyim |title=Zad al-Ma'ad Fi Huda Khayr al-'Ibad |date=1973 |publisher=Dar al-Fikr |location=Beirut |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTedAQAACAAJ |language=ar}}</ref>}} The epistle was signed with the [[seal of Muhammad]].
+Al-Muqawqis ordered that the letter be placed in an ivory casket<ref name=tabaqat/> to be kept safely in the government treasury. The letter was found in an old Christian monastery among Coptic books in the town of [[Akhmim]], Egypt and now resides in the [[Topkapi Palace Museum]]'s Department of Holy Relics after the [[Ottoman sultan]] [[Abdülmecid I]] brought it to [[Istanbul]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Öz |first1=Tahsin |title=Hirka-i saadet dairesi ve Emanat-i mukaddese |date=1953 |publisher=İsmail Akgün Matbaasi |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0NQrAAAAIAAJ |language=tr}}</ref> Al-Muqawqis is said to have replied with a letter that read:<ref>{{cite web |title=حاطب بن أبي بلتعة سفيراً إلى المقوقس - الرياضي - البيان |url=https://www.albayan.ae/sports/2007-10-09-1.797567 |website=albayan.ae |date=9 October 2007 |publisher=AlBayan |access-date=13 August 2021 |language=ar}}</ref>
-''To Muqawqis, Vicegerent of Egypt''
+{{Text and translation|بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، لمحمد بن عبد الله من المقوقس عظيم القبط، سلام عليك، أما بعد فقد قرأت كتابك، وفهمت ما ذكرت فيه، وما تدعو إليه، وقد علمت أن نبيا قد بقي، وقد كنت أظن أنه يخرج بالشام، وقد أكرمت رسولك، وبعثت إليك بجاريتين لهما مكان في القبط عظيم وبثياب، وأهديت إليك بغلة لتركبها، والسلام عليك|In the name of God, the Gracious One, the Merciful<br />To Muhammad son of [[Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib|Abd-Allah]] from ''al-Muqawqis'', premier of Egypt:<br />[[As-salamu alaykum|Peace unto thee!]]<br />Thereafter, I have already read thy letter, and comprehended what thou mentioned therein and what thou called me to. I have known that a prophet is still due [to come] but I thought he would emerge in [[Syria (region)|the Levant]] (''aš-Šām'').<br />I have already treated with dignity thy messenger, and I am sending to thee two slave-girls whose position in Egypt is great, and [also] clothes, and I am sending as gifts to thee a [[duldul (mule)|she-mule]] for thee to ride. Then [I end here:] Peace unto thee!}}
-''Peace be on him who has taken the right course. Thereafter, I invite you to accept Islam. Therefore, if you want security, accept Islam. If you accept Islam, Allah, the Sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do so, responsibility for the transgression of the entire nation shall be yours.''
+The two slave-girls mentioned are Maria al-Qibtiyya, whom Muhammad married, and her sister [[Sirin bint Shamun]], whom [[Hassan ibn Thabit]] married.<ref name=tabaqat/>
-''O people of the Book! Leaving aside all matters of difference and dispute, agree on a matter which is equally consistent between you and us and it is that we should not worship anyone except Allah and that we should neither associate anyone with Him, nor make anyone else as our god.''
+It is said that a recluse in the monastery pasted it on his Bible and from there a French [[oriental studies|Orientalist]] obtained it and sold it    the Sultan for £300.{{Citation needed|date= January 2018}} The authenticity of the preserved sample and the elaborate accounts by [[Historiography of early Islam|medieval Islamic historians]] regarding the events surrounding the letter have also been questioned by modern historians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bolshakov |first1=Oleg Georgievich |title=История Халифата (History of the Caliphate) |date=1989 |publisher="Наука, " Глав. ред. восточной лит-ры |isbn=978-5-02-016552-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=biXzAAAAMAAJ |language=ru}}</ref>
-''If you refuse it, you must know that we, in all circumstances, believe in Oneness of Allah.''
-''Seal: Allah's Prophet Muhammad''
-Al-Muqawqis ordered that the letter should be placed in an ivory casket, to be kept safely in the government treasury, and he sent the following reply:
-''From Muqawqis''
-''I read your letter and understood what you have written. I know that the coming of a [[Prophet]] is still due. But I thought, he would be born in [[Syria]] -- I have treated your messenger with respect and honor. I am sending two maids for you as presents. These maids belong to a very respectable family amongst us. In addition I send for you clothes and a Duldul (steed) for riding. May Allah bestow security on you.''
-The two maids mentioned where [[Maria al-Qibtiyya]] and her sister Sirin.
-Muhammad's letter to Muqawqis, was eventually preserved in the [[Christian]] [[monastery]] of [[Akhmim]] in [[Egypt]]. There a [[recluse]] pasted it on his Bible. The letter was written on a parchment. From there a [[France|French]] [[orientalist]] obtained it and sold it to [[Sultan]] [[Abdul Majeed Khan]] of Turkey, for a consideration of 300 Pounds. The Sultan had the letter fixed in a golden frame and had it preserved in the treasury of the royal palace, along with other sacred relics. Some Muslim scholars have affirmed that the letter was written by [[Abu Bakr]].
-However, this identification is challenged as being based on untenable assumptions. According to this alternative view, al-Muqaqis is identified with the Sassanid governor of Egypt.
-==Dialog with Mugheera ibn Shu'ba==
-According to another account, Al-Muqawqis also had a dialogue with [[Mugheera ibn Shu'ba]], before Mugheera became a Muslim. Mugheera said:
-:''"Once I went to the court of Muqawqis, who inquired of me, about the family of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). I informed him that he belonged to a high and noble family. Muqawqis remarked that Prophets always belong to noble families. Then he asked if I had an experience of the truthfulness of the Prophet (S.A.W.). I told that he always spoke the truth. Therefore, in spite of our opposition to him, we call him Ameen (truth worthy). Muqawqis observed that a man who did not speak lies to men, how could he speak a lie about Allah? Then he inquired what sort of people were his followers and what did the Jews think of him. I replied that his followers were mostly poor, but the Jews were his bitter enemies. Muqawqis stated that the followers of the Prophets in the beginning are usually poor, and that he must be a, Prophet of Allah. He further stated that the Jews opposed him out of envy and jealousy, otherwise they must have been certain of his, truthfulness and that they too awaited a Prophet. The Messiah (A.S.) also preached that following and submitting to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) was essential and that whatever qualities of his had been mentioned, the same were the qualities of the earlier Prophets.
 ==Explanation of the name==
+The word ''muqawqis'' is the [[Arabization|Arabized]] form of [[Coptic language|Coptic]] [[wikt:ⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ|ⲡⲓⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ]], meaning "the [[Caucasus|man from the Caucasus]]," an epithet among the [[Copts]] for the [[List of Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Alexandria|Melchite patriarch]] Cyrus, who was seen as a [[monothelitism|corrupt]] and [[Melkite|foreign]] usurper of [[Pope Benjamin I of Alexandria]].<ref name=coquin/><ref name=kalamun/> The word was subsequently used by Arab writers for some other [[See of Alexandria|patriarchs in Alexandria]] such as [[George I of Alexandria]] (''Jurayj ibn Mīnā'' "Georgios son of Menas Parkabios";<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ibn Jirjis |first1=Abū al-Mukārim Saʿd Allāh |title=The Churches & Monasteries of Egypt and some neighbouring countries attributed to Abû Ṣâlih, the Armenian |date=1895 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-813156-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/churchesmonaster00abusuoft}}</ref> alternatively, "Jurayj ibn Mattá"),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mubârakpûrî |first1=Safî-ur-Rahmân |title=Sealed Nectar : Biography of the Noble Prophet. |date=2002 |publisher=Dar-Us-Salam Publications |location=Medina, Saudi Arabia |isbn=978-1-59144-071-0}}</ref>
+==Film and television depictions==
-The name ''al-Muqawqis'' is explained as an arabization of Coptic ''Pikaukasos'' meaning "Caucasian." The word was subsequently used by Arab writers for some other Coptic Patriarchs. It is not clear, however, whether the epithet applied to all vicegerents of Egypt, including the one during the brief period of [[Sassanid]] rule, or only to Patriarchs.
+* '''Al-Muqawqis''' was portrayed by Egyptian actor [[Salah Zulfikar]] in ''Muhammad, Messenger of Allah to the World'', TV series aired on [[Egyptian Television Network|Egyptian TV]] in 1993.<ref>{{Citation|title=Series - Muhamad Rasul Allah Ila Elalam - 1993 Cast، Video، Trailer، photos، Reviews، Showtimes|url=https://elcinema.com/en/work/2003862|language=en|access-date=2022-02-18}}</ref>
-Since the Sassanid Empire extended all the way to the Caucasus, it is possible that the Sassanid governor of Egypt was called Pikaukasos by the Copts, and later on Arabs used the same epithet for succeeding governors of Egypt.
-==Identification==
-al-Muqawqis is often identified with '''[[Cyrus of Alexandria|Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria]]''', who administered Egypt on behalf of the [[Byzantine Empire]].
-This widely held view is challenged as being based on untenable assumptions. Considering the historical facts, the opponents of the identification, point out that:
-*Cyrus did not succeed to the See of Alexandria until 630 AD, after Heraclius had recaptured Egypt. After the Persian invasion, "The Coptic patriarch Andronicus remained in the country, experiencing and witnessing suffering as a result of the occupation (Evetts, 1904, p. 486 ll. 8-11). His successor in 626, Benjamin I, remained in office well beyond the end of the occupation; during his time the Sassanians moderated their policy to a certain extent." [http://www.iranica.com/articles/v8f3/v8f307.html#iv]
-*Why would a Christian bishop send two Christian ladies, belonging to noble Coptic families, as slaves to a non-Christian ruler? It were the Persians who had been killing men and enslaving women, and it is highly unlikely that immediately after regaining freedom, Christians started shipping out their women to foreign rulers as slaves. Benjamin I was also not in a position to send the gift of two lovely slaves to a foreign leader under the watchful eyes of Persian occupiers.
-*Why would a Christian bishop believe in the prophecy of a new prophet and say that he was expecting the prophet to arrive in Shaam (Syria/Palestine)? Christians believe in the Second Coming, not in the arrival of a new prophet. If al-Muqawqis was indeed a Coptic Patriarch, Cyrus of Alexandria or Benjamin 1, one would expect him to reaffirm his faith in Jesus Christ.
-*Why would the Muqawqis use the phrase "who (are held) in high regard by the Copts" and not "who are held in high regard among us?" Now, there is some controversy over the exact wording of Muqawqis's letter, and some translate the message as "These maids belong to a very respectable family amongst us." However, the Arabic text says, "who among the Copts..."
-Adherents to this criticism state that al-Muqawqis was not a Patriarch but the Persian governor during the last days of the Persian occupation of Egypt. There must have been an abundance of Alexandrine women left after the massacre. "Severus b. al-Moqaffa...also reported that in Alexandria every man between the ages of eighteen and fifty years had been brutally massacred (Evetts, 1904, pp. 485 l. 10-486 l. 3)." [http://www.iranica.com/articles/v8f3/v8f307.html#iv] So from among the captive women, it seems that the Muqawqis took two Coptic sisters and sent them to Muhammad as gifts, realizing that the Byzantines were gaining ground and would soon re-take Alexandria.
+==References==
-One possible reason that the Sasanian governor was kind towards Muhammad is that it is alleged that Christian Arabs assisted in Persian victory over the Byzantines, and al-Muqawqis simply wanted to reward Muhammad whom he saw as one of the Arab kings. "According to a Nestorian Syriac chronicle attributed to Elias, bishop of Merv (?), Alexandria was taken by treachery. The traitor was a Christian Arab who came from the Sassanian-controlled northeastern coast of Arabia." [http://www.iranica.com/articles/v8f3/v8f307.html#iv]
+{{Reflist}}
+{{Authority control}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Muqawqis}}
-[[Category:Muslim history]]
+[[Category:7th-century Islam]]
+[[Category:Muslim conquest of Egypt]]
+[[Category:7th-century Egyptian people]]
+[[Category:Egyptian people of Greek descent]]