Note 23 — Chapter X · THE SPREAD OF ISLAM IN CHINA.

The emperors of this dynasty cultivated friendly relations with the Muhammadan princes on their western frontier, and there was a frequent interchange of embassies between them and the Tīmūrid princes. One of these is of interest in the missionary history of Islam, inasmuch as Shāh Ruk͟h Bahādur in 1412 took advantage of the arrival of a Chinese embassy at his court in Samarqand, to include in his answer an invitation to the emperor to embrace Islam. He sent with his envoy, who accompanied the Chinese ambassadors on their return, two letters, the first of which, written in Arabic, was to the following effect:—“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. There is no god save God: Muḥammad is the Apostle of God. The Apostle of God, Muḥammad (peace be on him!) said: ‘There shall not cease to be in my church a people abiding in the commandments of God; whosoever fails to help them or opposes them, shall never prosper, until the commandment of the Lord cometh.’ When the Most High God purposed to create Adam and his race, he said ‘I was a hidden treasure, but it was my pleasure to become known; I therefore created man that I might be known’; It is manifest from hence that the divine purpose (great is His power and exalted is His word!) in the creation of man was to make Himself known and uplift the banners of right guidance and faith. Wherefore He sent His Apostle with guidance and the religion of truth that it might prevail over all other faiths, though the polytheists turn away from it, that he might make known the laws and the ordinances and the observances of what is lawful and unlawful, and He gave him the holy Qurʼān miraculously that thereby he might put to silence the unbelievers and stop their mouths when they discussed and disputed with him, and by His perfect grace and His all-pervading guidance He has caused it to remain even unto the day of judgment. By His power He hath established in all ages and times and in all parts of the world, in east and west, and in China, a mighty monarch, lord of great armies and authority, to administer justice and mercy and spread the wings of peace and security over the heads of men; to enjoin upon them righteousness and warn them against evil and disobedience and lift up among them the banners of the noble religion; and he drives away idolatry and infidelity from among them through belief in the unity of God. The Most High God thus disposeth our hearts by His past mercies and His ensuing grace to strive for the establishing of the laws of pure religion and the continuance of the ordinances of the shining path. He also bids us administer justice to our subjects in all suits and cases in accordance with the religion of the Prophet and the ordinances of the Chosen One, and build mosques and colleges and monasteries and hermitages and places of worship, that the teaching of the sciences and the schools of learning may not cease nor the memorials and injunctions of religion be swept away. Seeing that the continuance of worldly prosperity and dominion, and the permanence of authority and rule depend upon the assistance given to truth and righteousness and the extirpation of the evils caused by idolatry and unbelief from the earth, in the expectation of blessing and reward, we, therefore, hope that your Majesty and the nobles of your realm will agree with us in these matters and join us in strengthening the foundations of the established law.” The other letter, written in Persian, makes a more direct appeal, without the rhetorical embellishments of the Arabic:—“The Most High God, having in the depth of His wisdom and the perfection of His power created Adam (peace be upon him!), made some of his sons prophets and apostles and sent them among men to summon them to the truth. To certain of these prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, David and Muḥammad (peace be upon them!) He gave a book and taught a law, and He bade the people of their time follow the law and the religion of each of them. All these apostles invited men to faith in the unity and to the worship of God and forbade the adoration of the sun, moon and stars, of kings and idols; and though each one of these apostles had a separate law, yet they were all agreed in the doctrine of the unity of the Most High God. At length, when the apostolic and prophetic office devolved on the Apostle Muḥammad Muṣṭafạ̄ (the peace and blessing of God be upon him!) all other systems of law were abrogated. He was the apostle and the prophet of the latter age, and it behoves the whole world—lords and kings and ministers, rich and poor, small and great,—to observe his law and forsake all past creeds and laws. This is the true and perfect faith and is called Islam. Some years ago, Chingīz K͟hān took up arms and sent his sons into various countries and kingdoms—Jūjī K͟hān to the confines of Sarāy, Qrim and Dasht Qafchāq, where some monarchs, such as Ūzbek K͟hān, Chānī K͟hān and Urus K͟hān, became Musalmans and observed the law of Muḥammad (peace be upon him!). Hūlāgū K͟hān was set over K͟hurāsān, ʻIrāq and the neighbouring countries, and some of his sons who succeeded him received into their hearts the light of the law of Muḥammad (peace be upon him!), and in like manner became Musalmans, and honoured with the blessedness of Islam passed into the other world, such as the truthful king, G͟hāzān, and Uljāytū Sulṭān and the fortunate king, Abū Saʻīd Bahādur, until my honoured father, Amīr Tīmūr Gūrgān, succeeded to the throne. He too observed the law of Muḥammad (peace be upon him!) in all the countries under his rule, and throughout his reign the followers of the faith of Islam enjoyed complete prosperity. Now that by the goodness and favour of God this Kingdom of K͟hurāsān, ʻIrāq, Mā-warāʼ-al-nahr, etc., has passed into my hands, the administration is carried on throughout the whole kingdom in accordance with the pure law of the Prophet; righteousness is enjoined and wrong forbidden, and the Yarg͟hū and the institutes of Chingīz K͟hān have been abolished. Since, then, it is sure and certain that salvation and deliverance in the day of judgment, and sovereignty and felicity in the present world, depend upon true faith and Islam, and the favour of the Most High God, it is incumbent upon us to treat our subjects with justice and equity. I hope that by the bounty and benevolence of God you too will observe the law of Muḥammad, the Apostle of God (peace be upon him!) and strengthen the religion of Islam, so that you may exchange the transitory sovereignty of this world for the sovereignty of the world to come.”23