The author of the Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, p. 586, also says: “It is agreed amongst all orthodox Muslims that all unbelievers, without exception, will be consigned to the fire for ever, and that they will never be free from torment.” “But,” he adds, “there are certain heretics, who call themselves Muslims, who deny the eternity of the torments of the fire. For, they say, it is an essential property of all things fleshly that they come to an end. And, moreover, it is not possible for a thing to exist which goes on burning for ever. But to this we reply that God is all powerful and can do as He likes.”
The sect called as-Samāmīyah, founded by Samāmah ibn Ashras an-Numairī, say: “The Jews, and Christians, and Majūsī, and Zanādiqah, will, after the Day of Judgment, return to dust, just as the animals and the little children of unbelievers do.” (Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, p. 633.)
The same writer says (p. 687): “Besides those who are unbelievers, all those (Muslims) who are sinners and have committed great sins (kabāʾir), will go to hell; but they will not remain there always, for it has been said in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah xcix. 7]), “He who does an atom of good shall see its reward.”
With reference to the verse in the Qurʾān, which distinctly states that all Muslims shall enter hell ([Sūrah xix. 73], “There is not one of you that shall not go down to it”), al-Kamālān, the commentators, say, that according to extant traditions, all Muslims will enter hell, but it will be cool and pleasant to those who have not committed great sins; or, according to some writers, they will simply pass along the bridge Ṣirāt̤, which is over the infernal regions.
HELPERS, The. [[ANSAR].]
HERACLIUS. Arabic Hiraql (هرقل). The Roman Emperor to whom Muḥammad sent an embassy with a letter inviting him to Islām, A.H. 7, A.D. 628.
“In the autumn of this year (A.D. 628), Heraclius fulfilled his vow of thanksgiving for the wonderful success which had crowned his arms (in Persia); he performed on foot the pilgrimage from Edessa to Jerusalem, where the ‘true cross,’ recovered from the Persians, was with solemnity and pomp restored to the Holy Sepulchre. While preparing for this journey, or during the journey itself, an uncouth despatch in the Arabic character was laid before Heraclius. It was forwarded by the Governor of Bostra, into whose hands it had been delivered by an Arab chief. The epistle was addressed to the Emperor himself, from ‘Mahomet the Apostle of God,’ the rude impression of whose seal could be deciphered at the foot. In strange and simple accents like those of the Prophets of old, it summoned Heraclius to acknowledge the mission of Mahomet, to cast aside the idolatrous worship of Jesus and his Mother, and to return to the Catholic faith of the one only God. The letter was probably cast aside, or preserved, it may be, as a strange curiosity, the effusion of some harmless fanatic.” (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed. p. 383.)
Tradition, of course, has another story. “Now the Emperor was at this time at Hims, performing a pedestrian journey, in fulfilment of the vow which he had made, that, if the Romans overcame the Persians, he would travel on foot from Constantinople to Aelia (Jerusalem). So having read the letter, he commanded his chief men to meet him in the royal camp at Hims. And thus he addressed them:—‘Ye chiefs of Rome! Do you desire safety and guidance, so that your kingdom shall be firmly established, and that ye may follow the commands of Jesus, Son of Mary?’ ‘And what, O King! shall secure us this?’ ‘Even that ye follow the Arabian Prophet,’ said Heraclius. Whereupon they all started aside like wild asses of the desert, each raising his cross and waving it aloft in the air. Whereupon Heraclius, despairing of their conversion, and unwilling to lose his kingdom, desisted, saying that he had only wished to test their constancy and faith, and that he was now satisfied by this display of firmness and devotion. The courtiers bowed their heads, and so the Prophet’s despatch was rejected.” (Kātibu ʾl-Wāqidī, p. 50, quoted by Muir, in a note to the above passage.)
The letter written by Muḥammad to Heraclius is, according to a tradition by Ibn ʿAbbās, as follows:—
“In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. This letter is from Muḥammad the Messenger of God, to Hiraql, chief of ar-Rūm. Peace be upon whosoever has gone on the straight road! After this, I say, verily I call thee to Islām. Embrace Islām that ye may obtain peace. Embrace Islām and God will give thee a double reward. If ye reject Islām, then on thee shall rest the sins of thy subjects and followers. O ye people of the Book (i.e. Christians) come to a creed which is laid down plainly between us and you, that we will not serve other than God, nor associate aught with Him, nor take each other for lords rather than God. But if they turn back, then say, ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.’ ” (Qurʾān, iii. 57.) (See Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, p. 98.)