The Letters of the Prophet: Characteristics and impact on the Arabic Letter

The Letter is the weakest genre of the Arabic literature in the pre-Islamic era and the strongest after Islam. The letters of the prophet (SM) are the strong building block upon which the lofty Islamic edifice was built. The letters of the Prophet (SM) are characterized by the fact that they begin with the Basmala (in the name of Allah), then they open either with “From the Messenger of Allah to so-and-so” or with “Amma Ba’d” (as for what follows) then The Prophet (SM) comes at the beginning of the letters with the greeting. We see that the Rightly Guided Caliphs (RA) followed him completely in their letters and we also see the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphs to follow him. These prophetic letters laid the foundation for a unique and purposeful Arabic epistolary style. They played a vital role in spreading islamic teaching, diplomacy and governance. This article contains a study on the letter of the Prophet (SM); its characteristics and impact on the Arabic letters throughout the ages.