The forgotten Christian delegations to the Prophet as an early Christian response to Islam: contexts and outcomes

The biographical works on the Prophet Muḥammad (sīra) preserve underused details concerning delegations whose members were either entirely Christian or included prominent Christian figures. These encounters illuminate early Christian responses to Islam beyond the well-studied delegation of Najrān. Such responses began as early as the Meccan period, when the Prophet received a group of approximately twenty Christians from Abyssinia, although this encounter had limited impact at that time. After the hijra, however, the arrival of Christian delegations in Medina unfolded within the context of the Prophet’s emerging political authority and therefore functioned as more than mere interreligious dialogue. While these delegations may be understood as a natural reaction to the rise of a new religious and political order, the outcomes of Christian encounters with the Prophet Muḥammad extended beyond the confines of theological exchange. Some delegations pursued explicitly political objectives, seeking treaties and protection, whereas others arrived to declare their conversion to Islam. Together, these encounters contributed to reshaping the religious landscape of the Arabian Peninsula and the broader Near East. Moreover, treaties attributed to the Prophet supplied precedents that later Muslim authorities could invoke when defining the status of Christian communities under the rule of the Caliphate in the subsequent medieval period.