The Real Holy Grail

Normally I only post notes from recent daroos i.e. Kitab-al-Jumu'ah onwards, however today I'm breaking from tradition by posting something quite interesting from Lesson 7 of al Tajrid al Sarih which was given by Shaykh on 4th September 2001. The reason being is that I think the point I mention below may be of interest to many people due to the recent interest in the quest for 'Holy Grail' after Da Vinci code book and film...

In this lesson the long and famous hadeeth about the Roman Emperor Heraclius is discussed, and Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq mentions that that Heraclius didn't embrace Islam but deep down he knew that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was the Prophet of Allah. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) sent letters to many rulers inviting them to Islam. The ruler of the Persian empire ripped the letter he received from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) to shreds and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said that his kingdom would also be ripped apart and this is exactly what happened. In contrast, Heraclius preserved and respected the letter that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) sent to him, and kept it in a golden casket. This was then passed from king to prince for generations, and this fact is documented in many books of hadeeth (not the most famous ones). They believed as long as the letter remained, their kingdom would remain. The Shaykh says that it is his opinion that this letter is the HOLY GRAIL i.e. the golden casket containing the letter from the Prophet and not a Christian relic.