The Acceptance of Islam by the English King

The English King Offa:

          It is a part of the historical wonders that in the past century, the name of the English King (Offa) was unveiled; Offa had converted to Islam but this reality was not exposed.

          Who was Offa? When did he rule?

          Why did he incline towards Islam?

          Why was the news of his acceptance of Islam concealed?

In order to find the answers to the aforementioned questions, we should refer to the Britannica Encyclopedia or the French Encyclopedia known as ‘Larousse’. In these two encyclopedias, such a report is mentioned regarding Offa:

          Offa was an Anglo-Saxon king who ruled over England for thirty-nine years (757 to 796 A.D.). He was the most powerful English king of that time.

          In the beginning, he was the king of Mercia or the Middle England; this province was one of the seven provinces. After conquering the small provinces like Kent, West, Saxons and Welsh, this king expanded his kingdom.

          He got his daughters married to the governors of Wessex and Northumbia and in this manner, he expanded the boundaries of his dominance such that it constituted all the parts of England.

          He signed treaties with the French King ‘Charlemagne’ and the Pope Adrian I.

          The significant traces that remain of his era include the Wall and the Dam which were built by him between Mercia and Welsh, which is still famous as the Offa Dyke.

          Up till here, the case is very ordinary; but the year 1841 (1227) emerged as a questionable year for the historians. In this year, a golden coin was found, which goes back to the age of this powerful king.

          What was inscribed on this coin that left everyone in astonishment? This golden coin is still preserved in the Money section of the British museum.

         What caused the astonishment of everyone was that the ‘Shahadatain’,

‘أشهد أن لا اله الا ألله و أشهد أن محمد الرسول ألله ’
(I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah) and a verse from the Holy Quran was inscribed on it in Arabic language.

          Following is the incident of this coin:

          In the center of one face of the coin, an Arabic text can be seen:

"لا اله الا الله, وحده لا شريك له"  

and on the corners of the coin

" أرسله بالهدى و دين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله"[1]

and in the centre, this line was written in English, ‘‘Offa – Rek’’ (i.e. King Offa); in the corner, this was written in Arabic: "بسم الله" . This Dinar was struck in the year 157’’.

          That which can be figured out from the signature of the King is that this coin was struck between the years (757 to 796) when Offa ruled over Anglo-Saxon. The 157^th year of Hijri is equivalent to the year 774 A.D.

          In this context, a series of lectures were given and several articles were written.

          We can summarize the assumptions and theories of the historians regarding this case in the following manner:

          First Assumption: King Offa had accepted Islam.

          Second Assumption: He used these Arabic words and verses’ for decoration and adornment without having the knowledge of their meanings and implications.

          Third Assumption: He struck these coins to help those pilgrims of his country who intended the journey towards Bait ul Muqaddas so that they can make use of these coins and their journey could be made easier in this manner. This is based on the view that it was done with political motives and interests.

          Fourth Assumption: He signed a treaty with Pope Adrian which obligated him to pay annual taxes and probably these coins were struck for this purpose.

          One of the researchers says: It is obvious that the last three assumptions are not in accordance with the human intellect. It is impossible that a King will engrave such a thing on a coin whose meaning is unknown to him just for the purpose of adornment, while these are the statements of witness that are the summary of Islamic principles. It is correct that some European kings who were inspired by the Islamic civilization got their names inscribed on coins in Arabic language.

          Emperors like ‘Alfonso VIII’, ‘False Dmitriy’ and some of the Norman kings like ‘William Roger’ and even the German emperor ‘Henry IV’, got the name of the Ottoman Caliph ‘Al Muqtadir Billah’ inscribed on their national coin but none of them engraved the word of Oneness (Tauheed) on a coin like the king Offa.

          Regarding the third assumption, it must be said that this assumption is absolutely vague and unreal. How does the pope demand the king to inscribe the words of witness on the coins which would be received in return of the taxes imposed on him?

          Does this reason sound logical? Isn’t this case impossible? Specifically, we know that a pope is one of the most severe enemies of Islam, hence, it is natural that he would oppose the slogans and faiths of his enemies even if these coins were struck for adornment.

          About the fourth assumption, it must be said that it is a weak assumption. It is difficult to believe that King Offa casted coins with the purpose of helping those countrymen who would like to go on a pilgrimage towards Bait ul Muqaddas; this is because the Muslims did not hold any restriction against the pilgrims of the Holy cities at that time and the Christians had independent access to all the Islamic nations.

          It can be assumed that possibly this king was not able to strike coins, therefore, he got the coins of his country to be struck in the Arab countries. This assumption is weak and unacceptable.

          This is because it is mentioned in the Britannica Encyclopedia that one of the remaining souvenirs of this king is the casting of new coins on which the name of the king and the caster is inscribed. For centuries, the image of King Offa and his wife Cynethyth was inscribed on many of the coins and was utilized by everyone. The tradition of striking coins was popular in England from several eras.

          It is possible to find other instances of the coins that were struck in the era of this very king under the captions of coins and the life sketch of this king in the Britannica Encyclopedia. In other words, the assumption of inability of this king to strike coins is absolutely weak and unacceptable.

          The real story is that the King Offa had inclined towards Islam but we do not have any evidence or proof in reference to this incident other than these coins.

          We do not have information about how the king accepted Islam. The reason behind it, as per the historians, is that the English Church destroyed all the evidences related to this King because he had accepted Islam.

          Had this king accepted Islam alone or other members from his family and relatives had also accepted Islam? We do not know of this and do not possess any information in this regard.

          What we know is that possibly this king met a few Muslims and their clerics at the time of his pilgrimage towards Bait ul Muqaddas and must have accepted Islam at the same time.

          It is astonishing that the encyclopedias like Britannica and ‘Larousse’ do not indicate towards this issue at all, but ignore them completely. This incident strengthens the viewpoint of those who believe that these encyclopedias are bias in the details they provide.[2]