Badhan's Spies and the Prophet ﷺ's Prophecy of Khosrow's Death

Khosrow, the Emperor of Persia, ordered one of his governors, Badhan, to send spies to Madinah. They were to gather information about the Prophet ﷺ and, if they could, bring him back. Badhan chose two trusted men, Babawayh and Khur Khasra. They carried a letter, but it was only a cover for their real mission.

The Prophet ﷺ told them to wait and come back the next day. When they returned, he took their letter but did not open it. Instead he told them to go back and tell Badhan that Allah had killed Badhan's lord, Khosrow, and that Khosrow's son had taken over. The two men went home in shock.

By the time they reached Badhan, news had arrived that Khosrow had fled his capital, Ctesiphon. His son, Kavad II, had seized power in a coup and then killed his own father. Western sources date Khosrow's death to around 28 February 628 CE, which matches Jumada al-Awwal 7 AH in the Seerah. According to a short treatise by the early scholar Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam, Badhan and his two emissaries then embraced Islam. The Prophet ﷺ later wrote to them about the rules of jizya, the tax paid by non-Muslims under Muslim rule.