The Second Emigration to Abyssinia

After seeing that the group who had emigrated to Abyssinia was very well received by the king, Negus, our Prophet decided to send a second group of Muslims—who were exposed to the tyranny of the non-believers—to the Abyssinian land. Leading the group, which emigrated to Abyssinia in the seventh year of Prophethood, was Abu Talib’s son Jafar.

This group of 104 believers was made up of 83 men and 21 women. When they arrived in the Abyssinian land, Negus took them under his guardianship. They were safe now. They were also able to carry out their worship freely. As soon as they heard of this news, the Qurayshi non-believers chose Abdullah and Amr from among themselves to go to the ruler Negus with precious gifts in order to persuade him to return the Muslims.

Amr presented Negus with the most precious offerings, saying, “O emperor! These people that have taken refuge in your land; they have abandoned their religion and brought about a whole new religion. Their leaders ask of you to hand these individuals over to them.”

“I will not make any decision before I have spoken to them first. I cannot allow any harm to be done to those who have taken refuge in my land,” Negus replied.

Then he summoned the Muslim emigrants to his side and asked them, “This religion in which you believe, what kind of religion is it?”

The leader of the group of believers, Jafar, answered as follows, “O wise king! We used to be a people of ignorance, worshipping idols, eating unblessed meat, committing evil acts; a society where the powerful oppressed the weak. We were like this up until Allah sent us a trustworthy Messenger from amongst ourselves. Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is the best from among us, and the Almighty Allah sent him as a Prophet to us. He called us to a journey towards Allah. He taught us that we should believe in the Oneness of Allah, worship Him alone, and stop worshipping the idols instead. He ordered us to speak the truth, to be faithful to our promises, to respect our relationship with our relatives and the rights of our neighbors, to stay clear of evil acts and bloodshed. Now, we believe in the One Allah and associate no partners with Him whatsoever. Those which He has forbidden, we accept as haram (forbidden) and those which He has set free, we accept as halal (permissible). It is for this reason that our close ones have declared enmity towards us. They have tortured us in order for us to reject our new faith. That is why we felt the need to take refuge in your country. We are happy to be under your guardianship, and we believe that no injustice will be done towards us as long as we are by your side.”

Impressed by this explanation, Negus asked them to read a portion of the revelation that our Prophet conveyed. Upon this request, Jafar started reading the verses which described the births of the Prophets John and Jesus, peace be upon them. As Jafar finished reading the Divine message, Negus and the other priests were unable to hold back their tears. These were the words that flowed from Negus’s mouth, “I swear to Allah, these are two lights radiating from the same lamp. Both Prophet Moses and Prophet Jesus had informed us of the same truth.” He then turned to the Qurayshi delegates and said, “You may leave now, there is no way that I will ever turn them over to you.”

Amr had no intention to give up on the issue so easily. The next day he appeared in Negus’s presence once more and declared, “They believe that Jesus is a mere servant. Did you know about this?”

Negus then summoned the Muslims to his side once more to ask them what they know of Prophet Jesus. “Tell me what you know about Jesus,” he said to them.

Jafar replied, “The only thing we know about him is through what our Prophet has taught us. He is Allah’s servant and Messenger. He is of Allah’s spirit and His word that he has bestowed upon Mary (Maryam). “Jesus is nothing other than what you have said,” was Negus’s response.

His decision was final. Turning to the Muslim emigrants, he said, “You are safe in my country! Whoever attempts to oppress you will be punished! Even if gold, enough to cover mountains, are offered in return for you, I will not hand you over to anyone.”

After that, he commanded that the gifts the Qurayshi non-believers had brought be returned to them immediately. Unable to achieve their goal, Amr and his friend had no other choice than to return to Mecca empty-handed. So certain that the Muslims would be returned, the Qurayshi were outraged when they learned what actually happened.