First Hijra To Abyssinia (ETHIOPIA)

First Hijra To Abyssinia
(ETHIOPIA)
BISMILLAHIR-RAHMANIR-RAHEEM
After so much suffering at the
hands of the Makkans, the prophet
(s.a.w.) commanded a small group
of Muslims to make the Hijra
(migration) to a safe place in the
country of Abyssinia. It was a
Christian county, which was ruled
by a just and fair king, whose title
was Negus. They were sure to
receive protection and peace there.
The Muslims only wanted to get
away from this persecution and to
worship and live in peace. All the
planning was kept secret because
the Makkans kept a close eye on
the activities of the Muslims.
FIRST HIJRA TO ABYSSINIA
(ETHIOPIA)
In Rajab of the fifth year of the
mission, the first group emigrated
to Abyssinia. The group of Muslims,
consisted of twelve men and five
women. Uthman bin Affan r.a. was
also part of this group along with
his wife Ruqaiyah r.a.(the prophet’s
s.a.w. daughter). When the
Makkans found out, they tried to
chase the small group of Muslims
who had left Makkah the night
before. On arrival at the port of
Shu’aibah, the Muslims had seen
that a ship was ready to leave the
port and they managed to get on it.
The Makkans were too late and
became very angry that these
Muslims had managed to escape
from their evil grasp. They
remained more vigilant in the
future.
When the group reached Abyssinia,
they heard the rumor that the
whole tribe of Quraysh had
accepted Islam. They were naturally
very much pleased at the news and
returned to their country. On
approaching Makkah, they learnt
that the news was false and the
persecutions were going on
unabated. Some of them decided to
return to Abyssinia and the rest
entered Makkah, seeking the
protection of a few influencial
people. This is known as the first
migration to Abyssinia.
SECOND HIJRA TO ABYSSINIA
The Prophet (pbuh) commanded
another group of Muslims to make
Hijra to Abyssinia for the second
time, but this time the group was
much larger consisting of eighty
three men and eighteen women.
Some Sahaabah took part in both
the migrations. This time there
were two additional factors the
Muslims had to deal with. Firstly,
the Makkans were watching the
Muslims very carefully and they
would notice if something unusual
was happening. Secondly, this
group was a lot bigger so it would
be more difficult for them to move
quickly from one place to another.
However, by the will of Allah, the
Muslims managed to escape from
the watchful eyes of the Makkans
and made it safely to Abyssinia. The
Makkans were mad with anger and
decided that they would send a
small group of negotiators to bring
back these Muslims. They would go
to the Negus and explain to him
that the Muslims had forsaken the
religion of their forefathers. They
would demand that the Muslims be
returned to Arabia and the
Makkans be allowed to deal with
them.
QURAYSH BESEECH NEGUS TO
MAKE OVER THE EMIGRANT
MUSLIMS TO THEM
Upon reaching the king’s royal
court, the Makkans prostrated
themselves before the king and
then presenting the gifts, said:”O,
king! A few foolish lads of our
community have renounced their
ancestral faith, and have joined an
absolutely new religion, which is
opposed to our as well as your
religions. They have come and
settled in your country. The
nobility of Makkah, their own
parents and kith and kin have sent
us to take them back to their
country. We beseech you to make
them over to us.”
The king replied, “We cannot make
over the people who have sought
our shelter, without proper
investigation. Let us call them to
our presence, and hear them out.
If your charge of apostasy against
them is genuine, we shall make
them over to you.”
When Muslims were summoned,
they greeted the king with ‘Salaam’.
Someone from the courtiers
objected that they had not
prostrated before the king
according to the rules of the land.
They explained:”Our Prophet
(s.a.w.) has forbidden us from
prostrating before anyone except
Allah.”
In defense to the charges, Jafar ibn
Abi Talib (r.a.) said,”O king!We
were an ignorant people. We
neither knew Allah nor His
Prophets. We worshipped stones.
We used to eat carrion and commit
all sorts of undesireable and
disgraceful acts. We did not fulfil
our obligations to our relatives. The
strong among us would thrive at
the expense of the weak. Till at
last, Allah raised a Prophet for our
reformation. His noble descent,
upright conduct and pure life are
too well known amongst us. He
called upon us to worship Allah,
and exhorted us to give up
idolatory and stone worship. He
enjoined upon us right conduct
and forbade us from indecency. He
taught us to tell the truth, fulfil
our trust, to have regard for our
kith and kin and to do good to our
neighbours. From him we learnt to
observe Salaat, fasting, zakaat and
good conduct; and to shun
everything foul, and to avoid
bloodshed. He forbade adultery,
lewdness, lying, misappropriating
the orphan’s heritage and bringing
false accusations against others. He
taught us the Quran, the book of
Allah. So we believed in him and
followed his teachings. Thereupon
our people began to persecute us
and subjected us to torchures,
thinking that we might renounce
our faith and return to idolatory.
When their cruelties exceeded all
bounds, we took shelter in your
country by the permission of our
Prophet (s.a.w)”
The king requested to hear
something from the Quran and
Jafar (r.a.) recited few beginning
verses of Surah Maryam, which
touched the hearts of the king and
priests, and tears flowed down
their cheeks wetting their beards.
The king denied making the
Muslims over to the Quraysh.
The next day, the makkans told the
King that those “heretics”
denounced Isa (a.s.) and did not
believe in his divinity. The muslims
were summoned to the court again
and inquired about their belief in
Isa (a.s.) They said,”We believe in
what Allah has revealed about him
to our prophet (s.a.w.) that he is a
servant and prophet of Allah, and
is His word, which He conveyed to
the virgin and pure Maryam.”
Negus said,” Isa (a.s.) himself does
not say anything beyond that. Go
and live in peace. If anybody ill-
treats you, he will have to pay
heavily for it.”
[Extracted from Faza’il-E-A’maal
from the chapter of Stories of the
Sahaabah steadfastness in the face
of Hardships.]
The Makkans were shocked at the
developments in Abyssinia – they
had expected their envoys to be
more successful but instead the
Negus became more tolerant and
respectful to the Muslims. There
are some sources that say that
Negus actually accepted Islam.
History tell us that he kept his
conversion to Islam a secret
because some of his bishops would
oppose him.
QURAYSH LEADERS PRESSURIZE
ABU TALIB TO HAND OVER
MUHAMMAD (S.A.W) TO THEM
The Makkans had seen so much
unfold before their very eyes but
still many of them remained
stubbornly against Islam. They
made attempts to pressurize Abu
Talib, the Prophet’s uncle, by
asking him to withdraw his support
for Muhammad (s.a.w.). They
insisted he put to stop his nephew,
Muhammad’s (s.a.w.) preaching of
monotheism (tawhid), warning that
it would otherwise lead into severe
hostility.
Abu Talib sent for Muhammad
(s.a.w.) and told him, “Spare me
and yourself and put not burden
on me that I can’t bear”.
Muhammad (s.a.w.) replied: “O my
uncle! by God if they put the sun in
my right hand and the moon in my
left on condition that I abandon
this course, until God has made me
victorious, or I perish therein, I
would not abandon it.” Muhammad
(s.a.w.) got up, and as he turned
away, his uncle called back and
then said “Go and preach what you
please, for by God I will never
forsake you.”
Realizing that Muhammad (s.a.w.)
would not relent and that Abu Talib
was not to forsake his nephew even
when his clan was threatened, they
tried and arranged for another
deputation. They brought Ammarah
ibn Walid, the son of the powerful
and rich war-clan leader Walid ibn
al-Mughira and said: “O Abu Talib!
we have brought you a smart boy
still in the bloom of his youth, to
make use of his mind and strength
and take him as your son in
exchange for your nephew, who
has run counter to your religion,
brought about social discord,
found fault with your way of life,
so that we kill him and rid you of
his endless troubles; just man for
man.”
Abu Talib replied: “Woe be upon
you people. May Allah turn your
face dark and gloomy. I swear by
Allah that you have indeed spoken
the evil. Do you mean that I should
hand over my son to you so that
you can kill him and will give me
your son in exchange so that I take
care of him! I swear by Allah that if
I do so, I would be but an evil
man.”
QURAYSH GET CONCERNED
ABOUT LOSING PILGRIMS OVER
TO ISLAM
There were only a few months until
an important time for the Arabs –
the pilgrimage to Makkah. They
were worried that Muhammad
(s.a.w.) might influence the
pilgrims who were coming to
worship these idols. They decided
to get together and spread
rumours and lies so that people
stay away from Muhammad (s.a.w.)
and don’t listen to his message.
They suggested each other of
different accusations. They thought
of accusing Muhammad (s.a.w.) of
being a magician, using magic to
trick and influence people, or that
he is just a madman and is
preaching nonsense, or that an evil
spirit possesses him, or that he was
just a poet and the message of the
Qu’ran was just poetry.
The fact was that none of these
allegations were true and the
Makkans knew this. How could they
try and combat the message of
Muhammad (s.a.w.) and how could
they halt his message from being
preached? They decided that they
would consult Al-Waleed bin Al-
Mugheerah – a very influential
person in his tribe.
Al-Waleed listened to all these
allegations. He suggested that the
plausible way would be to suggest
that Muhammad (s.a.w.) was a
magician and that he used magic
words to influence people. They
said that his ‘magic’ words would
separate a father from his son, a
husband from his wife, a man from
his clan… They finally decided that
this was the best excuse they could
use to discredit Muhammad
(s.a.w.). They would tell the
pilgrims that Muhammad (s.a.w.)
was a powerful sorcerer and that
they should avoid him at all costs.
MORE PEOPLE ENTER INTO THE
FOLD OF ISLAM DESPITE THE
EFFORTS OF QURAYSH
When the season of Pilgrimage
came, the Makkans waited at the
main roads leading to Makkah.
When the pilgrims came they would
tell them about Muhammad
(s.a.w.) and warn them to stay
away from Muhammad (s.a.w.) and
his followers. Abu Lahab would
follow Muhammad (s.a.w.) about
the market and tell the people that
he was a madman and a liar and
advise people not to listen to any
of his words or that they would be
led astray.
Despite all their efforts Muhammad
(s.a.w.) managed to win over some
of the Arabs with this message of
tawheed and goodness.
May Allah open our hearts and
minds too, as He had opened for
those Arabs who were able to
see the Truth and entered into
the fold of Islam despite such a
hostile environment. Ameen.
Rabbana Taqabbal minna innaka
antas-samee-ul aleem, wa tub
alaina innaka antat-tawwabur-
raheem. Subhana rabbika rabbil
izzati amma yasifoon, wa
salaamun alal mursaleen wal
hamdulillahi rabbil alameen.
Ameen.