Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 17 - The second migration to Abyssinia - Yasir Qadhi | November 2011

As we said the Muslims returned back from Abyssinia due to the rumor which proven to be wrong.

Did the 4 Main Sahaba Emigrate?

From the immediate sahaba, (1) Umar was still not Muslim, (2) Uthman RA emigrated and (3) Ali ibn Abi Talib was too young to emigrate. How about (4) Abu Bakr RA? He initially decided to emigrate and accompany Uthman. But on the way to the ship in Juddah (Jeddah), they passed by the leader of the neighboring tribe, Ibn al-Daghina. He saw them all leaving and asked them, "Where are you going and why?" Then Abu Bakr told him of the torture the Muslims went through and so he said we want to go to a land where we can worship in peace. Full story below:

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The Reason Abu Bakr RA Didn't Emigrate

Narrated by Aisha bint Abu Bakr (the wife of the Prophet PBUH): "I never remembered my parents believing in any religion other than the true religion (Islam), and (I don't remember) a single day passing without our (house) being visited by Allah's Messenger in the morning and in the evening. When the Muslims were put to test (troubled by the pagans), Abu Bakr set out migrating to the land of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), and when he reached Bark al-Ghimad, Ibn al-Daghina, the chief of the tribe of Qara, met him and said, 'O Abu Bakr! Where are you going?' Abu Bakr replied: 'My people have turned me out (of my land), so I want to wander on the earth and worship my Lord.' Ibn al-Daghina said: 'O Abu Bakr! A man like you should not leave his homeland, nor should he be driven out, because you help the destitute, earn their living, and you keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the weak and the poor, entertain guests generously, and help the calamity-stricken persons. Therefore, I am your protector. Go back and worship your Lord in your town.'"


So Ibn al-Daghina said, "Let me intercede on your behalf, and let me protect you." The tribe of Abu Bakr had basically withdrawn their protection, so Ibn al-Daghina said, "I will protect you." So Ibn al-Daghina and Abu Bakr both returned back and Ibn al-Daghina announced, "O people of Makkah, will you accept my protection over Abu Bakr?" Ibn al-Daghina was a neighboring chief, and a person who did frequent trade, so the Quraysh accepted. But they said we will allow it on one condition that he cannot pray publicly. Abu Bakr was the only one with the Prophet PBUH who actually prayed publicly. And they didn't want him to pray in public because of the effect this had on the people.

Because of this, Abu Bakr was the first person to build a 'masjid.' He didn't actually build a masjid structure, but basically extended his house and made a room into his place of worship. He prays out loud in this extension because he can pray out loud in his own house (he's taking advantage of the loophole). And Abu Bakr's recitation was beautiful - the women and children would gather around listening to this recitation. And as narrated by Aisha RA he would cry a lot while reciting the Qur'an, so the people gathered around his house every time he prayed. Indeed houses in Makkah were small and were very close to each other, and it was dead silent at night so it's easy to hear the recitation. Technically all he was doing was praying in his house, but the Quraysh couldn't take it so they sent a messenger to Ibn al-Daghina. When Ibn al-Daghina came to Makkah, they said, "We have to take back our condition - he cannot pray even in his house." So Ibn al-Daghina said to Abu Bakr, "I have no choice except to ask you to stop praying, or allow me out of the protection." And Abu Bakr RA said, "I throw back your protection at you (you're free now - you have done your job), and I accept the protection of Allah." Narrated in full below:

Aisha RA continues: "Then a thought occurred to Abu Bakr to build a mosque in front of his house, and there he used to pray and recite the Quran. The women and children of the pagans began to gather around him in great number. They used to wonder at him and look at him. Abu Bakr was a man who used to weep too much, and he could not help weeping when reciting the Quran. That situation scared the nobles of the pagans of Quraysh, so they sent for Ibn al-Daghina. When he came to them, they said: 'We accepted your protection of Abu Bakr on condition that he should worship his Lord in his house, but he has violated the conditions and he has built a mosque in front of his house where he prays and recites the Quran publicly. We are afraid that he may affect our women and children unfavorably. So, prevent him from that. If he likes to confine the worship of his Lord in his house, he may do so, but if he insists on doing that openly, ask him to release you from your obligation to protect him, for we dislike to break our pact with you, but we deny Abu Bakr the right to announce his act publicly.' Ibn al-Daghina went to Abu Bakr and said: 'O Abu Bakr! You know well what contract I have made on your behalf; now, you are either to abide by it, or else release me from my obligation of protecting you, because I do not want the Arabs hear that my people have dishonored a contract I have made on behalf of another man.' Abu Bakr replied: 'I release you from your pact to protect me and I'm pleased with the protection from Allah.'"

And after this, Abu Bakr had no protection. And this is why when Abu Bakr saved the Prophet PBUH when the Prophet PBUH was being strangled, they could get away with beating Abu Bakr almost to death. He was immobilized for more than a week in his house. How could they get away with this even though he was a Qureshi? - Because his own subtribe & Ibn al-Daghina both had basically withdrawn, so he is now a 'homeless' person.

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Coming Back to Makkah

As we said, between 14-17 people emigrated to Abyssinia; strongest opinion is 12 men and 5 women. And after the incident of the 'satanic verses' they decided to come back. As they were coming back, they were eagerly asking, "Have they (the pagans of Makkah) accepted (Islam)? Have they accepted?" But the first caravan they came across told them, "No, you have heard false. They were as they were." And this jolted them so much so that some of them said, "Let's just go back to Abyssinia." Even though they were just a doorstep away from Makkah. Debate occurred, until obviously their emotional state prevailed and they said, "We're so close, so let's just go in." Indeed to leave your land was a huge burden back then. (One of the punishment in Islam for certain crimes used to be to leave your land and go somewhere else for a certain period of time - showing how much of a burden it was back then.) Now, when they left Makkah, they had 'cancelled their passports' and renegaded from their tribes. So now each one of them has to find new protection.

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Uthman ibn Maz'oon

Uthman ibn Maz'oon (famous sahaba) reached out to al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, because he had some friendship with him, and he agreed, and they publicly announced, "I've given my protection to Uthman ibn Maz'oon." Recall al-Walid ibn al-Mughira was one of the most powerful men in Makkah. (He is the one whom Allah spoke about in Surah al-Muddaththir.) So not a hair on the head of Uthman was touched. Ibn Ishaq said: When Uthman saw his Muslim brothers being persecuted, his guilt got the better of him and he said, "How come they are suffering and I am in safety?" So he went to al-Walid and said, "Please take your protection back. I cannot bear to see my fellow brothers suffer while I have this freedom." Subhan'Allah. Even though Islamically speaking there is nothing wrong about him having the freedom, but he voluntarily returned his protection because of his strong conscience. So al-Walid announced that, "Uthman has asked his protection be returned."

Uthman comes walking back and he passes by a very famous poet who was visiting Makkah at the time, Labid (who eventually accepts Islam). Labid was reciting poetry and he says, "Verily everything other than Allah is useless." (Side note: The Prophet PBUH later says this was the most truthful statement any poet ever said.) When Labid recites the line, Uthman remarked, "Sadaqta - you have spoken the truth." And then Labid said, "Every blessing, without any doubt, will disappear." Uthman's didn't agree with this, so he said, "Kadhabta - you have just lied - Jannah will never disappear, the pleasures of Jannah will never come to an end." Imagine, the guest of honor is reciting poetry, the entire Quraysh was standing around him, and he is interrupted by Uthman. Labid gets irritated and said, "Since when have you treated your guests with this manner? This is rude." Labid of course doesn't know the political climate in Makkah (the tension between the pagans and the Muslims). So he considered Uthman a heckler. And so someone stood up in anger and gave Uthman a hard smack and gave him a black eye. His left eye became completely swollen. When al-Walid heard about this, he went to Uthman and said, "My nephew[?], why have you taken back the protection? Come back and I'll give the protection back to you." Uthman said, "No, my other eye is now in need of the blessing my left eye has got."

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Abu Salama

Abu Salama, who was the husband of Ummi Salama, the future wife of the Prophet PBUH, kept the protection. (Abu Salama is a cousin of the Prophet PBUH from his mother's side, and was a Makhzumi, the tribe of Abu Jahal. His mother is Abdullah's sister i.e. the Prophet's PBUH father's sister.) Abu Salama reached out to Abu Talib, his mother's brother. (He didn't reach out to Abu Jahal, because there's no way Abu Jahal would give anyone protection.) So Abu Talib said, "Of course I will protect you." When Abu Jahal found out about this, he got angry and he sent people to Abu Talib. But Abu Talib said, "Well, if I'm going to give protection to one nephew (the Prophet PBUH), why can't I give protection to the other nephew (Abu Salama)?" And argument broke out. But Allah brought about a solution we would never expect - through Abu Lahab. Abu Lahab felt compassion for his brother, Abu Talib, so he stood up and said, "Have you not irritated this old man (Abu Talib) enough? Let him be. For by Allah, if you are going to continue, I will have to force my side and I will choose him." So Abu Lahab defended against Abu Jahal. Here he is speaking as a tribesman and defending Abu Talib out of love for his brother - even though his stance ended up benefiting Islam in this case, but this type of love is not going to help one from the punishment of Hell; as it isn't done out of religious love for the Prophet PBUH. And indeed Allah helps Islam through whoever He chooses. The Prophet PBUH said in Madinah many years later:

إن الله ليؤيد هذا الدين بالرجل الكافر

أو في بخاري ومسلم : بالرجل الفاجر

"Verily, Allah supports this religion [even] with a disbelieving man." Or in Bukhari and Muslim: "[even] with an evil man."

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The Second Emigration to Abyssinia

So the situation in Makkah remained status quo, and the Quraysh continued to torture and persecute the Muslims. In the meantime news spread amongst the Muslims about how good Abyssinia was in terms of freedom. They had food and safety in Abyssinia and that was enough. When the Muslims heard this, 40% if not 50% of them got together and said let's go to Abyssinia. That's a huge number. So it's as if the wisdom why Allah allowed these early Muslims to return was so that the bulk of the Muslims also go to Abyssinia to safety. Indeed there was no other way so many Muslims would have emigrated. No way they would leave their entire livelihood and homes. So for the second emigration, more than 80 Muslims emigrated, headed by Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, the direct cousin of the Prophet PBUH.

Note: Uthman ibn Affan decided to remain in Makkah and he migrated to Madinah later on. Also, Mus'ab ibn Umayr, the first person to emigrate to Madinah within 3 years, the one whose his own parents tortured him so much, also did not return to Abyssinia even though he went the first time.

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Quraysh's Attempt to Bribe Najashi

Note at the time Makkah only had around a few hundred people in it. Certainly not more than 800 people. And out of that, 80 are migrating - more than 10% of your population. And it's a huge embarrassment for the Quraysh, the custodians of the Haram, that your own people are leaving. And so when the Muslims migrated, they decided, "We cannot allow this emigration," and they sent two delegates, Amr ibn al-As and another person (scholars have differed who the second person was), to Abyssinia, to appeal directly to the Najashi, the leader of Abyssinia.

The name of the Najashi was As'huma [or As'hama] ibn Abjar (أصحمة بن أبجر). (His grave is still well known to this day.)

Amr ibn al-As was a very intelligent and shrewd politician. And so he was sent by the Quraysh.

Ummi Salama has left us many reports about life in Abyssinia. She narrates, "When we landed in Abyssinia, we were treated very hospitably. The Negus granted us security and freedom; in fact we did not even hear one ridicule against us by the people. But then the Quraysh heard of our status, so then they plotted against us so they sent two strong men (who would do their job). And they loaded them with many gifts (e.g. camel leather skins). When the two dignitaries arrived, the first thing they did was that they went to all the ministers of Najashi and gave each of them expensive gifts and leather. And they said, 'We have in your midst a group of rebels, and we want to take them back and we want you to support us in this cause. When we give the Negus (Najashi) his gifts, remember our gifts to you.' (So this is open bribery. Look at the hatred of the Quraysh - they can't even bear the Muslims live in a foreign land.) And the next day they speak to the Negus and said to him, 'Some foolish youth from amongst our nation are in your country, and they've invented a new religion. They've left ours and neither embraced yours. And the leaders of us have sent us to you so you can hand these young foolish people back to us.' And they presented the Negus with lots of fine gifts."

(Side note: Subhan'Allah our religion is so perfect - even before all of the modern system came about, the Prophet PBUH strictly forbade what we now call lobbying. You're not allowed to give a public servant money. In an Islamic state, we're not allowed to give the employees of the state any money at all. Their money comes from the treasury/from the state - because they are employees. They have no right to get any money from you, because that is going to sway them from their job. That is basically the essence of bribery. And subhan'Allah, in certain lands in our times, they call it lobbying and consider it legit. The irony is if you pay them money directly to their pocket, they'll know it's bribery; but if you pay to their campaign or if you pay something else, they call it lobbying. And they just have their way around it. But we know the famous hadith wherein the Prophet PBUH forbade this. One day the Prophet PBUH appointed somebody to go collect zakat. And when the zakat collector came back, he said, "All of this is for you (ya Rasulullah), and as for this, I was given a gift of something small." The Prophet PBUH became so enraged he stood up and called the people and gave them khutbah, "What is wrong with some of you? We appoint him to do a job and we pay his salary, but then he comes back and says, 'This is for you, and this gift is for me.' Why don't this man sit in his mother's house and see if a gift would then come to him?")

So the Quraysh tried to bribe the Najashi. Notice also they are frightening the Najashi by religious, social, and political differences. They say they were 'a bunch of youngsters' that have 'broken away from the religion.' And political as well, 'these are a group of strangers, we don't know what's going to happen - but we can control them, so send them back to us' - for every government is scared of the unknowns.

So the viziers stood up and said, "O our ruler, what they have said makes sense, return them back to their people and let them deal with their affairs." So all the viziers agreed with the two Qureshi. Najashi said, "No, by Allah, I cannot hand them back after they have chosen my land." Recall when they entered Abyssinia—even though the books of seerah don't explicitly mention this, but—they must have sent a petition to Najashi asking permission to live - because there is no other way you can live in that land. And Najashi must have granted that petition. So he said, "They have chosen me over all the other lands they could have chosen, and asked for my protection. The least that I can do is to listen to their side of the story." Subhan'Allah he truly was a just king, "I won't return them back until I listen to them." This shows us how sensible and common-sense filled the Negus was. So Najashi sent a messenger to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib to come to the palace and explain why they migrated and why their people opposed them. And so the Muslims became scared, but Ja'far said, "We will speak the truth and only say what our Prophet PBUH told us to say." So they arrived at the palace and found the Negus surrounded by his viziers and patriarchs - it's an official meeting. You have Amr ibn al-As and his companion on one side, and Ja'far and the delegations of the Muslims on the other side. Amr ibn al-As and his companion entered first, and they prostrated in front of the Najashi. Ja'far entered and he walked in firm and he did not lower his head one inch. The minister said, "How dare you walk in without prostrating to Najashi." Subhan'Allah this was at a time when their life was hanging in the balance. But this wasn't an issue of compromise even though they are at a state of weakness. Ja'far says, "Our Prophet PBUH has told us we can only prostrate to our Lord." Najashi says, "Tell me what is this new religion? And why have you forsaken the religion of the people, nor become Christian or Jew?" And so Ja'far gave a response which was the pinnacle of eloquence:

"Your Highness, we used to be a nation steeped in Jahiliyyah,

 

and we would worship idols,

 

and we would eat dead meat,

 

and we would perform fahisha,

 

and we would break the ties of kinship,

 

and treat our neighbors in contempt,

 

the strong amongst us would eat up and devour the weak,

 

and we remained in this state until Allah SWT sent a messenger to us.

 

This messenger was known to us - he is from our community,

 

we know his house and his lineage,

 

and we know his truthfulness and he never spoke one lie in his life.

 

And he invited us to believe in One God alone,

 

and to leave idol worship,

 

and he told us to abandon the ways of our forefathers,

 

and to leave the worship of stones and statues,

 

and he commanded us to be true when we speak,

 

and to fulfill our promises,

 

and to fulfill the tie of kinship,

 

he told us to be good to our neighbors,

 

and he commanded us to avoid all evils,

 

he told us to not spill blood,

 

to give true testimony,

 

he forbade us from eating the property of orphans,

 

he forbade us from accusing others of adultery,

 

and he commanded us to worship Allah alone without associating anything with him,

 

he told us to pray,

 

and to fast,

 

and to give charity.

 

So we believed in him,

 

and we followed him,

 

and we had faith in him,

 

and we worshiped Allah alone,

 

and we gave up worshiping idols,

 

and we forbade upon ourselves everything that he forbade upon us,

 

and we make permissible all that he allowed for us.

 

But our people opposed us,

 

and they showed hatred towards us,

 

and they tortured us,

 

and they punished us,

 

and they tried to force us back into idol worship,

 

and they were unjust to us and they made life miserable,

 

and they prevented us from being who we were.

 

So when they did this, we emigrated to your land,

 

and we chose you above all other rulers,

 

and we wish to come under your generosity and hospitality,

 

and we put our trust in you,

 

that we would not be shown injustice in your land, O Exalted Highness."

Subhan'Allah it was such a powerful speech. Ja'far instantly puts the Muslims in the positive, and the two delegates sent by the Quraysh in the negative. He explains how they had no laws or ethics before Islam - and recall Abyssinia was a civilized nation so they understood this well. And this speech of Ja'far also shows he understood the Negus since the Negus knows what a prophet is. The Najashi then asked the Muslims, "Do you have any revelation?" Ja'far said, "Yes I do," and so Ja'far recited Surah Maryam - the one surah that talks about Mary, Jesus AS etc. And again imagine the voice of Ja'far; all the elite people are hushed and humbled by the recitation that went on for at least 15 minutes. He recited all of the story of Jesus AS in Surah Maryam. And even the patriarchs without understanding Arabic were moved to tears. And Najashi himself too began to cry. And he said, "I swear by God, this recitation and the messages of Moses and Jesus have sprung forth from the same fountain." And he said to Amr ibn al-As and his companion, "Go away from me, I will never hand these people to you and don't even think about it." As they left, Amr said to his companion, "Don't worry, I have one final trick, I will come back tomorrow."

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Amr ibn al-As's Second Attempt

As they left, Amr said to his companion, "Don't worry, I have one final trick, I will come back tomorrow." His companion though said, "Leave it ya Amr, in the end they are our relatives." But this is Amr ibn al-As, so he went the next day and he told the Negus, "Oh we forgot to mention to you one thing, that they say something blasphemous about your God, Jesus." And so Najashi told the Muslims again to come immediately to the palace. At this the sahaba were struck with immense terror. They know this is Amr's doing. So once again Ja'far said, "We will say what the Prophet PBUH told us to say. We will not change that Jesus is the servant, messenger and kalimah of Allah, born of the Virgin Mary."

(Before we move on, the most important lesson we learn from this whole story is that the sahaba used the system of the time to fight the oppression of the time. It's not an Islamic state so they can't do anything but what the system allows. Ja'far ibn Abi Talib is using the system of the land to fight for his freedom. We don't find the Muslims saying, "Hold on a sec, the ways of Najashi are the ways of kufr," etc. No. Ja'far had no qualms using the system, so we in our times too should do the same - fight against oppression through the courts, media, public pressure, etc. The same opportunities that everybody has, we too have them.)

And thus Ja'far and the Muslims went back to the Najashi. The Najashi was a bit irritated; he asked them, "What is this that I have heard that you have a blasphemous opinion about Jesus Christ?" Ja'far said, "Your Royal Highness, we say exactly what our Prophet PBUH has told us - that Jesus was the slave, messenger and kalimah of Allah. His mother Maryam was a virgin." Notice he didn't go on the offensive and say, 'Trinity is blasphemous; the concept of the son of God is insulting,' etc. - even though that's what the Qur'an says. And even in this there is wisdom. Ja'far is not hiding the truth, and as Muslims we are not allowed to lie, but we should not go on the offensive straight away. As we see Ja'far did - he presented the truth in a wise manner, with proper methodology, and appropriate wording.

Najashi now gets the point, "You don't think Jesus is the son of God." And we read in to the lines here: It comes out that the Negus was in fact not a believer in the Trinity. He didn't believe Jesus is the son of God. In this he resembled Heraclius, the Emperor of Rome. When Ja'far speaks the truth, Najashi is even more impressed - because this is what he himself has been believing all this time. So he picks up a little branch/twig in front of him, and says, "By Allah, what you have just said doesn't exceed what Jesus Christ said by this much of a branch." i.e. "Your message is the message of Jesus Christ." Najashi then makes a final decision and turns to Amr with his companion, and said, "Begone from here, and take all your gifts with you, I have no need for them." The day before at least the gifts were accepted, but now they are all sent back.

And Ummi Salama concluded by saying, "They both left humiliated, debased, and degraded. And we remained in the land receiving the best hospitality and the most neighborly treatment, until we finally returned to the Prophet PBUH."

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Najashi's Own Political Struggle

Few more points: When Najashi said what he said when he picked up the twig, rumors spread that, "Najashi has become a heretic and he's abandoned the religion of our forefathers." So a group began to taint him and there was a possibility of a coup d'état. And Najashi is aware of this.

He wrote on a parchment: "I bear witness that there is only one God, and that Jesus is the prophet, slave, and word of Allah," and he puts it in his robe. He then calls the instigators, brings them into his private chambers, and asked them, "What is your problem? Have I not been a good king to you?" "Yes." "Have I not been a just ruler to you?" "Yes." "Have I not improved the situation (economy etc.)?" "Yes." "What is your problem with me? Come out with it." "You have abandoned our religion." So Najashi asked them, "What do you believe?" They say, "We believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, our Lord, our Savior, the third of Trinity, etc." And so Najashi says, "I swear by Allah, THIS (and Najashi pointed at his chest on the parchment) is exactly what I believe." And he left it at that. So it's basically a tawriya/تورية (double meaning). The people thought he believes as they believe, but the Najashi was actually referring to his parchment.

It's mentioned that before this meeting, he sent a secret messenger to the Muslims saying, "I am having issues and problems, and may be killed soon. I have prepared a ship for you, so if I die, that ship is yours with its captain."

But he actually won the battle so that plan was not realized.

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Najashi's Islam (in Later Seerah)

Al-Bayhaqi narrated in Dala'il al-Nubuwwah that the Prophet PBUH eventually wrote him a letter after the Hijrah to Madinah, and Najashi wrote back and said, "I am a Muslim, I follow you, and if you command, I will come to Madinah and serve you." Subhan'Allah!

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Civil War in the Land of Najashi

The other story we have was that of another force/family that tried to seek powers in the land. And matters began to get bigger and bigger, heading towards a civil war. And Ummi Salama narrates, "We made du'a to Allah to help Najashi." And then civil war started. And so the Muslims said, "Who will go to the battlefield to see who will win so we can leave if needed?" So Zubayr ibn al-Awam volunteered. The battle took place on the banks of the Nile, and so Zubayr camped on the bank and waited to see. And Ummi Salama said, "In the meantime, we prayed to Allah the most serious prayer, 'O Allah, allow the Najashi to remain in power, and give him authority in the earth.'" When Zubayr came back, he said, "Rejoice, indeed Najashi has won."

So yet another important lesson we can learn from this - Najashi and his contemporary weren't fighting over Islam, it was pure politics, yet the Muslims sided with one party over the other emotionally. (They couldn't get involved in any other way because they're not citizens of the land - it was not their war to be fought.) So extrapolate this to our times: There's nothing wrong when there's two parties in the land, one of whom is more sympathetic to Muslims, that you want that sympathetic party to win over the other. Had the Abyssinian Muslims been in a position to help Najashi, do you think they would've not helped him? Of course they would. It's a matter of survival. This shows it's in fact Islamic to choose one party and make do if you want.

 

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Najashi's Death (in Later Seerah)

Final point is that Najashi died a number of years later, and the Prophet PBUH said, "Jibril has come and informed me that a pious brother of yours has died in a neighboring land." And he commanded the sahaba to come and pray the one and only prayer that was ever prayed in the life of the Prophet PBUH: Salah al-Janazah ala al-Gha'ib (or Salah al-Gha'ib [salah janazah without the body]) for Najashi. Never before or after this one prayer that the Prophet PBUH prayed over somebody without a body being present. The question arises why did he only pray this salah for Najashi? There are many opinions on this and many different views  In the opinion of Sh. Yasir Qadhi, he did this because nobody in Abyssinia prayed Salah al-Janazah over him since Najashi was a secret Muslim; thus this is why the Prophet PBUH prayed this salah in Madinah.

018 - Conversion of Omar & Hamza and Boycott