Migration
to Abyssinia
When all their efforts failed and
the mission of preaching Tauhid (Oneness of Allâh) remained continuous, they
felt the power and strength of it. Thus they reacted violently and stopped the
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) from entering the
Ka'bah, and set the louts and riffraff to raise a hue and cry against him and
the believers, calling them bad names and making their movements impossible,
and they didn't allow them to meet people from outside Makkah. They began to
persecute the weak and the poor more intensely. Life became very hard and
almost impossible to live.
Witnessing this sad and tragic
plight of the believers, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم) allowed them to leave for Abyssinia (where the Christians
ruled). Thus in the month of Rajab, the 5th year of the Prophethood, a band of
eleven men and four women left Makkah for Abyssinia. They secretly reached the
port of Shu'aibah where there was a ship with its anchor lowered. They boarded the
ship and reached Abyssinia. Among those foremost migrants were:
Uthmân bin Affân, his wife Ruqayyah
(the daughter of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم),
Hudhaifah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) bin Utbah, Uthmân
bin Maz'un, Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf, Zubair bin Al-Awwâm,
Mus'ab bin Umair, Amir bin Rabi'ah and Suhail bin Baida (radhiyallahu 'anhum).
These people belonged to the
renowned and powerful tribes, which makes it clear beyond doubt that not only
the weak but also the strong had become the target of their tortures. Finding
out about their migration some of the disbelievers set out chasing them but the
ship had already departed for Abyssinia. The believers found peace there with
the result that other Muslims followed suit.
A few months after the migration,
the Muslims came to know that either the entire Quraish population had turned
Muslims or made peace with the believers, and Makkah was no longer a risky spot
for them. With this good news, a group of Muslims left for Makkah while others
waited to make sure about the truth behind the rumor. Those leaving for Makkah
found the news baseless when they arrived at a short distance from Makkah. Thus
some of them made a retreat while others entered Makkah under the protection of
some influential Makkans. Those who went back to Makkah came into contact with
the believers and left again for Abyssinia along with other Muslims. This is
known as the Second Migration to Abyssinia, which increased the number of the
Muslims there to nearly one hundred.
Quraish's
demand from the King of Abyssinia
When the disbelievers noticed that
the Makkans after being converted to Islam were leaving for Abyssinia and
living there in peace, they feared that their power organized outside of Makkah
could, one day, pose a great danger to the Makkans. They dispatched a
delegation of two respectable persons Amr bin Al-Âs (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and Abdullah bin Rabi'ah to Negus, the King of Abyssinia. The
Makkans had trade relations with Abyssinia for some time. The delegation was
sent with costly gifts for the king and his courtiers. After being permitted
into the court, they first presented their gifts and then requested the king to
hand over some of their slaves who had come to his country after joining a new
faith which was against the faith of their ancestors. The king promised to look
into their demands only after investigating the matter. The king then sent for
the Muslims to come to his court and inquired about their new faith. On behalf
of the Muslims, Ja'far bin Abu Tâlib (radhiyallahu 'anha) moved forward to
explain to Negus the truth about the new faith in a remarkable speech delivered
before the king and his courtiers.
The
Beautiful Speech of Ja'far bin Abu Tâlib (radhiyallahu 'anha)
"O King, we were people plunged
in ignorance. We worshipped idols, we ate dead animals, and we committed
abominations. We broke natural ties, we ill-treated our neighbors and our
strong devoured the weak. We lived like this until Allâh the Almighty raised
among us a Prophet of whose noble birth and lineage, truthfulness, honesty and
purity we all were aware. He invited us to acknowledge the Oneness of Allâh and
to worship Him. He enjoined us to speak the truth, to redeem our pledges, to be
kind and considerate to our relatives and neighbors. He forbade us every vice,
bloodshed, shamelessness, lies and deceit. He asked us not to encroach upon the
belongings of our orphans and not to vilify chaste women. He ordered us to
offer prayers. We acknowledged the Messenger (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم) and believed in him. Because of this our people were estranged
and they persecuted us."
"So when they tortured us and
tormented us under their tyranny, we fled to your country. We have come here, O
King, to your country seeking your protection and we do hope that we shall not
be dealt with unjustly."
Negus listened patiently to Ja'far
bin Abu Tâlib (radhiyallahu 'anha). Then he asked him if he had something
brought by his Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
from God. Thereupon Ja'far (radhiyallahu 'anha) recited the opening Verses of
Sûrat Maryam. Tears started rolling down from the eyes of Negus and his
courtiers. The recitation being over, Negus remarked, "This and the Torah
of Musa (A.S.) are radiations from the same Heavenly Light." Then the
envoys of the Quraish flung their last attempt and said, "O King, they are
opponents of Jesus too." By this they wanted the Christian king to grow
angry at the Muslim migrants. Directly came the reply from Ja'far bin Abu Tâlib
(radhiyallahu 'anha), "Not at all; the fact is rather: He is slave of
Allâh and His Messenger." Negus said: "This belief is correct to the
core and the Gospel also means the same."
Negus sent the envoys of the Quraish
back empty-handed and refused point-blank to give the Muslims up to them. Along
with this he returned their gifts thus rubbing salt in their wounds. This event
occurred during the sixth year of the Prophethood. With the ignoble defeat of
the Quraish's mission, their ill treatment of the Muslims simply was aggravated.
Hamzah
(radhiyallahu 'anha) accepts Islam
The Quraish were going mad with
enmity against the Muslims. Once Abu Jahl happened to pass by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) near the mount of
Safa. He insulted the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
and heaped all manners of indignities upon him but the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) did not answer him
back. Then he hit him with a stone, which caused bleeding. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) came back home
silently. Abu Jahl came back too and sat among his friends beside the Ka'bah.
Hamzah bin Abdul-Muttalib was the uncle of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). He loved the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) very much but was still a disbeliever. He
was in the practice of going to the wilderness every morning with his bow and
arrows and passing the whole day in hunting and would return only in the
evening and go home only after circumambulating the Ka'bah. That fateful day
when Hamzah was on his way back home from the chase, he came across the
slave-woman of Abdullah bin Jad'ân who told him about Abu Jahl's abusing and
hitting the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
with a stone and the latter's returning home in perfect silence.
Hamzah besides being the uncle, was
also the foster brother of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم). This relation of blood and milk sent his temper out of
control. He went straight to the Ka'bah, circumambulated it first and then
turned back to where Abu Jahl was sitting with his friends. Hamzah was
essentially a warrior, the bravest and the most courageous amongst the Quraish.
Going straight to Abu Jahl, Hamzah proceeded to strike a bow upon his head
causing him to bleed saying, "Would you dare to insult and abuse him if I
followed his religion and say what he says?" Abu Jahl's friends got
enraged and rose in his support but Abu Jahl pacified them all saying it was he
who had crossed the limits. If Hamzah had not taken revenge on me for his
nephew, he would have been counted among those bereft of a sense of honor. Abu
Jahl was worried that Hamzah might come to the fold of Islam in a fit of anger
and antagonism.
When Hamzah returned to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) with the news of his
taking revenge of him, he remarked: "O uncle, this is not pleasing to me,
I would really be pleased if you come into the fold of Islam." Having
heard this, Hamzah embraced Islam then and there. The conversion of Amir Hamzah
(radhiyallahu 'anha) to Islam invigorated the weak band of believers. This
event occurred during the sixth year of the Prophethood. The Quraish now had to
be cautious in dealing with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم) and his Companions.
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