Chapter 8: Hardship & Habshaالهجرة إلى الحبشة
Makkah & AbyssiniaEpisode 15 / 94
Failed attempts of the disbelievers
From the book · p. 11
The book’s text
When the disbelievers heard of the Muslims migrating to Ethiopia, they followed the Muslims. A’mr ibnul A’as and Abdullah bin Umayyah were sent with many gifts to the king of Ethiopia. Through the medium of the priests they presented the gifts to the king and said:
“These people who have come to your land, have rebelled against their people. They will cause corruption. You should dismiss them from the land and hand them over to us.”
The king replied:
“How can I hand them over to you without investigating this matter? This will cause me disgrace.”
Thereafter, the king called the Muslims and enquired about their reasons for migrating. Ja’far رضي الله عنه (may Allah be pleased with him) went forward and delivered a very inspiring speech. The summary of his message is as follows:
“Most honourable king! We were a misguided nation who worshipped idols carved from stone. We lived on (unlawful) earnings and carrion (dead animals). We would fight, kill, oppress and steal from one another. Corruption and evil became part of our lives. In order to reform us, Allah ﷻ (exalted is His majesty) sent us a messenger, whose nobility and lineage is known to all. His truthfulness and trustworthiness is famous among the Arabs. He called us to worship one God and saved us from worshipping idols. He commanded us to speak the truth, shun lying, deal with others respectfully, be kind to others, stay away from haraam (unlawful), not to harm others, not to use the wealth of orphans, be kind to widows, perform , perform and discharge our . Your majesty, we believed him and brought on him.”
He thereafter recited some (verses) of Maryam and explained the belief of the Muslims regarding Hadhrat Maryam (alayhas ) and I’sa عليه السلام (peace be upon him).
This truthful and inspiring talk affected the king so much that he accepted Islaam. He refused to handover the Muslims to the Quraish. The king’s name was Ashamah. He was known as Najashi and was previously a Christian.