In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
A summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
The Quraysh pursue the emigrants to Abyssinia.
When the Quraysh saw that the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were safe in the land of Abyssinia,
and that they had found there a home, stability, and good protection from the Negus,
they sent two men to the Negus.
These were 'Amr ibn al-'As and 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah.
[They were sent] so that the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, might be surrendered to them.
Imam Ahmad recorded in his Musnad, with a sound chain of narration,
from the Mother of the Believers, Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said:
"When we arrived in the land of Abyssinia, we lived under the best of neighbors, the Negus.
We felt secure in our religion, we worshipped Allah without being harmed, and we heard nothing that we disliked."
When this reached the Quraysh, they resolved to send two strong men to the Negus regarding us,
and to present the Negus with gifts from the finest goods of Makkah.
Among the most prized items they brought him were hides.
So they collected many hides for him.
They did not leave a single one of his patriarchs without giving him a gift.
Then they sent these with 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi
and 'Amr ibn al-'As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi.
They gave them their instructions, saying:
"Give every patriarch his gift before you speak to the Negus about them."
"Then present the Negus with his gifts."
"Then ask him to surrender them to you before he speaks to them."
She, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
So they departed and arrived at the Negus.
We were with him in the best of homes and under the best of neighbors.
There was not a single patriarch of his
to whom they did not give his gift before speaking to the Negus.
Then they said to each of the patriarchs:
"Some foolish youths from among us have fled to the King’s land."
"They have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered into your religion."
"They have brought a novel religion that neither we nor you recognize."
"We have been sent to the King regarding them by the nobles of their people to return them to them."
"So when we speak to the King about them,"
"advise him to surrender them to us and not to speak to them,"
"for their people are more observant of them,"
"and more knowledgeable about what they have criticized them for."
They said to them, "Yes."
Then they presented their gifts to the Negus,
and he accepted them from them.
Then they spoke to him, saying:
"O King,"
"some foolish youths from among us have fled to your land."
"They have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered into your religion."
"They have brought a novel religion that neither we nor you recognize."
"We have been sent to you regarding them by the nobles of their people—their fathers, uncles, and clans—"
"so that you may return them to them."
"For they are more observant of them,"
"and more knowledgeable about what they have criticized them for and rebuked them for."
She, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
There was nothing more hateful to 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah
and 'Amr ibn al-'As than that the Negus should hear their [the Muslims'] words.
His patriarchs around him said:
"They speak the truth, O King."
"Their people are more observant of them,"
"and more knowledgeable about what they have criticized them for."
"So surrender them to them,"
"that they may return them to their land and their people."
The Negus became angry and said:
"By Allah, no."
"I will not surrender them to them."
"I will not betray a people who have sought my protection and settled in my land,"
"choosing me over others."
"I will summon them and ask them what these two say about their affair."
"If they are as they say,"
"I will surrender them to them and return them to their people."
"But if it is otherwise,"
"I will protect them from them,"
"and I will treat them as good neighbors as long as they remain with me."
She, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
Then he sent for the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and summoned them.
When his messenger came to them,
they gathered together.
Then they said to one another:
"What will you say to the man when you come to him?"
They said:
"We will say, by Allah, what we know and what our Prophet, peace be upon him, has commanded us,"
"whatever the outcome may be."
"Whatever happens, happens."
When they came to him,
the Negus had already summoned his bishops,
and they had spread their scriptures around him.
He asked them, saying:
"What is this religion for which you have abandoned your people,"
"and have not entered into my religion or the religion of any of these nations?"
She, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
The one who spoke to him was Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him.
He said to him:
"O King,"
"we were a people of ignorance (Jahiliyyah),"
"worshipping idols, eating dead meat,"
"committing indecencies, severing ties of kinship, and mistreating our neighbors."
"The strong among us would devour the weak."
"We were in that state,"
"until Allah sent to us a Messenger from among ourselves,"
"whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity we know."
"He called us to Allah, to affirm His Oneness and worship Him,"
"and to cast aside the stones and idols that we and our fathers used to worship besides Him."
"He commanded us to speak the truth, to fulfill trusts,"
"to maintain ties of kinship, and to be good neighbors."
"He commanded us to refrain from forbidden things and bloodshed."
"He forbade us from indecencies, speaking falsehoods,"
"consuming the wealth of orphans,"
"and slandering chaste women."
"He commanded us to worship Allah alone, associating nothing with Him."
"He commanded us to pray, to give zakat, and to fast."
He enumerated for him the matters of Islam.
"So we believed in him and trusted him,"
"and we followed him in what he brought."
"We worshipped Allah alone,"
"associating nothing with Him."
"We declared forbidden what he forbade for us,"
"and we declared lawful what he permitted for us."
"Then our people turned against us,"
"persecuting us and trying to force us away from our religion,"
"to return us to the worship of idols from the worship of Allah,"
"and to make us consider lawful the evil things we used to consider lawful."
"When they oppressed us, treated us unjustly,"
"and made life difficult for us,"
"and stood between us and our religion,"
"we went out to your land,"
"choosing you over all others."
"We desired your protection,"
"and we hoped that we would not be treated unjustly in your presence, O King."
She said:
The Negus said to him:
"Do you have with you anything of what he brought from Allah?"
Ja'far, may Allah be pleased with him, said to him:
"Yes."
The Negus said to him:
"Then recite it to me."
So he recited to him a portion of
Kaf-Ha-Ya-'Ayn-Sad.
By Allah, the Negus wept
until his beard was soaked.
And his bishops wept until they soaked their scriptures,
when they heard what he recited to them.
Then the Negus said:
"Indeed, this and what Musa (Moses) brought"
"emerge from the same source."
"Go,"
"for by Allah, I will never surrender them to you."
"Never."
Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
When they left his presence,
'Amr ibn al-'As said:
"By Allah, I will tell him tomorrow about their fault regarding their view of 'Isa (Jesus)."
"Then I will destroy them completely."
'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah said to him,
and he was the more pious of the two regarding us:
"Do not do that."
"For they have ties of kinship,"
"even if they have opposed us."
He said:
"By Allah, I will tell him that they claim 'Isa ibn Maryam is a servant."
Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
Then the next day he went to him
and said to him:
"O King,"
"they say a grave thing about 'Isa ibn Maryam."
"Send for them and ask them what they say about him."
So he sent for them to ask them about him.
Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
Never had we been in such a difficult situation.
The people gathered,
and they said to one another:
"What will you say about 'Isa when he asks you about him?"
They said:
"We will say, by Allah, what Allah has said,"
"and what our Prophet, peace be upon him, has brought,"
"whatever the outcome may be."
When they entered upon him, he said to them:
"What do you say about 'Isa ibn Maryam?"
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said to him:
"We say about him what our Prophet, peace be upon him, brought:"
"He is the servant of Allah and His Messenger,"
"His spirit and His word, which He cast into Maryam, the chaste virgin."
She said:
The Negus struck his hand against the ground,
picked up a twig, and said:
"'Isa ibn Maryam does not exceed what you have said by even this twig."
His patriarchs began to murmur around him when he said what he said.
He said, "Even if you murmur, by Allah!"
"Go, for you are safe in my land."
"And 'suyum' means the safe ones."
"Whoever insults you will be fined,"
"whoever insults you will be fined,"
"whoever insults you will be fined."
"I would not like to have a mountain of gold"
"and have harmed one of you."
"And 'dabar' in the Abyssinian language means a mountain."
"Return their gifts to them,"
"for we have no need of them."
"For by Allah, Allah did not take a bribe from me when He restored my kingdom to me,"
"so I will not take a bribe regarding them."
"And the people did not obey me regarding Him, so I will not obey them regarding Him."
She said:
They both departed from his presence in disgrace.
Everything they had brought with them was rejected.
We remained with him in the best of homes and with the best of neighbors.
The stay of the Companions in Abyssinia.
Ja'far Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) remained.
Along with the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who were with him in Abyssinia.
Until the seventh year of the Hijrah.
This was when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) conquered Khaybar.
As will be discussed when we speak about the expedition of Khaybar.
A Concise Summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
Authored by Shaykh Musa Balrashid al-'Azimi.
And presented by the Mawaddah Association in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
May Allah send blessings upon you as long as the call to prayer is raised.
And as long as lips move in remembrance.