Emigration to Abyssinia

ja'far ibn abu talib rose and said in answer, "o king! we were in a state of ignorance and immorality, worshipping idols, eating carrion, committing all sorts of iniquity. we honored no relative and assisted no neighbor. the strong among us exploited the weak. then god sent us a prophet, one of our own people, whose lineage, truthfulness, loyalty, and purity were well known to us. he called us to worship god alone and to repudiate all the stones and idols which we and our ancestors used to worship. he commanded us always to tell the truth, to remain true to trust and promise, to assist the relative, to be good neighbors, to abstain from blood and things forbidden, and to avoid fornication, perjury, and false witness. he commanded us not to rob the wealth of the orphan or falsely to accuse the married woman. he ordered us to worship god alone and never to associate any other being with him, to hold prayers, to fast, and to pay the zakat (the five pillars of islam were here enumerated and explained). we believed in him and what he brought to us from god and followed him in what he enjoined and forbade. our people, however, tried to sway us away from our religion and persecuted us and inflicted upon us great suffering that we might re-enter into the immoral practices of old. as they vanquished and berated us unjustly and made life intolerable for us in makkah, we chose you and your country and came thither to live under your protection in justice and peace." thereupon the negus asked, "will you show me some of the revelation which your prophet claims to have come to him from god?" ja'far answered, "yes!" and recited to the negus the surah of mary from its beginning until the following verses

"mary, therefore, pointed to the child as her only answer. her people asked, `how can we inquire of an infant in the cradle?' at this, jesus spoke, `i am the servant of god to whom he has given the book and whom he has blessed and commissioned with prophethood; whom he has enjoined with holding the prayer and giving the zakat as long as he lives. my mother is innocent and i am neither unjust nor evil. peace be upon me on the day i was born, on the day i shall die, and on the day i shall be resurrected." [qur'an, 19:29-33]

when the patriarchs heard this statement confirming as it did the message of the evangel, they were pleasantly surprised and said: "these words must have sprung from the same fountainhead from which the words of our master jesus christ have sprung." the negus then said, "what you have just recited and that which was revealed to moses must have both issued from the same source. go forth into my kingdom; i shall not extradite you at all." on the following day, `amr ibn al `as returned to the negus and pleaded, "there is another side to the muslims' new religion in which they judge jesus, son of mary, in totally different but condemnable terms." the negus sent after the muslims, brought them back into his presence and asked them to tell him more about jesus. the same ja'far ibn abu talib answered for them, "our judgment of jesus is exactly the same as that which was revealed to our prophet; namely, that jesus is the servant of god, his prophet, his spirit, his command given unto mary, the innocent virgin." the negus drew a line on the floor with his cane and said with great joy, "between your religion and ours there is really no more difference than this line." thus the negus was convinced, after hearing the two parties, that the muslims not only acknowledged jesus and christianity as true religion but worshipped the same god as well. the muslims found under his protection the peace and tranquility they sought, and lived in his country until they found cause to return while muhammad was still in makkah. apparently they had been misinformed that quraysh's antagonism to the muslims had subsided. when they discovered that the makkans were still persecuting muhammad and his followers, they returned to abyssinia, this time eighty strong besides women and children. the question remains, however, whether these two emigrations were merely for escape from injury or were, at least in the foresight of muhammad alone, devised for a political motive which the historian ought to investigate and clarify.

the historian may certainly ask why muhammad trusted that his companions and followers would go to a country whose religion was christianity, a scriptural religion, and whose prophet was jesus, whom islam acknowledged as prophet and in whose message it concurred, without fearing that they might be exposed to abjuring their faith even though in favor of one different from that of quraysh. how did he trust that his followers would remain faithful and loyal when abyssinia was a far more fertile and affluent country than that of quraysh? one of the muslims that emigrated to abyssinia did, in fact convert to christianity, thus establishing that the danger was real. it was natural for muhammad to have felt such fears, especially since muhammad, himself, was still weak and his old followers were still in great doubt as to his ability to protect them or to come to their rescue. assuming, therefore, muhammad's great intelligence and foresight, -his charity, kindness and compassion, it is most likely that such fears must have stirred within his soul. but he felt absolutely secure in this regard. islam was on that day, as it was to remain throughout the prophet's life, absolutely pure and unspoiled by internal doubts, divisions, and deviations. on the other hand, abyssinian christianity, like the christianity of najran, al hirah, and al sham, was mixed up with devious doctrines brought into the faith by the apotheosizers of mary, the apotheosizers of jesus, and the opponents of both. the muslims, drawing directly from the pure fountainhead of prophetic revelation, could not possibly stand in any danger of being swayed by any such confusion.