The Hijrah of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) to Abyssinia

In the beginning days of Islam, when the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) were in Makkah Mukarramah, then the Quraish and the other disbelievers would trouble and punish them because they had embraced Islam. The Quraish wanted the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) to stop worshipping one Allah Ta‘ala alone, and to worship their idols instead.

When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) saw how much and how badly the Quraish were troubling and punishing the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), then he told them that to protect their imaan and Islam, they could leave Makkah Mukarramah and go to live in another land, where they would be safe.

The Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) asked Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), “Where should we go to?”, to which Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) advised them to go to the land of Abyssinia, which is known as Ethiopia today. The land of Abyssinia was far away, and the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) had to travel by ship to reach there. The king of Ethiopia, known as Najaashi, was not a Muslim at that time. He was a Christian, but he was a fair and just man. The people living in his land were safe and no one would trouble them.

In this way, many Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) managed to escape Makkah Mukarramah and go to Abyssinia where they lived in safety, worshipping Allah Ta‘ala in peace, without anyone troubling them. However, this made the Quraish angry. The Quraish did not like that the Muslims were living in Abyssinia in peace and wanted to bring them back to Makkah Mukarramah so that they could punish them even more and try to force them to stop being Muslims.

The Quraish sent two people to Abyssinia, to speak to Najaashi and ask him to take these Sahaabah out of his land and send them back to Makkah Mukarramah. The two people sent by the Quraish were Amr bin Aas, and Abdullah bin Abi Rabee’ah. At that time, these two men were not Muslims, but later on, Allah Ta‘ala blessed them to embrace Islam and become Sahaabah.

When these two men came to Abyssinia, they first went to all the ministers of Najaashi to give them presents and gifts. They hoped that by giving presents and gifts to the ministers, they would become their friends and support them when they spoke to Najaashi. They said to the ministers, “A few foolish people of our city have left their old religion of idol worship and have come to your city for safety. They did not leave their old religion to become Christians like you. Rather, they have accepted a new religion which neither us nor you are familiar with. Our leaders have sent us to your king to ask him to give these people to us to take them back to Makkah. Please speak to the King, on our behalf, and ask him to hand them over to us without speaking to them or having any discussion with them.”

The reason for the two men of the Quraish saying that the King must not speak to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) was that the two men knew that if the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) spoke to the King, they would speak the truth of Islam, and this would enter the King’s heart. The King would then support them and protect them.

The ministers were happy with their gifts and agreed to do what the two men asked, but when they spoke to the King, he did not agree to do what the two men wanted. He insisted that he had to first speak to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum). He said, “Without first investigating the situation and speaking to them, I cannot hand them over. When these people have left their homeland and came to my land for safety, then how can I possibly hand them over to their enemies without any investigation?” Saying this, he sent a message to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) calling them to his court.

In the meantime, the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) were worried. The Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) were Muslims, and the King was a Christian. One of the Sahaabah asked, “When we come before the King, what will we tell him?” The other Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) said, “We will say whatever our Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) has taught us and told us. No matter what happens, we will not say more than that.”

(To be Continued)