At Your Service O’ Prophet Mohammad - Part 17

At Your Service O' Prophet Mohammad (17)

Muslim Migration to Abyssinia

Five years after the Mission, many prominent Mecca figures converted to Islam, and the tribe of Quraish started to intensify torture against Muslims as the companions of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) began to offer prayers publicly. Unable to protect his followers, the Prophet advised them to move out of Mecca and emigrate to Ethiopia, Abyssinia, where a great king was ruling without injustice:
"A land of truthfulness until God leads us to a way out of our difficulty," he said.

The first migration to Abyssinia had been undertook during the seventh month of Hijri calendar Rajab, when ten men and four women headed by a companion named Othman bin Maz'oon snuck out of Mecca in a dark night. Another group of Muslim immigrants followed them later, led by Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, the cousin of the Messenger of Allah.

Why Jaafar bin Abi Talib emigrated?

Ja'far ibn Abi Talib didn't accompany Muslims to Abyssinia because of being subjected to torture or ill-treated by Quraish. He was the son of Abu Talib, a prominent figure of Banu Hashim, and Quraish was afraid of his father's position in Mecca. We believe that the Prophet (pbuh) had sent Ja'far with Muslim immigrants to be their commander, to organize their affairs, and to keep them from melting within the new community.

Another task commissioned to Ja'far was to introduce Islam and its objectives, principles and values before the Ethiopian community.

Direct causes of migration:

Goals of migration can be outlined within the following points:

First, Quraish continued to torture everyone who converted to Islam, especially those who did not have a clan to defend them. Finding a way out of such suffering was a must, and the migration to Abyssinia was the most appropriate solution in order to be able to practice their religion freely.

Second, we find that a number of immigrants had not been subjected to torture and abuse of Quraish, such as Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, and many of them had stayed in Abyssinia until after the third or fourth, and even the seventh year of the Prophet's migration to Medina. Therefore, the other motivation to emigrate to Abyssinia was to call to Islam and its principles and provisions, as well as to evangelize the value of humanity outside the Arabian Peninsula. This made it clear that Islam was not targeting a particular category of people in a specific place, but it was revealed to the whole world and to all peoples.

Moreover, historians narrated that Ja'far returned from Abyssinia leading a large number of Christians who decided to declare Islam in front of the Messenger of Allah. Some texts also revealed that Negus, king of Abyssinia, accepted Islam and sent a message to the Prophet (pbuh) announcing his conversion to the new religion and his willingness to follow him.

Apart from all those evidences which confirm that one of the objectives of the Muslims migration was the call to Islam outside Mecca, the presence of a large number of Muslim immigrants out of the Arabian Peninsula, and in Abyssinia in particular, who were freely engaged in worship and rituals, was a propaganda of Islam and had a great impact on the Arabs in Peninsula and other areas who were used to visit Abyssinia for trade and tourism.

Another goal of Muslims migration was also to deliver a blow to Quraish to help it realize that Islam is beyond its perceptions and capabilities, and that Muslims are able to cross the nation's borders and abandon all their possessions and assets in order to save their Islam and their faith.

Edited and translated by E. al-Rihani