The migration to Abyssinia

Abdullah bin Amir bin Rabi'ah narrates the statement of his mother, Sayyidah Layla (may Allah be pleased with her): With regard to our accepting Islam, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was our harshest opponent. When we intended to go to the land of Abyssinia, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came (he was not a Muslim at that time). I was mounted on my camel, intending to set off on the journey. He asked: "O Umm Abdullah, where are you going?" I replied: "You people harm us because of our religion, so we are going out into Allah's earth so that we are not harmed for worshipping Allah Almighty." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "May Allah Almighty be with you." Then he went away. Later my husband, Amir bin Rabi'ah, came and I told him about the tenderness of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: "Do you expect that he will become a Muslim?" I replied: "Yes." He said: "By Allah! He will not become a Muslim until the donkey of (his father) al-Khattab becomes a Muslim."
Al-Tabarani recorded it. Ibn Ishaq has explicitly stated that he heard it directly, and this report is sahih (authentic).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Messenger of Allah sent us to the Negus; we were about eighty men. Among them were Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Urfutah (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him). These people came to the Negus. The Quraysh sent Amr bin al-As and Umarah bin al-Walid with gifts. When the two of them came before the Negus, they prostrated to him, then hurried to take places on his right and his left. Then the two of them said: "Some people from among our cousins have come and settled in your land. They have turned away from us and turned away from our religion." The Negus asked: "Where are they?" The two of them said: "They live in your land; send for them." The Negus sent for those people. Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said (to his companions): "Today I will be your spokesman." Then they went to the Negus. He greeted with salam but did not prostrate. The courtiers said to Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him): "Why did you not prostrate to the king?" He replied: "We prostrate only to Allah Almighty." The Negus asked: "What is the matter?" He said: "Allah Almighty has sent His Messenger to us, and he has commanded us not to prostrate to anyone other than Allah Almighty, and he has commanded us to pray and to give zakah." Amr bin al-As said: "These people hold a belief different from yours concerning Isa." The Negus said: "What do they say about Isa bin Maryam and his mother?" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "They say what Allah Almighty has said: he was the Word of Allah Almighty and His spirit, which Allah Almighty cast to the pure virgin Maryam, a woman whom no man had touched, nor did the birth of the child (come about through the act of any human being)." The narrator says: The Negus picked up a twig from the ground and said: "O priests and monks of Abyssinia! By Allah! They do not add to what we say about him even as much as this stick (or twig). Welcome to you, and welcome to the one from whom you have come. I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah, that he is the one whom we find mentioned in the Gospel, and that he is the one about whom Isa bin Maryam gave glad tidings. Stay wherever you wish. By Allah! Were it not for the affairs of my kingship, I would go to him, until I would carry his shoes and help him perform ablution." Then the Negus ordered that the gift of the other people be returned to them. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) returned early from Abyssinia, and he even had the honour of taking part in the Battle of Badr. He stated that when the news of the Negus's death reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he prayed for his forgiveness.
Al-Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains Hudayj bin Mu'awiyah, whom Abu Hatim declared thiqah (trustworthy), saying: "There is some weakness in some of his hadith." Yahya bin Ma'in and others declared him da'if (weak). The remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of Abu Umayyah bin al-Mughirah and the honoured wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), narrates: When we took up residence in the land of Abyssinia, the company of the Negus there was very good for us. He gave us security regarding our religion. We worshipped Allah Almighty alone; we were not harmed, and we did not have to hear anything that we disliked. When the Quraysh learned of this, they consulted one another and decided to send two strong men to the Negus concerning us, and to send the Negus gifts gathered from the choice goods of Makkah. Of what came to him from there, the Negus liked leather the most, so they gathered a great deal of leather for the Negus, and they took some gift or other for each one of his courtiers. They sent all these things with Abdullah bin Abi Rabi'ah al-Makhzumi and Amr bin al-As bin Wa'il al-Sahmi, made these two men in charge of their affair, and said to them: "You are to give each courtier his gift, and do this before speaking to the Negus about these people. After that, give the Negus his gifts, and then ask him to hand these people over to you, and do this before the Negus has any conversation with them (that is, the Muslims)." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The two men set out and came to the Negus. At that time we were living in the Negus's land in the best place, with the best of neighbours. The two of them gave each courtier his gift, and they did this before speaking to the Negus. They said to each courtier: "Some foolish young men from among us have come to the king's land. They have abandoned the religion of their people, and they have not entered your religion either. They have brought a new religion which neither we nor you know. The nobles of their people have sent us to the king concerning them, so that the king may send them back to their people. When we speak to the king about them, you too must advise the king to hand them over to us, and take care that the king does not get to speak with them, for their people know them better and know better what can be held against them." The courtiers said to the two of them: "Very well." Then they presented the Negus's gifts to the Negus, and the Negus accepted the gifts from them. Then the two of them spoke to the Negus and said to him: "O king, some foolish young men from among us have abandoned their religion and come to your land. They have separated from the religion of their people and have not entered your religion either. They have brought a new religion which neither we nor you know. The nobles of their people, a people that includes their fathers, their children and the members of their clans, have sent us to you concerning them, so that you may send them back to their people, for the people of their own nation know them better, they are better acquainted with what they object to in them, and they will themselves express their displeasure with them over it." (Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates:) For Abdullah bin Abi Rabi'ah and Amr bin al-As, nothing was more hateful than that the Negus should hear the words of these people (that is, the Muslims). A courtier who was around the Negus said: "O king, these men are right. Their people know better what fault is in them and on what account they can be objected to, so hand them over to them so that these two may take them back to their lands and their people." The Negus became angry and said: "No. By Allah! I will not hand them over to these two. Those who have come and settled in my neighbourhood, who have come to my land and chosen me over others, I will not let them go until I call them and ask them about what these two men have said regarding their affair. If they are as these two have described, I will hand them over to them and send them back to their people; and if they are otherwise, I will keep these two from them and treat well those who have come and settled in my neighbourhood." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Then the Negus sent a message to the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and summoned them. When his messenger came to them, they gathered and asked one another: "When you go to the king, what will you say to him?" They agreed: "By Allah! We will say just what our Prophet has taught us and what our Prophet has commanded us, whatever may happen." When they came to the king, the Negus had summoned his religious leaders, who had opened their scriptures and were around the Negus. The Negus asked them: "What is this religion because of which you have separated from your people, and have entered neither my religion nor the religion of any other group?" Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Sayyiduna Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) began to speak with the king. He said: "O king, we were a people of ignorance. We worshipped idols, we ate carrion, we committed indecencies, we violated the rights of kinship, we treated our neighbours badly, and the strong among us would devour the weak. We remained in this state until Allah Almighty sent to us a Messenger from among ourselves, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness and chastity we know. He invited us to Allah, that we should affirm His Oneness, worship Him, and abandon the stones and idols that we and our forefathers used to worship besides Allah Almighty. He commanded us to speak the truth, to fulfil trusts, to maintain the ties of kinship, to treat neighbours well, and to refrain from forbidden things and from shedding blood. He enjoined us to avoid indecencies, false testimony, consuming the wealth of orphans and slandering chaste women. He commanded us to worship Allah Almighty without associating anyone with Him, to establish prayer and to give zakah." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) enumerated various teachings of Islam and (then said:) "We affirmed this Messenger, believed in him and followed him in the teachings he brought. Now we worship Allah Almighty and do not associate anyone with Him. What He has made forbidden for us we regard as forbidden, and what He has made lawful for us we regard as lawful. Then our people came at us. They began to torment us and put us to trial because of our religion, so that they might take us back from the worship of Allah Almighty to the worship of idols, and so that we would regard as lawful the foul things we used to regard as lawful before. When they oppressed us, wronged us, were harsh with us and began to stand between us and our religion, we came out to your land. We chose you over others, we desired to be in your neighbourhood, and we hoped that we would not be wronged in your presence, O king!" Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: The Negus asked: "Do you know any of the verses that have been revealed from Allah Almighty?" Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "Yes." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: The Negus said to him: "Recite it." So Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) recited before him the opening verses of Surah Maryam: Kaf Ha Ya Ayn Sad. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: By Allah! The Negus began to weep until his beard became wet, and the religious leaders with him also began to weep until their scriptures became wet, when they heard what Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) recited before them. Then the Negus said: "By Allah! This and what Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) brought have come out of one and the same lamp-niche." (Then the Negus said to the two men:) "Go away, both of you. By Allah! I will never hand them over to you." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: When they left the Negus, Amr bin al-As said: "By Allah! Tomorrow I will go before the king again and raise against these people such an objection that the king will destroy them." Abdullah bin Abi Rabi'ah, who was the more cautious of the two regarding us, said to him: "Do not do this; we have ties of kinship with these people, even though their religion differs from ours." But Amr bin al-As said: "By Allah! I will tell the king that these people believe that Isa bin Maryam was also a servant." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Then the next day he went to the king and said: "O king, these people say a grave thing about Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam. Send for them and ask them what they say about Sayyiduna Isa." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The king sent for them and asked them about this. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Such a distress had never come upon us before. All the people gathered and discussed among themselves: "When the king asks you about this, what will you say about Sayyiduna Isa?" Then they agreed: "By Allah! We will say just what Allah Almighty has said and what our Prophet has brought, whatever may happen." When they came to the king, the king asked them: "What do you say about Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam?" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "We say about him what our Prophet has brought as teaching about him: that he was the servant of Allah, His Messenger, His spirit and His word, which He cast to the pure virgin Maryam." The narrator says: The Negus stretched his hand to the ground, picked up a twig from it and then said: "Isa bin Maryam is not more than what you have said, even by as much as this twig." When the king said this, the priests around him began to snort. The king said: "By Allah! Even if you show your anger, so be it. You may go; you will live in my land in safety. Whoever speaks ill of you will be fined; then whoever speaks ill of you will be fined; then whoever speaks ill of you will be fined. I would not like to be given a mountain of gold in exchange for having harmed a single one of you." In the language of Abyssinia, dabr means a mountain. (Then the king said to the two men:) "Take back your gifts; we have no need of them. By Allah! When Allah Almighty restored my kingship to me, He did not take a bribe from me, that I should take a bribe from anyone concerning Him; and He did not obey people regarding me, that I should obey people regarding Him." Then the two men left, rejected and disgraced, along with what they had brought, and we stayed in the Negus's land in a good place, in a comfortable neighbourhood. By Allah! While we were still in this state, a trouble befell the king, that is, a rebellion arose against his kingship. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: By Allah! We had never felt such severe distress as we felt on that occasion. Our worry was that if the enemy prevailed over the Negus, a ruler would come who would not recognise our right as the Negus recognised it. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Negus set out, and the river Nile lay between the two armies. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Who will go out, observe the battle and then come and tell us?" Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Zubayr bin al-Awwam said: "I will do it." Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: He was a young man of little age. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: Then they filled a waterskin with air for Sayyiduna Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) and tied it to his chest. Resting on it, he swam until he reached the bank of the Nile where the two armies were to meet. He went on and observed the battle there. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: We kept praying to Allah Almighty for the Negus, that he would prevail over his enemy and be granted stability in his rule. In the end Abyssinia came fully under his control, and we lived with him well until we came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was in Makkah.
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for the narrator named Ishaq, and he has explicitly stated that he heard it directly.

Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Hatib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I have seen (in a dream, as the place of migration) a land with date palms, so go out." The narrator says: Sayyiduna Hatib (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) set out by the sea route towards the Negus. The narrator says: I was born on that ship.
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Umayr bin Ishaq narrates: Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah! Permit me to go to a land where I may worship Allah without fearing anyone." The narrator says: He was given permission for this, and he went to the Negus. The narrator Umayr says: Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) told me: When I saw Ja'far and his companions living in safety in the land of Abyssinia, I felt envious of them. I said: "He and his companions will not get this chance in future." I came to the Negus and said (to the doorkeeper): "Ask permission for Amr bin al-As to enter." He gave me permission and I went in. I said: "In our land there is a cousin of this man who claims that people have only one God. By Allah! If you do not relieve us of this man and his companions, then neither I nor any of my companions will ever again cross this sea water to come to you." The Negus asked: "Where is this man?" I replied: "He will come with your messenger; he will not come with me." So the Negus sent his messenger with me. I found Ja'far sitting among his companions. The Negus had summoned him, and he came. When I came to the door, I said: "Ask permission for Amr bin al-As to enter." Ja'far called out loudly from behind me: "Ask permission for the party of Allah to enter." The Negus heard his voice and gave him permission to enter before me. He went in, and then I went in. The Negus was sitting on a couch. Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I went forward and sat in front of the Negus. I put Ja'far behind me, and I placed every two of his companions behind one of my companions. The Negus said: "Begin speaking." I said: "In your land there is a man whose cousin lives in our land, and he claims that people have only one God. If you do not kill him and his companions, then neither I nor any of my companions will ever again cross this sea water to come to you." Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "My cousin has spoken the truth, and I am upon his religion." Then he (the Negus) let out a cry and said: "Oh!", so much so that I thought: "What has happened to the son of the Abyssinian woman that he is not saying anything?" Then he asked: "Is this the same angel who came to Sayyiduna Musa?" Then he asked: "What do you people say about Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam?" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "I say that he was the spirit of Allah and His word." The Negus picked something up from the ground and said: "He has not erred concerning him even by as much as this (twig). By Allah! Were it not for the affairs of my rule, I would go along with you." Then the Negus said to me: "I do not care if neither you nor any of your companions ever comes to me again." (Then he said to Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him):) "You will live in my land in safety. Whoever strikes you, I will have him killed, and whoever speaks ill of you, I will impose a fine on him." Then he said to his doorkeeper: "Whenever this man asks your permission to enter, give him permission, except when I am with my wife." Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: From there we dispersed. It was my wish to meet Ja'far. One day he met me on the road. I looked behind him and saw no one; I looked behind me and saw no one. I drew near to him and said: "Do you know that I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Sayyiduna Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger?" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Allah Almighty has granted you guidance; remain steadfast." Then he left me and went away. I came to my companions, and it seemed as though they had been present with me at that time (that is, they had already learned of my accepting Islam). They took a sheet or a cloth, put it over me and smothered me in it. I would push my head out on one side at one time and on the other side at another, until, when I escaped from them and fled, there was not a single shred of clothing on my body. I came to an Abyssinian woman, took her wrap, covered my private parts with it and then came to Ja'far. He asked: "What has happened to you?" I said: "They have taken everything of mine and have not left even a shred on my body. Then I came to an Abyssinian woman, took her wrap and tied it over my private parts." Then he went, and I went with him, until we came to the king's door. Ja'far said to the doorkeeper: "Ask permission for me to enter." The doorkeeper said: "The king is with his wife." Then the king gave him permission. I said (or Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said): "Amr has followed me in my religion." He said: "Certainly not." I said: "Yes indeed." He said to a man: "Go with him; if he has done so, then say nothing, just note it down." Then he came and said: "Yes." Then I began to speak and he began to write, until he had written everything, even the cup. Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Had I wanted to take anything from their wealth, I could have done so.
Al-Tabarani and al-Bazzar recorded it. He recorded the opening part of the report, and at its end he added these words: "After that I was among those who came in the ships as Muslims." The narrator Umayr bin Ishaq was declared thiqah (trustworthy) by Ibn Hibban and others; some criticism has been made of him which does no harm. The remaining narrators of this report are the narrators of the Sahih. Abu Ya'la recorded part of this report and then stated: "Then the narrator mentioned the lengthy hadith."

Sayyiduna Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Quraysh sent Amr bin al-As and Umarah bin al-Walid to the Negus with gifts on behalf of Abu Sufyan. While we were staying with the Negus, these people said to the Negus: "Some of our lowly people have come to you; hand them over to us." The Negus said: "That will not happen until I have heard what they have to say." Then he sent for us and asked: "What is your position?" We said: "We were a people who worshipped idols. Then Allah Almighty sent us a Messenger; we believed in him and affirmed him." The Negus asked them (that is, Amr bin al-As and his companion): "Are these people your slaves?" They replied: "No!" The Negus asked: "Are you owed any debt by them?" They replied: "No." The Negus said: "Then leave these people alone!" We came out from the Negus, and Amr bin al-As said: "These people hold a view about Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) different from yours." The Negus said: "If they do not believe about Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) as we believe, I will not let them stay in my land for even an hour of the day." Then the Negus sent for us; this was a second summons, harder for us than the first. He asked: "What does your master say about Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him)?" We replied: "He says that he was the spirit of Allah and His word, which He cast to the pure virgin lady." The Negus sent a message and said: "Bring such-and-such priest and such-and-such monk." Some of them came to him. He asked: "What do you say about Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him)?" Those priests replied: "You know better about this; what do you say?" Then the Negus took something from the ground and said: "Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) was not more than what this man has stated even by as much as this; he is exactly so." Then he said to these people: "Does anyone harm you?" They replied: "Yes!" So the Negus ordered a crier to announce that whoever harmed any one of these (Muslims) would be fined four dirhams. The Negus said: "Is that sufficient?" We said: "No." So the Negus doubled the fine. (The narrator says:) When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) migrated to Madinah and gained the upper hand there, we said to the Negus: "Our master has come to Madinah and has gained the upper hand there. He has migrated to the people we told you about, so now we wish to depart from here; give us provisions for the journey." He said: "Very well." Then he arranged mounts for us, gave us provisions for the journey and made payments to us. Then he said: "Tell your master how I have treated you. This messenger of mine is with you. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah. Tell him to pray for my forgiveness." Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We set out from there until we came to Madinah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) met us, embraced me and said: "I do not know whether I am happier at the conquest of Khaybar or at the arrival of Ja'far." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sat down. The Negus's messenger stood up and said: "Here is Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him); ask him how our master treated them." I said: "Yes, he did this and that for us. He gave us mounts and provisions for the journey and helped us, and he bore witness that there is no god but Allah and that you (peace and blessings be upon him) are the Messenger of Allah. He also said: 'Tell him to pray for my forgiveness.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up, performed ablution and then supplicated three times: "O Allah! Forgive the Negus!" The Muslims said: "Amin." Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said to the messenger: "Now go and tell your master what you have seen from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."

Sayyiduna Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Negus asked him: "What is your religion?" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "A Messenger has been sent to us whose speech, truthfulness and faithfulness we know. He invited us to worship Allah Almighty alone and not to associate anyone with Him, and to dissociate ourselves from what our people worship and what others worship besides Allah Almighty. He commands us to do good and forbids us from evil. He commands us to pray, to fast, to give charity and to maintain the ties of kinship, and he invites us to what we recognise as good. He recites to us verses of the Qur'an that have come from Allah Almighty, and there is no speech like it. So we affirmed this Prophet and believed in him, and we came to know that what he has brought is the truth from Allah Almighty. At that point we separated from our people. They began to torment us and treated us with oppression. When the situation went beyond what we could bear and we were unable to protect ourselves from them, we came out to your land, and we chose you over others." The Negus said: "Go; you will live in my land in safety. Whoever speaks ill of you will be fined."
Al-Tabarani recorded it through two routes from Ibn Ishaq, and he is a mudallis.

Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to go with Sayyiduna Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) to the Negus. When the Quraysh learned of this, they sent Amr bin al-As and Umarah bin al-Walid. The two of them gathered gifts for the Negus. They came to the Negus and brought him the gifts, and the Negus accepted their gifts. The two of them prostrated before the Negus. Then Amr bin al-As said: "There are some people from our land who have abandoned our religion, and they are now living in your land." The Negus asked them: "Are they living in my land?" They replied: "Yes." Then the Negus sent for us. Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said to us: "None of you is to speak; I will address him." When we reached the Negus, he was sitting in an assembly, with Amr bin al-As on his right and Umarah on his left, and priests and monks were sitting there. Amr and Umarah had said to him: "These people did not prostrate to you." When we arrived, one of the priests and monks who were with him rushed towards us and said: "Prostrate to the king!" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We prostrate only to Allah Almighty." The Negus asked him: "Why is that?" He said: "Allah Almighty has sent a Messenger to us. He is the same Messenger about whom Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) gave the glad tidings that a Messenger would come after him whose name would be Ahmad. That Messenger commands us to do good and forbids us from evil." The Negus liked what he said. When Amr saw this, he said: "May Allah keep the king well! These people hold a belief contrary to yours about Sayyiduna Ibn Maryam (peace be upon him)." The Negus asked: "What does your master say about Sayyiduna Ibn Maryam (peace be upon him)?" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "He states about him this statement of Allah Almighty: that he is the spirit of Allah and His word, which He sent to the virgin Maryam, whom no human had approached, and in the birth of whose child no human act had any part." The Negus took hold of a twig from the ground, raised it and said: "O company of monks and priests! This man has not stated anything more than what you believe about Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) even by the weight of this twig. Welcome to you! And welcome to the one from whom you have come! I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah, and that he is the very one about whom Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) gave glad tidings. Were it not for the affairs of my rule, I would go to him and kiss his shoes. Stay in my land as long as you wish." Then the king ordered that we be given food and clothing, and said: "Return the gifts of these two men to them." Amr bin al-As was a short man, while Umarah was a handsome man. The two of them came from the Negus, and they drank wine. Amr bin al-As had his wife with him. When they had drunk the wine, Umarah said to Amr: "Tell your wife to kiss me." Amr said to him: "Have you no shame?" Umarah seized Amr and threw him into the sea. Amr kept imploring Umarah until Umarah brought him back onto the ship. Amr harboured a grudge over this. Then Amr said to the Negus: "When you went out, Umarah went to your wife in your absence." So the Negus summoned Umarah and inflicted torment on his private part, and he ran off like the wild beasts. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Abu Dawud recorded about a line's worth of this report in the chapter on funerals.
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

From Ibn Shihab are reported the names of those who migrated to Abyssinia and stayed there until they returned after the Battle of Badr. Among them was Sayyiduna Shurahbil bin Abdullah bin Hasanah (may Allah be pleased with him); she (that is, the woman named Hasanah) is the mother (of Shurahbil).
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla narrates: The Quraysh sent Amr bin al-As and Umarah bin al-Walid in the time of the Negus. Umarah was a handsome man. He threw Amr into the sea; he came out swimming. Then he threw him in again, and again he came out swimming. Amr kept in his heart what Umarah had done to him. When the two of them reached the Negus, they said to the Negus: "Ja'far and his companions level accusations against their forefathers and hold views different from their religion. They also hold views different from your religion, and they do not greet you as other people greet you." In this way they spoke against them. The Negus summoned Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) and his companions and asked: "What is the reason that you do not greet me (that is, do not prostrate to me) as other people do?" They replied: "We have a Lord, and it is not permissible for us to prostrate to anyone other than Him. If we were to prostrate to anyone, we would prostrate to our Prophet." The Negus asked: "Do you have any part of your Book with you?" They replied: "Yes!" Then Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) recited Surah Maryam. The Negus asked: "What do you people say about Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him)?" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "He is the spirit of Allah and His word, which He cast to Sayyidah Maryam (may Allah be pleased with her)." The Negus asked his companions: "What do you say?" They remained silent. The Negus took something from the ground between his two fingers and said: "By Allah! These people have not differed regarding the matter of Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) even by this much. I make you witnesses and say: I believe in what has been revealed to Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then he said: "If you wish, I will provide you with equipment and you may go to your Prophet; and if you wish, stay with me until the situation becomes settled." Amr was with Umarah. By a ruse he obtained some of the perfume of the Negus's wife, then said to the Negus: "Umarah has been going to your wife. The sign of this is that tomorrow, when he comes to you, he will have your wife's perfume on him." When they came the next day, he put the perfume on Umarah and said: "Come! Let us go to the king." When the two of them went and came before the king, the king smelled his wife's perfume on him, and the Negus recognised that perfume. The Negus gave an order concerning Umarah, and something was blown into his private part, until he went off restlessly into the desert and roamed about with the wild beasts. After that he came to his family. They took hold of him and gave him a drink of sawiq (barley gruel), because of which he died. When Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) and his companions had come to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), after that the news of the Negus's death reached him (peace and blessings be upon him).
Al-Tabarani recorded it as a mursal report. Its chain contains Muhammad bin Kathir al-Thaqafi, who is da'if (weak).

Urwah bin al-Zubayr states the names of those who went out to the land of Abyssinia the first time; this was before Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) and his companions went (and their names are as follows): Sayyiduna Zubayr bin al-Awwam (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Sahl bin Bayda' (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Amir bin Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Uthman al-Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him), with whom was his wife Sayyidah Ruqayyah (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him); Sayyiduna Mus'ab bin Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him), who belonged to Banu Abd al-Dar; Sayyiduna Abu Hudhayfah bin Utbah bin Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him), with whom was his wife Sayyidah Sahlah bint Suhayl bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with her), who gave birth to his son Muhammad bin Abi Hudhayfah in the land of Abyssinia; Sayyiduna Abu Sabrah bin Abi Ruhm (may Allah be pleased with him), with whom was Sayyidah Umm Kulthum bint Suhayl bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with her); and Sayyiduna Abu Salamah bin Abd al-Asad (may Allah be pleased with him), with whom was his wife Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her). Those who had gone to Abyssinia the first time, before Sayyiduna Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and his companions, came back. This was at the time when Allah Almighty revealed the verse in which it is mentioned: "By the star when it descends." The polytheists of the Quraysh said: "If this man were to mention our gods with good, we would let him and his companions be, for he does not mention anyone who holds a religion contrary to his, that is, the Jews or the Christians, with the evil and abuse with which he mentions our gods." When Allah Almighty revealed the surah in which "By the star" is mentioned, he recited in it this verse: "Have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza, and Manat, the third, the other?" At that point Satan cast into it a mention of the idols and said: "And they are the exalted cranes (gharaniq), and their intercession is indeed hoped for." That was from Satan's rhymed speech and his temptation. These two phrases settled in the heart of every polytheist, their tongues took readily to them, they rejoiced at them and said: "Muhammad has returned to his former religion and the religion of his people." When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached the end of the surah in which the star is mentioned, he prostrated, and everyone present with him, Muslim and polytheist, prostrated with him, except that al-Walid bin al-Mughirah, who was an old man, raised a handful of dust and prostrated on it. Both groups were amazed at their all prostrating together because of the prostration of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the Muslims, they were amazed that the polytheists had prostrated without faith or certainty; the Muslims had not heard what Satan had cast onto the tongues of the polytheists. As for the polytheists, they felt at ease with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions when they heard what Satan had cast into the recitation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Satan told them that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had recited it in the surah of prostration, so they prostrated to honour their gods. That phrase spread among the people and Satan made it widely known until it reached Abyssinia. When Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and the people of Makkah who were with them heard that the people had accepted Islam and had joined the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the news reached them of al-Walid bin al-Mughirah prostrating on dust upon his palm, they set out hurriedly to return. This weighed heavily on the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When evening came, Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) came to him and he complained to him about it. He told him to recite, so he recited it to him. When he reached those words, Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) disowned them and said: "I seek refuge with Allah from these two! My Lord did not reveal them, nor did your Lord command me with them." When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw this, it weighed heavily on him and he said: "I obeyed Satan and spoke his words, and he made himself a partner with me in the matter of Allah." So Allah Almighty abrogated what Satan had cast and revealed to him: "And We did not send before you any messenger or prophet except that when he wished, Satan cast something into his wish; then Allah abolishes what Satan casts, then Allah makes His verses firm, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. That He may make what Satan casts a trial for those in whose hearts is a disease and those whose hearts are hardened; and indeed the wrongdoers are in far-reaching opposition." When Allah Almighty cleared the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of Satan's fabricated words and his temptation, the polytheists returned to their misguidance and enmity. The Muslims who were living in the land of Abyssinia received this news when they had already come near Makkah. They were not able to go back because of the hardships, for they were suffering hunger and fear, but they also feared that if they entered Makkah they would be mistreated. So every one of them entered Makkah under someone's protection. Al-Walid bin al-Mughirah gave protection to Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him). When Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) saw that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions were facing trials, that his companions were being tormented with fire and with whips, while Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) himself was living in safety and this was not his situation, he reflected and preferred trial over safety. He said: "One who is under the covenant and protection of Allah Almighty, and under the protection of His Messenger, which He has chosen for His friends among the people of Islam, and whoever enters into it, is fearful and afflicted with hardship and distress." So he went to al-Walid bin al-Mughirah and said: "O cousin! You gave me protection, and you gave it in a fine manner, but I want you to take me to your clan and declare among them that you are no longer responsible for me!" Al-Walid said to him: "O my nephew! Perhaps someone has harmed you or spoken ill of you while you are under my protection, and you want to go to someone who can give you better protection than I can; but I will be sufficient for you in this situation." Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! It is nothing like that; no one has come after me." When Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) insisted that al-Walid should declare himself no longer responsible for him, he brought him to the Mosque. The Quraysh were present there in great numbers, and Labid bin Rabi'ah, the poet, was reciting poetry to them. Al-Walid took Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) by the hand, brought him to the Quraysh and said: "This man has prevailed over me and compelled me to withdraw my protection from him. I make you witnesses that I am no longer responsible for him." Then the two of them sat down with those people. Labid began reciting poetry to them and recited this hemistich: "Indeed, everything besides Allah is false." Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You have spoken the truth." Then Labid recited the second hemistich, saying: "And every blessing will inevitably pass away." Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You have spoken falsely." The people fell silent and did not understand what he meant by these words. Then he repeated it a second time, and he responded accordingly: when he recited that hemistich, he said the same thing he had said for the first and the second hemistich, saying once "You have spoken the truth" and once "You have spoken falsely." He affirmed his statement that everything will perish, and when he said that every blessing will also come to an end, he contradicted him at that point, since the blessings of the people of Paradise will never pass away. At that, a man from the Quraysh rose and struck Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) on the eye, so that the spot turned dark. Al-Walid bin al-Mughirah and his companions said: "You were under a protection that was guarding and well-guarded, and you have come out of that situation into this one, so that you could not escape what you have had to face." Then they laughed. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Rather, I am content with what I have faced, and my eye that has not yet been struck is in need, compared with the eye that has been struck. I have an example to follow in one who is dearer to me than you." At this al-Walid said to him: "If you wish, I will give you protection again." He said: "I have no interest in your protection."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in this way as a mursal report, and its chain also contains the narrator Ibn Lahi'ah.