§Abyssinia
§King Negus (Najis)
The torture continued as the evil
leaders of Quraysh kept punishing the weak Muslims.
They were abused, mocked,
boycotted and flogged. Some were even laid onto hot burning coal, dragged on
the hot sand or on rocks.
But their Imaan (faith) was so
strong they didn’t give up their belief in Tawheed
The Prophet (sw) saw this and did
not want his followers to suffer anymore.
He knew there was a kind and fair
Christian king who lived in a country nearby.
His name was King Najis and he
was in charge of Abyssinia, which is called Ethiopia now.
The Prophet said:
‘If
you go to Abyssinia you will find a king there, a Christian, under whom under
no one suffers wrong.’
About 100 of the Muslims left
their homes and set off to go to Abyssinia. This is called emigration, and it
was the first time Muslims emigrated.
There were about 80 men and
twenty women that emigrated.
This took place in 615, the
Prophet’s daughter Ruqayyah and her husband Uthman Ibn Afan also went. As well as Abu Bakr
but he came back.
Umme Salamah was also part of this group, who
began the Prophet’s wife later on.
When they got their the Quraysh
had also sent someone to speak to King Najis and tell him Muhammad (sw) was a
crazy man and was ruining Makkah.
It was Jaffar ibn Abi Talib (Abu Talib’s son) that spoke to the King to
convince him they needed help and protection.
The King asked if he could read
some of the Qur’an Muhammad spoke about.
Jaffar showed him Surah Maryam, which
spoke about Isa (as) and how he had no father and was a humble pious man.
The King was amazed and had great
respect for the words of the Qura’n.
He said this message definitely
came from the same place as Jesus’s message.
He let the Muslims live in
Abyssinia in peace and promised them they wouldn’t be tortured.
At the same time the Prophet (sw)
was still teaching and helping the Muslims focus on their character and souls
Nourishing them with Imaan.
They kept meeting at Al-Arqaam’s house which was near the Kabbah to read and study Quran.
Ten years went by since the first
revelation, but the Makkan leaders were still the same and
horrible.
The non-Muslims and leaders of Quraysh boycotted the Muslims, which
means they did not let the Muslims come to their shops or do business with
them.
They had no where to get food,
clothes etc.
This was called the year of
Sorrow, the Prophet’s loving wife Khadija (rd) died in this year as she
got ill. His uncle Abu Talib also died. He died without becoming
Muslim.
