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The Sealed Nectar

 The Sealed Nectar by Shaykh Safi ur-Rahman

13.The escape to Abyssinia

The Quraish made life so difficult for the Muslims in Makkah, that the Prophet (peace be upon him) told some of the believers to travel to Abyssinia (Ethiopia). He suggested:

“If you were to go to Abyssinia, you would find there a king who does not wrong anyone.”

At first, a total of 15 men and women travelled to Abyssinia. Slowly the number reached 83. This safe haven for the Muslims made the Makkans all the more angry. They sent two of their men to the King of Abyssinia. The men brought valuable gifts and told the King to hand over the Muslims. Negus, the King of Abyssinia, sent for the Muslims and asked them to explain themselves.

It was on this occasion that Jafar, the son of Abu Talib, gave his memorable speech. He said:

“O King we were a people of ignorance who worshipped idols, committed sins, treated neighbours badly, and the strong among us abused the weak. We were like that, until Allah sent a Messenger to us. We knew his noble birth, his honesty, trustworthiness and decency. He called us to proclaim the oneness of Allah and to worship Him alone. He commanded us to speak the truth, to be faithful, to keep good ties with our relatives, to be good to our neighbours and to refrain from crimes and bloodshed. He forbade us sinning, telling lies, taking property of orphans unjustly and insulting righteous women.”

“For this reason alone our people have attacked us, tortured us and forced us from our religion…When they tortured us and came between us and our religion, we left for your country, choosing you, because we hoped we would be treated fairly, while we were with you.”

The Negus listened to all of this carefully. Then he asked Ja’far to recite some of the Qur’an. Ja’far recited the beginning of Surah Maryam (The Chapter of Mary, the mother of Jesus).

After listening to the Qur’an, he was so touched by it that he wept until his beard was wet. He said: “It seems as if these words and those which were revealed to Jesus are the rays of the light which have radiated from the same source.”

Negus then turned to the two Quraish men and told them that he would never hand over the Muslims to them. He told the Muslims to live in his country in peace and treated the Muslims with honour. Negus later on embraced Islam.

 

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