Home > Sira > The emigration of those who emigrated to the land of Abyssinia
The emigration to Abyssinia: the Meccan emigrants, Ja’far’s plea before the Negus, the chapter of Mary, the story of the kingdom and the Islam of Umar.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
This is the chapter on the emigration of those among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah who emigrated from Mecca to the land of Abyssinia, fleeing with their religion from tribulation. The record of the wrongs of the polytheists against the weak among the believers has already come, and the severe beatings and extreme humiliations they heaped upon them, while Allah sheltered them through His Messenger, through his uncle Abu Talib, whose account has already been given in detail. All praise and grace belong to Allah.
Al-Waqidi reported that their departure to it was in Rajab, the fifth year of the mission, and that the first group to emigrate consisted of eleven men and four women, and that they reached the sea on foot and on mounts and hired a ship for half a dirham to Abyssinia. They were: Uthman ibn Affan and his wife Ruqayya, daughter of the Messenger of Allah; Abu Hudhayfa ibn Utba and his wife Sahla bint Suhayl; az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam; Mus’ab ibn Umayr; Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf; Abu Salama ibn Abd al-Asad and his wife Umm Salama bint Abi Umayya; Uthman ibn Maz’un; Amir ibn Rabi’a al-Anzi and his wife Layla bint Abi Hathma; Abu Sabra ibn Abi Ruhm, though it is also said Hatib ibn Amr; Suhayl ibn Bayda’; and Abdallah ibn Mas’ud. Ibn Jarir said: others said rather that they were eighty-two men, apart from their women and children, and that with Ammar ibn Yasir, if he was among them, there is doubt, they were eighty-three men.
Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw what his companions were suffering of trials, while he was protected in his own land by Allah and by his uncle Abu Talib, and he could not protect them from the trials they endured, he said to them: if you went out to the land of Abyssinia, for there is a king there with whom no one is wronged, and it is a land of truth, until Allah makes for you an outlet from what you are in. So the Muslims among the companions of the Messenger of Allah went out to the land of Abyssinia, fearing tribulation and fleeing to Allah with their religion. This was the first emigration that took place in Islam, and the first of the Muslims to go out was Uthman ibn Affan with his wife Ruqayya, daughter of the Messenger of Allah.
The Bayhaqi likewise reported, in the hadith of Ya’qub ibn Sufyan, from Abbas al-Anbari, from Bashshar ibn Musa, from al-Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Burjumi: Qatada narrated to us: the first to emigrate to Allah the Most High with his family was Uthman ibn Affan. I heard an-Nadr ibn Anas say: I heard Abu Hamza, that is Anas ibn Malik, say: Uthman ibn Affan departed with his wife Ruqayya, daughter of the Messenger of Allah, to the land of Abyssinia, and news of the two was slow in reaching the Messenger of Allah. Then a woman of Quraysh arrived and said: O Muhammad, I have seen your daughter-in-law with her husband. He said: in what state did you see them? She said: I saw him carrying his wife on an ailing donkey and leading it. The Messenger of Allah said: may Allah accompany them. Uthman is the first to emigrate with his family after Lot.
Ibn Ishaq said: Abu Hudhayfa ibn Utba went out with his wife Sahla bint Suhayl ibn Amr, and she bore him in Abyssinia Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa; and az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam; and Mus’ab ibn Umayr; and Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf; and Abu Salama ibn Abd al-Asad with his wife Umm Salama bint Abi Umayya ibn al-Mughira, and she bore him there Zaynab; and Uthman ibn Maz’un; and Amir ibn Rabi’a, ally of the family of al-Khattab, of the Banu Anz ibn Wa’il, with his wife Layla bint Abi Hathma; and Abu Sabra ibn Abi Ruhm al-Amiri with his wife Umm Kulthum bint Suhayl ibn Amr; and it is said Hatib ibn Amr ibn Abd Shams ibn Abd Wadd ibn Nasr ibn Malik ibn Hisl ibn Amir, who is said to have been the first to arrive there; and Suhayl ibn Bayda’. These were the first ten Muslims to go out to the land of Abyssinia, as far as has reached me. Ibn Hisham said: Uthman ibn Maz’un was their leader, according to what certain scholars mention.
Ibn Ishaq said: then Ja’far ibn Abi Talib went out with his wife Asma bint Umays, and she bore him there Abdallah ibn Ja’far. The Muslims followed one another until they had gathered in the land of Abyssinia. Musa ibn Uqba claimed that the first emigration to Abyssinia was when Abu Talib and those who had entered the ravine with him joined the Messenger of Allah, and this requires examination, and Allah knows best. He also claimed that Ja’far ibn Abi Talib went out only in the second emigration to it, after the return of some of those who had gone out the first time when news reached them that the polytheists had accepted Islam and prayed. When they arrived in Mecca, among them Uthman ibn Maz’un, they found untrue what they had been informed of concerning the Islam of the polytheists. Some returned, some remained in Mecca, and other Muslims went out to the land of Abyssinia, and this was the second emigration, as its explanation will come.
Musa ibn Uqba said: Ja’far ibn Abi Talib was among those who went out the second time, and what Ibn Ishaq mentioned of his departure in the first group is more apparent, as its explanation will come, and Allah knows best; rather he was in a second group of emigrants the first time, and he was the one who spoke and translated on their behalf before the Negus and others, as we shall relate in detail. Then Ibn Ishaq unrolled those who went out after Ja’far: Amr ibn Sa’id ibn al-As with his wife Fatima bint Safwan ibn Umayya ibn Muharith ibn Shiqq al-Kinani; his brother Khalid with his wife Amina bint Khalaf ibn As’ad al-Khuza’i, and she bore him there Sa’id, and the freedwoman whom az-Zubayr later married, and she bore Amr and Khalid; Abdallah ibn Jahsh ibn Ri’ab and his brother Ubaydallah with his wife Umm Habiba bint Abi Sufyan; Qays ibn Abdallah of the Banu Asad ibn Khuzayma with his wife Baraka bint Yasar, a freedwoman of Abu Sufyan; Mu’aqib ibn Abi Fatima, of the freedmen of the family of Sa’id ibn al-As; Ibn Hisham said he was of Daws; Abu Musa al-Ash’ari, Abdallah ibn Qays, ally of the family of Utba ibn Rabi’a,
of whom we shall speak further; Utba ibn Ghazwan; Yazid ibn Zam’a ibn al-Aswad; Amr ibn Umayya ibn al-Harith ibn Asad; Tulayb ibn Umayr ibn Wahb ibn Abi Kathir ibn Abd; Suwaybit ibn Sa’d ibn Harmala; Jahm ibn Qays al-Abdari with his wife Umm Harmala bint Abd al-Aswad ibn Khuzayma and their two children Amr ibn Jahm and Khuzayma ibn Jahm; Abu ar-Rum ibn Umayr ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf ibn Abd ad-Dar; Firas ibn an-Nadr ibn al-Harith ibn Kalada; Amir ibn Abi Waqqas, brother of Sa’d; al-Muttalib ibn Azhar ibn Abd Awf az-Zuhri with his wife Ramla bint Abi Awf ibn Subayra, who bore him there Abdallah; Abdallah ibn Mas’ud and his brother Utba; al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad; al-Harith ibn Khalid ibn Sakhra at-Taymi with his wife Rayta bint al-Harith ibn Juhayla, who bore him there Musa, Aisha, Zaynab and Fatima; Amr ibn Uthman ibn Amr ibn Ka’b ibn Sa’d ibn Taym ibn Murra; Shamm’as ibn Uthman ibn ash-Sharid al-Makhzumi, who was named Shamm’as for his beauty, his original name being Uthman ibn Uthman; Hubbar ibn Sufyan ibn Abd al-Asad al-Makhzumi and his brother Abdallah; Hisham ibn Abi Hudhayfa ibn al-Mughira; Salama ibn Hisham ibn al-Mughira; Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi’a ibn al-Mughira; Mu’tib ibn Awf ibn Amir,
called Ayyhama, an ally of the Banu Makhzum; Qudama and Abdallah, brothers of Uthman ibn Maz’un; as-Sa’ib ibn Uthman ibn Maz’un; Hatib ibn al-Harith ibn Ma’mar with his wife Fatima bint al-Mujallil and his two sons by her Muhammad and al-Harith; his brother Hattab with his wife Fukayha bint Yasar; Sufyan ibn Ma’mar ibn Habib with his wife Hassana and his two sons by her Jabir and Junada and his son by another, and it is Shurahbil ibn Abdallah, one of the two being Ghawth ibn Mudhahim ibn Tamim, the one called Shurahbil ibn Hassana; Uthman ibn Rabi’a ibn Uhbun ibn Wahb ibn Hudhayfa ibn Jumah; Khunays ibn Hudhayfa ibn Qays ibn Adi; Abdallah ibn al-Harith ibn Qays ibn Adi ibn Sa’d ibn Sahm; Hisham ibn al-As ibn Wa’il ibn Sa’id; Qays ibn Hudhayfa ibn Qays ibn Adi and his brother Abdallah; Abu Qays ibn al-Harith ibn Qays ibn Adi and his brothers al-Harith, Ma’mar, as-Sa’ib, Bishr and Sa’id, sons of al-Harith ibn Qays ibn Adi; and the brother of Bishr ibn al-Harith by the mother, Sa’id ibn Amr at-Tamimi; Umayr ibn Ri’ab ibn Hudhayfa ibn Mushammim ibn Sa’d ibn Sahm,
ally of the Banu Sahm, who is Mahmiya ibn Jaz’ az-Zubaydi; Ma’mar ibn Abdallah al-Adawi; Urwa ibn Abd al-Uzza; Adi ibn Nadla ibn Abd al-Uzza and his son an-Nu’man; Abdallah ibn Makhrama al-Amiri; Abdallah ibn Suhayl ibn Amr; Silit ibn Amr and his brother as-Sakran with his wife Sawda bint Zam’a; Malik ibn Zam’a with his wife Amra bint as-Sadi; Hatib ibn Amr al-Amiri and their ally Sa’d ibn Khawla, who was of Yemen; Abu Ubayda Amir ibn Abdallah ibn al-Jarrah al-Fihri; Suhayl ibn Bayda’, whose mother was Da’d bint Jahdam ibn Umayya ibn Zarib ibn al-Harith ibn Fihr, and he is Suhayl ibn Wahb ibn Rabi’a ibn Hilal ibn Uhayb ibn Dhabba ibn al-Harith; Amr ibn Abi Sarh ibn Rabi’a ibn Hilal ibn Malik ibn Dhabba ibn al-Harith; Iyad ibn Zuhayr ibn Abi Shaddad ibn Rabi’a ibn Hilal ibn Malik ibn Dhabba, though it is said rather Rabi’a ibn Hilal ibn Malik ibn Dhabba; Amr ibn al-Harith ibn Zuhayr ibn Abi Shaddad ibn Rabi’a; Uthman ibn Abd Ghanm ibn Zuhayr; Sa’d ibn Abd Qays ibn Laqit and his brother al-Harith, the Fihris.
Ibn Ishaq said: the total of those who reached the land of Abyssinia and emigrated there of the Muslims, apart from their children whom they had taken small or who were born there, was eighty-three men, if Ammar ibn Yasir was among them, and there is doubt about that. I say: the mention by Ibn Ishaq of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari among those who emigrated from Mecca to Abyssinia is very strange.
The Imam Ahmad said: Hassan ibn Musa reported to me: I heard Hudhaydja, brother of Zuhayr ibn Mu’awiya, from Abu Ishaq, from Abdallah ibn Utba, from Ibn Mas’ud: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent us to the Negus, and we were about eighty men, among us Abdallah ibn Mas’ud, Ja’far, Abdallah ibn Urfuta, Uthman ibn Maz’un and Abu Musa. They came to the Negus, and Quraysh sent Amr ibn al-As and Umara ibn al-Walid with a gift. When they entered upon the Negus, they prostrated themselves, then took their places at his right and left and said: a group of our kinsmen has settled in your land and gone far from us and from our religion. He said: and where are they? They said: in your land, so send for them. He sent for them, and Ja’far said: I shall be your speaker today, so follow me. He greeted him without prostrating, and they said to him: what is wrong with you, that you do not prostrate yourself before the king? He said: we bow only to Allah. He said: and what is that? He said: Allah has sent us a Messenger and commanded us not to prostrate ourselves before anyone except Allah, and commanded us the prayer and the zakat. Amr said: they contradict your opinion concerning Jesus son of Mary.
He said: and what do you say of Jesus son of Mary and his mother? They said: we say what Allah has said: he is the word of Allah and His spirit which He cast upon the pure virgin, whom no man has touched and who has not given birth. He took a piece of wood from the ground and said: O people of Abyssinia, priests and monks, by Allah they add to what we say of him nothing beyond the weight of this wood. Welcome to you, and to him from whose presence you come. I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah, and that he is the one we find mentioned in the Gospel, and that he is the emissary whom Jesus son of Mary announced. Settle wherever you wish, for by Allah, were it not for the dominion I hold, I would have come to him and carried his sandals. And he ordered that the gift of the two men be returned to them. Abdallah ibn Mas’ud hastened until he caught up with Badr, and he claims that the Prophet sought forgiveness for him when his death was announced to him. This is a good and solid chain and a fine report, and it contains what requires that Abu Musa was among those who emigrated from Mecca to Abyssinia, if his mention was not inserted by some transmitters, and Allah knows best.
Abu Ishaq as-Sabi’i was also reported through another chain. The hafiz Abu Nu’aym said in ad-Dala’il: Sulayman ibn Ahmad narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Ghalabi narrated to us: Abdallah ibn Raja narrated to us: Isra’il narrated to us; and Sulayman ibn Ahmad narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Zakariyya narrated to us: al-Hasan ibn Allawayh al-Qattan narrated to us: Abbad ibn Musa al-Khatli narrated to us: Isma’il ibn Ja’far narrated to us: Isra’il narrated to us; and Abu Ahmad narrated to us: Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Shirawayh narrated to us: Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, that is Ibn Rahawayh, narrated to us: Ubaydallah ibn Musa narrated to us: Isra’il reported to us from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Burda, from Abu Musa: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded us to set out with Ja’far ibn Abi Talib to the land of the Negus. This reached Quraysh and they sent Amr ibn al-As and Umara ibn al-Walid, and they prepared for the Negus a gift. They came to the Negus and brought him the gift, and he accepted it, and they prostrated themselves. Then Amr ibn al-As said: people of our country have abandoned our religion and they are in your land.
The Negus said: in my land? They said: yes. He sent for us, and Ja’far said to us: let none of you speak today; I am your speaker. We came to the Negus, who was seated in his assembly, Amr ibn al-As at his right and Umara at his left, and the priests seated in two rows. Amr and Umara had told him: they do not prostrate themselves before you. When we arrived, the priests and monks of his household rushed at us: prostrate yourselves before the king! Ja’far said: we bow only to Allah. The Negus said: and what is this? He said: Allah has sent among us a Messenger, the very Messenger whom Jesus son of Mary announced, saying that after me his name would be Ahmad, and he commanded us to worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, to establish the prayer, to pay the zakat, and he enjoined on us good and forbade us evil. Ja’far’s speech astonished the Negus. When Amr ibn al-As saw that, he said: may the king be set right: they contradict your opinion concerning Jesus son of Mary. The Negus said to Ja’far: what does your companion say of the son of Mary? He said: he says of him that he is the word of Allah,
His spirit and His word, which He drew from the pure virgin whom no man has approached and who has not given birth. The Negus picked up a piece of wood from the ground, raised it and said: O assembly of priests and monks, they add to what you say of the son of Mary nothing beyond the weight of this wood. Welcome to you, and to him from whose presence you come. I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah and that he is the one Jesus announced. Were it not for the dominion I hold, I would have come to him until I clasped his sandals. Remain in my land as you wish. He ordered us food and clothing and said: return to these two their gift. Amr ibn al-As was a small man, and Umara was a handsome man, and they had come by sea and had drunk wine, and with Amr was his wife. When they had drunk, Umara said to Amr: order your wife to kiss me. Amr said: have you no shame? Umara seized Amr and threw him into the sea, and Amr pleaded with Umara until the ship took him back in. Amr bore him a grudge. Amr said to the Negus: when you go out, Umara will attend to your family in your place. The Negus called Umara, and blew into his flute,
and he flew away with the wild beasts. The hafiz the Bayhaqi likewise reported it in ad-Dala’il through Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn Sallam as-Sawwaq, from Ubaydallah ibn Musa, and he mentioned by his chain the same up to his words: and he ordered us food and clothing. He said: it is an authentic chain, and its apparent meaning indicates that Abu Musa was in Mecca and set out with Ja’far ibn Abi Talib to the land of Abyssinia. What is correct is from Burayd ibn Abdallah ibn Abi Burda, from his grandfather Abu Burda, from Abu Musa: news of the Messenger of Allah’s departure reached them while they were in Yemen, and they set out as emigrants, forty-three men in a ship, and their ship landed them with the Negus in the land of Abyssinia. They found Ja’far ibn Abi Talib and his companions there, and Ja’far ordered them to stay, and they stayed with him until they reached the Messenger of Allah at the time of Khaybar. Abu Musa witnessed what took place between Ja’far and the Negus and reported it. It is possible the transmitter erred in his words ’the Messenger of Allah commanded us to set out’, and Allah knows best.
Al-Bukhari likewise reported it, in the chapter on the emigration to Abyssinia: Muhammad ibn al-Ala narrated to us: Abu Usama narrated to us: Burayd ibn Abdallah narrated to us from Abu Burda, from Abu Musa: the departure of the Prophet reached us while we were in Yemen, and we boarded a ship, and our ship landed us with the Negus in Abyssinia, and we found Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, and we stayed with him until we came back and met the Prophet when he had conquered Khaybar. The Prophet said: to you, O people of the ship, belong two emigrations. Muslim likewise reported it from Abu Kurayb and Abu Amir Abdallah ibn Barrad ibn Yunus ibn Abi Burda ibn Abi Musa, both from Abu Usama, likewise, and he reported it elsewhere at greater length, and Allah knows best.
As for the account of Ja’far with the Negus, the hafiz Ibn Asakir reported it in the notice of Ja’far ibn Abi Talib in his History, in his own version and in the version of Amr ibn al-As, through whose two hands the hadith occurred, and in the version of Ibn Mas’ud as has already come, and of Umm Salama as will come. As for Ja’far’s version, it is very rare: reported by Ibn Asakir from Abu l-Qasim as-Samarqandi, from Abu l-Husayn Ibn an-Naqur, from Abu Tahir al-Mukhliss, from Abu l-Qasim al-Baghawi: al-Ju’fi Abu Abd ar-Rahman Abdallah ibn Umar ibn Aban narrated to us: Asad ibn Amr al-Bajali narrated to us, from Mujalid ibn Sa’id, from ash-Sha’bi, from Abdallah ibn Ja’far, from his father: Quraysh sent Amr ibn al-As and Umara ibn al-Walid with a gift from Abu Sufyan to the Negus, and while we were with him they said to him: some people of our lowlands and our fools have come to you; send them back to us.
He said: no, until I hear their words. He sent for us and said: what do these people say? We said: these are people who used to worship idols, and Allah has sent us a Messenger, and we believed in him and confirmed him. The Negus said to them: are they slaves of yours? They said: no. He said: do you have debts against them? They said: no. He said: then leave them their way. We left his presence, and Amr ibn al-As said: these people say of Jesus something other than what you say. He said: if they do not say of Jesus what I say, I shall not leave them in my land an hour of the day. He sent for us, and the second summons was harder upon us than the first. He said: what does your companion say of Jesus son of Mary? We said: he says he is the spirit of Allah and His word which He cast upon a pure virgin. He sent and said: bring me such-and-such priest and such-and-such monk,
and people of them came. He said: what do you say of Jesus son of Mary? They said: you know more about him than we do; what do you say? The Negus, taking some earth, said: Jesus did not go beyond what these say by more than this. Then he said: does anyone harm you? They said: yes. He called a herald: whoever has harmed any of them, let him be fined four dirhams. Then he said: is this enough for you? We said: no, and he doubled it. When the Messenger of Allah emigrated to Medina and became manifest there, we said to the messenger: the Messenger of Allah has become manifest and emigrated to Medina and killed those of whom we told you, and we wish to go to him, so provide us. He said: yes. He loaded us and provided for us, then said: tell your companion what I have done for you, and here is my servant with you. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and that he is the Messenger of Allah,
and tell him to seek forgiveness for me. Ja’far said: we set out until we reached Medina, and the Messenger of Allah came out to meet me and embraced me, then said: I do not know, of the conquest of Khaybar or the arrival of Ja’far, which delighted me more, and the conquest of Khaybar took place at that time. Then he sat, and the Negus’ messenger said: this is Ja’far; ask him what our master did for him. He said: yes, he did such-and-such for us, loaded us and provided for us, and bore witness that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah, and he told me: say to him to seek forgiveness for me. The Messenger of Allah rose, performed ablution, then invoked three times: O Allah, forgive the Negus, and the Muslims said amen. Ja’far said: I said to the emissary: go and tell your master what you have seen of the Messenger of Allah. Then Ibn Asakir said: hasan, gharib.
As for the version of Umm Salama: Yunus ibn Bukayr said, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq: az-Zuhri narrated to me from Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham, from Umm Salama: when Mecca became too narrow for us, and the companions of the Messenger of Allah were wounded and tried, and they saw what befell them of trials and temptations to their religion, and the Messenger of Allah could not repel it from them, the Messenger of Allah being under the protection of his people and his uncle, so that nothing he condemned nor what befell his companions reached him, the Messenger of Allah said to them: there is in the land of Abyssinia a king with whom no one is wronged; join his land until Allah makes for you an outlet and a way out of what you are in. So we went out to it one by one until we had gathered there, and we alighted in the best of abodes with the best of neighbors, safe in our religion, and we had no injustice to fear there. When Quraysh saw that we had obtained abode and security, they agreed to send to the Negus about us, to expel us from his land and return us to them. They sent Amr ibn al-As and Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi’a, and they prepared gifts for him and for his notables, leaving none of their men without preparing a gift for him separately, and they said to them: give each notable his gift before speaking about them, then give him his gifts,
and if you can get him to return them to you before speaking about them, do so. They came to him and no notable of his notables remained to whom they had not given his gift and spoken about them, and they said to him: we have come to this king only concerning our foolish youths who have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered your religion, and their people have sent them so that the king may return them to them; and when we have spoken to him, indicate to him that he do so. They said: we shall do it. Then they gave the Negus his gifts, and the most beloved of what was given to him from Mecca was tanned hides. Musa ibn Uqba mentioned that they gave him a horse and a brocade cloak. When they had brought him his gifts they said to him: O king, foolish youths of ours have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered your religion, and have come with an innovated religion which we do not know, and they have taken refuge in your land, and their clans, their fathers, their uncles and their people have sent you concerning them, that you return them to them, for they are most worthy of looking after them. His notables said: they have spoken truly, O king; if you were to return them to them they would be most worthy of looking after them, for they will not enter your religion, and you would not protect them for that.
He became angry and said: no, by God, I shall not return them to them until I call them and speak to them and see their affair. People who have taken refuge in my land and chosen my protection over the protection of another: if they are as they say, I shall return them to them, and if they are otherwise I shall protect them and not intervene between them, and shall not harm them. Musa ibn Uqba mentioned that his princes indicated to him to return them to them, and he said: no, by Allah, until I hear their words and know what they are upon. When they entered upon him, they greeted him without prostrating before him, and he said: O company, is it not told me why you do not greet me as those who come to us from your people greet me? Tell me: what do you say of Jesus, and what is your religion? Are you Christians? They said: no. He said: are you then Jews? They said: no. He said: then upon the religion of your people? They said: no. He said: and what is your religion? They said: Islam. He said: and what is Islam? They said: we worship Allah and associate nothing with Him. He said: who brought you this? They said: a man from among us brought us this, whose countenance and lineage we know; Allah has sent him to us as He sent the messengers to those before us, and he commanded us truthfulness, honesty, fidelity and the fulfillment of trusts,
forbade us the worship of idols and commanded us to worship Allah alone without associate. We confirmed him and acknowledged the word of Allah and knew that what he brought was from Allah. When we did that, our people treated us as enemies and assailed the truthful prophet, declared him a liar and sought to kill him, and sought to bring us back to the worship of idols, and we came to you with our religion and our blood, away from our people. He said: by Allah, this is indeed from the niche from which came the command of Moses. Ja’far said: as for the greeting, the Messenger of Allah informed us that the greeting of the people of Paradise is the salam, and he commanded us this, and we greet you with what you greet one another with. As for Jesus son of Mary, he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger and His word which He cast upon Mary and a spirit from Him, and the son of the pure virgin. He took a piece of wood and said: by Allah, the son of Mary adds to what we say nothing beyond the weight of this piece of wood. The notables of Abyssinia said: by Allah, if the Abyssinians learn this they will depose you. He said: by Allah, I shall never say of Jesus anything other than this. May Allah never have made the people obedient to me when He restored my kingdom, that I should obey the people in the religion of Allah; Allah preserve me from that.
Yunus reported, from Ibn Ishaq: the Negus sent for them and gathered them, and nothing was more hateful to Amr ibn al-As and Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi’a than hearing their words. When the Negus’ messenger came to them, the people had gathered, and they said to one another: what shall we say? They said: and what shall we say? We say, by Allah, that we do not know what we are upon of the command of our religion, nor what our prophet brought, whatever may come of it in that regard. When they entered upon him, the one who spoke to him among them was Ja’far ibn Abi Talib. The Negus said to him: what is this religion upon which you are, having left the religion of your people and entered neither Judaism nor Christianity? Ja’far said to him: O king, we were a people upon idolatry, worshipping idols, eating carrion, doing evil to neighbors and making unlawful things lawful to one another, among them the shedding of blood and other things, making nothing lawful nor unlawful. So Allah sent us a prophet from among us, whose fidelity, truthfulness and honesty we know, and he called us to worship Allah alone without associate, to join the ties of kinship and protect neighbors, and to pray to Allah and fast for Him and worship none besides Him. Ziyad reported, from Ibn Ishaq: he called us to Allah,
to declare Him one and worship Him, and to abandon what we and our fathers worshipped besides Him of stones and idols; and he commanded us truthfulness of speech, fulfillment of the trust, kinship, good neighborliness, and abstention from unlawful things and from blood; and he forbade us indecencies, false testimony, consuming the property of the orphan and slandering the chaste woman; and he commanded us to worship Allah, associating nothing with Him, and commanded us the prayer, the zakat and the fast. We reckoned up his affair as Islam, confirmed him, believed in him and followed him in what he brought from Allah, and we worshipped Allah alone without associate, associating nothing with Him, forbidding what He forbade us and making lawful what He made lawful to us. Our people assailed us, tormented us and tempted us away from our religion, to bring us back to the worship of idols instead of the worship of Allah, and to make lawful for us the vileness we used to deem lawful. When they had overcome us, wronged us, straitened our life and set up a barrier between us and our religion, we went out to your land and chose you over all others, desiring your protection and hoping that we should not be wronged with you, O king. She said: the Negus said: do you have with you anything of what he brought?
He had called his bishops and commanded them, and they spread out the books around him. Ja’far said: yes. He said: come then, and recite to me of what he brought. He recited to him the beginning of Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad, the verse of Mary. The Negus wept, by Allah, until his beard was wet, and his bishops wept until their books were wet. Then he said: these words indeed come from the same niche from which Moses came. Go, well guided. By Allah, I shall never return them to you nor harm you. We left his presence, and the more wretched of the two men was Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi’a. Amr ibn al-As said: by Allah, I shall come to him tomorrow with that by which I shall tear up their greenery, informing him that they claim that their god, whom he worships, Jesus son of Mary, is a servant. Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi’a said: do not do it, for if they have contradicted us, kinship is due from him to them, and a right is owed them. He said: by Allah, I shall do it. The next day he entered upon him and said: O king, they say of Jesus an enormous word; send for them and question them. He sent, by Allah, for them, and never did a day like that befall us. Some of us said to others: what will you say of Jesus if he questions you about him? They said: we say, by Allah,
what Allah has said of him and what our prophet commanded us to say of him. They entered upon him and his notables with him, and he said: what do you say of Jesus son of Mary? Ja’far said: we say that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger and His spirit and His word which He cast upon Mary, the pure virgin. The Negus took his hand toward the ground and picked up a piece of wood between his two fingers and said: Jesus son of Mary did not go beyond what you say more than this little piece of wood. His notables began quarreling, and he said: and you quarrel. By Allah, go, you are safe in the land; whoever insults you is punished, whoever insults you is punished, whoever insults you is punished, three times. I would not like a mountain of gold and to have harmed a man among you. The dhabr in their tongue is gold. Ziyad reported, from Ibn Ishaq: I would not like a mountain of gold. Ibn Hisham said: it is said dabra, and it is the mountain in their tongue. Then the Negus said: by Allah, Allah did not take bribery from me when He restored my kingdom, that I should take bribery in it, and He did not make the people obedient to me that I should obey the people in it. Return to these two their gifts; I have no need of them, and let them leave my land. They went out rejected, their gift returned.
She said: we remained with the best of neighbors in the best of abodes, and it was not long before a man of Abyssinia marched against him contesting his kingdom. By Allah, we never knew a grief we had endured harder than that, for fear that this king might be victorious and that a king might come who did not recognize our rights as he recognized them. We turned to invoking Allah and asking Him for help for the Negus. He marched out to meet him on foot, and the companions of the Messenger of Allah said to one another: who is this man who goes out, and who will attend the battle to see for whom it will be? Az-Zubayr, who was the youngest of them in age, said: I. They inflated for him a waterskin and he set it against his chest, then went out swimming with it in the Nile until he came out on the other side at the place where the people were gathered, and he attended the battle. Allah routed that king and killed him, and the Negus triumphed over him. Az-Zubayr came to us, waving his cloak and saying: rejoice, Allah has given the Negus victory. I say: by Allah, we never knew that we had been gladdened by anything as we were gladdened by the Negus’ victory.
Then we remained with him until those of us who returned to Mecca went out, and those who remained remained. Az-Zuhri said: I related this hadith to Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, from Umm Salama, and Urwa said: do you know what his words mean, ’Allah did not take bribery from me when He restored my kingdom, that I should take bribery in it, and He did not make the people obedient to me that I should obey the people in it’? I said: no. It was Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham who informed me of it, from Umm Salama. Urwa said: Aisha informed me that her father was king of his people, and that he had a brother who had of his loins twelve men, and that the Negus’ father had no child besides the Negus. The Abyssinians deliberated and said: if we killed the Negus’ father and enthroned his brother, he has twelve men of his loins, and they will inherit the kingdom, and Abyssinia will remain upon them a long time, without divergence among them. They rushed and killed him and enthroned his brother, and the Negus entered upon his uncle until he had mastery over him, and none directed his affair but him, and he was intelligent and resolute among men. When Abyssinia saw the standing of the young man with his uncle,
they said: this boy has mastered the affair of his uncle, and we have no guarantee that he will not be made to reign over us, and that he knows we killed his father; if he does it, he will leave no noble among us without killing him. Speak to him about it, that he kill him or banish him from our land. They went to his uncle and said: we have seen the standing of this boy with you, and you know that we killed his father and set you in his place, and we have no guarantee that he will not reign over us and kill us; either you kill him or banish him from our land. He said: woe to you: you killed his father yesterday, and would I kill him today? Rather I banish him from your land. They went out with him, made him stand in the marketplace and sold him to one of the merchants for six hundred dirhams, or for seven hundred, and he cast him into a ship, and he departed with him. In the evening the autumn clouds rose, and his uncle went out to walk toward the rain beneath them, and the lightning struck him and killed him. They ran to his son, and there he was: simple of spirit; there is in none of them any good, and the affair of Abyssinia was in confusion. Some said to others:
you know, by Allah, that your king, who cannot direct your affair but him, is the one you sold yesterday morning; if you have need of the affairs of Abyssinia, catch him before he departs. They went out in search of him and caught him, brought him back, set his crown upon him, seated him on his throne and enthroned him. The merchant said: return to me my money, as you took from me my boy. They said: we shall not give it to you. He said: then, by Allah, I shall speak to him. They said: so what? He walked to him and spoke to him and said: O king, I bought a boy, and those who sold him paid me his price; then they rushed upon my boy and took him from my hand without returning my money. This was the first thing he was informed of concerning the soundness of his judgment and his justice, that he said: you shall surely return to him his money, or the hand of his boy shall be in his hand and he shall take him wherever he wills. They said: rather we give him his money, and they gave it to him. That is why he said: Allah did not take bribery from me that I should take bribery when He restored my kingdom, and He did not make the people obedient to me that I should obey the people in it.
Musa ibn Uqba said: the Negus’ father was king of Abyssinia, and he died, and the Negus was a young boy, and he bequeathed to his brother: here is the kingdom of your people until my son grows up, and when he has grown the kingdom will belong to him. His brother coveted the kingdom and sold the Negus to certain of the merchants, and his uncle died that very night, and the matter was completed, and Abyssinia returned the Negus until they set the crown upon his head. Thus he mentions it briefly, and the account of Ibn Ishaq is finer and fuller, and Allah knows best. And what figures in the account of Ibn Ishaq is only the report concerning Amr ibn al-As and Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi’a; what Musa ibn Uqba and al-Umawi and more than one other mentioned is that they were Amr ibn al-As and Umara ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, who is one of the seven whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed when they laughed the day the salted piece of the animal was placed upon his back while he prostrated near the Kaaba, as has already come in the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud and of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari.
The conclusion is that the two, when they left Mecca, Amr’s wife was with him, and Umara was a handsome young man, and they boarded the ship, and Umara coveted the wife of Amr ibn al-As. Amr threw himself into the sea to destroy him, and he swam until he came back to him, and Umara said: had I known you could swim, I would not have thrown you. Amr bore him a grudge. When their need was not granted concerning the emigrants on the part of the Negus, and Umara had managed to draw near to some of the Negus’ family, Amr slandered him, and the Negus ordered that he be bewitched until his reason departed, and he wandered the wilderness with the wild beasts. Al-Umawi mentioned a very long account, and that he lived until the time of the rule of Umar ibn al-Khattab, and that certain Companions tracked him down and captured him, and he said: send me along, send me along, or I shall die; and when they did not send him along, he died on the spot, and Allah knows best.
It has also been said that Quraysh sent to the Negus about the emigrants twice: the first with Amr ibn al-As and Umara, and the second with Amr and Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi’a. Abu Nu’aym affirmed it in ad-Dala’il, and Allah knows best. It has been said that the second delegation was after the battle of Badr, as az-Zuhri said, so that they might take their revenge on those who were there, and the Negus did not grant them, and he was satisfied with some of what they asked, and Allah knows best.
Ziyad reported, from Ibn Ishaq, that Abu Talib, when he saw this behavior of Quraysh, wrote to the Negus verses in which he urged him to justice and goodness toward those of his people who had settled with him:
What do I know, how in the distance fares Ja’far, and Amr, and the enemies of the enemy are the near ones:
And what have the acts of the Negus won over Ja’far and his companions, or has that misfortune smitten them:
Know, O dweller of the blessed place, that you are illustrious and generous, and no exile with you suffers:
Know that Allah has granted you largesse and ways of good, all of which stand firm with you.
Yunus reported, from Ibn Ishaq: Yazid ibn Ruman narrated to me, from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr: the one who spoke to the Negus was Uthman ibn Affan, while the famous account is that Ja’far was the interpreter. Ziyad al-Bakka’i reported, from Ibn Ishaq: Yazid ibn Ruman narrated to me, from Urwa, from Aisha: when the Negus died it was related that a light kept being seen over his grave. Abu Dawud reported it from Muhammad ibn Amr ar-Razi, from Salama ibn al-Fadl, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, likewise: when the Negus died we related that a light kept being seen over his grave. Ziyad reported, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq: Ja’far ibn Muhammad narrated to me, from his father: the Abyssinians gathered and said to the Negus: you have left our religion, and they rose against him. He sent for Ja’far and his companions and prepared ships for them and said: board them and remain as you are: if I am defeated, depart until you reach wherever you wish, and if I triumph, remain. Then he took a document and wrote in it: he bears witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger,
and he bears witness that Jesus is His servant and His Messenger and His spirit and His word which He cast upon Mary. Then he placed it in the fold of his right shoulder and went out to the Abyssinians, and they lined up before him. He said: O people of Abyssinia, am I not the most worthy of you among the people? They said: yes. He said: and how have you found my conduct toward you? They said: the best conduct. He said: and what ails you then? They said: you have left our religion and claim that Jesus is a servant. He said: and what do you say of Jesus? They said: we say he is the son of Allah. The Negus, laying his hand on his chest over the folds, said: and He bears witness that Jesus son of Mary did not go beyond this, meaning what he had written, and they were satisfied and dispersed. The news reached the Messenger of Allah, and when the Negus died he prayed over him and sought forgiveness for him. It is attested in the two Sahihs, in the hadith of Abu Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) announced the death of the Negus the very day he died, and went out with them to the prayer ground, lined them up and made four takbirs.
Al-Bukhari said, the death of the Negus: Abu ar-Rabi’ narrated to us: Ibn Uyayna narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, from Ata’, from Jabir: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said when the Negus died: ’today a pious man has died; rise then and pray over your brother Ashama’. It was reported likewise from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik and of Ibn Mas’ud and more than one other, and in certain versions he is named Ashama, and in one version Mashama, and he is Ashama ibn Abjar, and he was a pious servant, intelligent, discerning, just and knowledgeable; may Allah be pleased with him. Yunus reported, from Ibn Ishaq: the name of the Negus is Mashama, and in a copy which the Bayhaqi judged correct, Ashama, which in Arabic signifies the gift. The Negus is the name of the king, as you say Khusrau, and Heraclius. I say: likewise, and perhaps he meant by that Caesar, for it is a term for whoever reigns over Syria with the peninsula of the lands of the Romans; and Khusrau, a term for whoever reigns over the Persians; and Pharaoh, a term for whoever reigns over all of Egypt; and al-Muqawqis, for whoever reigns over Alexandria; and Tubba’, for whoever reigns over Yemen; and ash-Shahr and an-Najashi, for whoever reigns over Abyssinia; and Ptolemy, for whoever reigns over Greece, and it is said over India; and Khagan, for whoever reigns over the Turks. Certain scholars have said: he prayed over him only because he concealed his faith from his people,
and there was none with him the day of his death to pray over him, and that is why he prayed over him. They have said: if the deceased was prayed over in his land, the prayer is not legislated for him in another land, and that is why one did not pray over the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) anywhere but Medina, neither the people of Mecca nor others, and likewise Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and other Companions, and it has not been reported that anyone prayed over any of them outside the city where he had been prayed over, and Allah knows best. I say: the witnesses of Abu Hurayra to the prayer over the Negus are proof that he died only after the conquest of Khaybar, in the year in which the rest of the emigrants arrived in Abyssinia with Ja’far ibn Abi Talib on the day of the conquest of Khaybar. That is why it was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: by Allah, I know not which of the two delights me more, the conquest of Khaybar or the arrival of Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, and they brought with them gifts and presents from the Negus to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and their companions are the people of the ship, of Yemen, the companions of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari and his people of the Ash’aris. With Ja’far and the gifts of the Negus was the nephew of the Negus, Dhu Mikbar, or Dhu Mikhmar, whom he sent to serve the Prophet in compensation for his uncle, and he was pleased with both.
As-Suhayli said: the Negus died in Rajab of the ninth year of the Hijra, and that requires examination, and Allah knows best. The Bayhaqi said: the jurist Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim at-Tusi informed us: Abu l-Abbas Muhammad ibn Ya’qub informed us: Hilal ibn al-Ala ar-Raqqi narrated to us: my father Abu l-Ala ibn Hilal narrated to us: my father Hilal ibn Umar narrated to us, from his father, from Abu Ghalib, from Abu Umama: the delegation of the Negus came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he rose to serve them, and his companions said: we are enough for you, O Messenger of Allah. He said: they were generous to my companions, and I love to reward them. He said further: Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Yunus al-Isbahani informed us: Abu Sa’id ibn al-Arabi informed us: Hilal ibn al-Ala narrated to us: my father narrated to us: Talha ibn Zayd reported to us, from al-Awza’i, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abu Salama, from Abu Qatada: the delegation of the Negus came to the Messenger of Allah and he rose to serve them, and his companions said: we are enough for you, O Messenger of Allah. He said: they were generous to our companions,
and I love to reward them. Talha ibn Zayd alone reported it from al-Awza’i. The Bayhaqi said: Abu l-Husayn ibn Bishran narrated to us: Abu Amr ibn as-Sammak narrated to us: Hambal ibn Ishaq narrated to us: al-Humaydi reported to us: Sufyan narrated to us: Amr said: when Amr ibn al-As arrived from the land of Abyssinia he sat in his house without going out to them, and they said: what is his case, why does he not go out? Amr said: Ashama claims your companion is a prophet. Ibn Ishaq said: when Amr ibn al-As and Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi’a returned to Quraysh and did not obtain what they had asked concerning the companions of the Messenger of Allah, and the Negus refused to return them to what they abhorred, and Umar ibn al-Khattab accepted Islam, being a man of dread-inspiring reputation from whose aggression nothing behind him was safe, the companions of the Messenger of Allah found shelter through him and through Hamza, and began to oppose Quraysh. Abdallah ibn Mas’ud used to say: we could not pray beside the Kaaba until Umar accepted Islam, and when Umar accepted Islam he fought Quraysh until he prayed beside the Kaaba, and we prayed with him.
I say: it is attested in the Sahih of al-Bukhari, from Ibn Mas’ud, that he said: we did not cease to be honored since Umar ibn al-Khattab accepted Islam. Ziyad al-Bakka’i said: Mis’ar ibn Kidam narrated to me, from Sa’d ibn Ibrahim: Ibn Mas’ud said: the Islam of Umar was a conquest, his emigration a help and his rule a mercy; we were not praying beside the Kaaba until Umar accepted Islam, and when Umar accepted Islam he fought Quraysh until he was able to pray beside the Kaaba, and we prayed with him. Ibn Ishaq said: the Islam of Umar came after the departure of those companions of the Messenger of Allah who went out to Abyssinia. Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Abdallah ibn Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi’a narrated to me, from Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah, from Abdallah ibn Amir ibn Rabi’a, from his mother Umm Abdallah bint Abi Hathma: by Allah, we were preparing to go to the land of Abyssinia,
and Amir had gone out for one of our affairs, when Umar arrived and stood before me, and he was upon his idolatry, and we were suffering from him trials, wrongs and harshness. He said: so you are leaving, O Umm Abdallah? I said: yes, and by Allah we shall go out into the land of Allah, since you wound us and oppress us, until Allah makes for us an outlet. She said: he said: may Allah accompany you. And I saw in him a tenderness I had never seen, then he turned away, stricken by what I saw of our departure. She said: Amir came with his need and I said: O Abu Abdallah, if you had seen Umar just now, his tenderness and his sorrow over us. He said: do you hope for his Islam? She said: I said: yes. He said: the man you saw will not accept Islam until the donkey of al-Khattab accepts Islam. She said: he despaired of it because of what he saw of his roughness and harshness toward Islam. I say:
this contradicts the word of him who claimed he was the fortieth of the Muslims, for the emigrants to Abyssinia were above eighty besides that, unless one says he was the fortieth after the departure of the emigrants; and supporting this is what Ibn Ishaq mentioned here in the account of the Islam of Umar himself, and his account. He said: the Islam of Umar, as far as has reached me, was that his sister Fatima bint al-Khattab was with Sa’id ibn Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl; she had entered Islam and her husband Sa’id ibn Zayd had accepted Islam, and they concealed their Islam from Umar. Nu’aym ibn Abdallah an-Nahham, a man of the Banu Adi, had also entered Islam in secret for fear of his people, and Khabbab ibn al-Aratt used to come to Fatima bint al-Khattab and make them recite the Quran. Umar went out one day girding his sword, seeking the Messenger of Allah and a group of his companions,
and it was mentioned to him that they had gathered in a house at as-Safa, about forty between men and women, and with the Messenger of Allah his uncle Hamza and Abu Bakr ibn Abi Quhafa the truthful and Ali ibn Abi Talib, among men of the Muslims who had remained with the Messenger of Allah in Mecca and had not gone out with those who went out to the land of Abyssinia. Nu’aym ibn Abdallah met him and said: where are you going, O Umar? He said: I am going to Muhammad, this Sabian, who has divided the affair of Quraysh and mocked their wits, censured their religion and insulted their deities, and I shall kill him. Nu’aym said to him: by Allah, your soul has deceived you, O Umar. Do you think the sons of Abd Manaf will let you walk the earth if you have killed Muhammad? Will you not rather return to your family and direct their affair? He said: and which of mine? He said: your brother-in-law and the son of your uncle, Sa’id ibn Zayd, and your sister Fatima,
and by Allah they have entered Islam and followed Muhammad in his religion; go then to the two of them. Umar returned, heading to his sister and his brother-in-law, and with the two of them was Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, having with him a leaf containing Taha to make them recite. When they heard Umar’s approach, Khabbab hid in a hiding place they had, in a part of the house, and Fatima bint al-Khattab seized the leaf and put it under her thigh. Umar had heard, as he approached the door, the recitation of Khabbab over the two of them, and when he entered he said: what is this muttering I have heard? They said: you have heard nothing. He said: yes indeed, and by Allah it has been reported to me that you two have followed Muhammad in his religion. He seized his brother-in-law Sa’id ibn Zayd, and his sister Fatima bint al-Khattab rose toward him to keep him from her husband, and he struck her and wounded her. When he did that,
his sister and his brother-in-law said to him: yes, we have entered Islam and believed in Allah and His Messenger; do then what you will. When Umar saw the blood upon his sister he regretted what he had done and sat down and said to his sister: give me this leaf which I heard you reciting just now, that I may see what Muhammad has brought, for Umar could write. When he said that, his sister said to him: we fear for it from you. He said: fear not, and he swore by his deities that he would return it to her when he had read it. When he said that, she hoped for his Islam and said to him: O my brother, you are impure with your idolatry, and none touches it but the pure. Umar rose and washed, and she gave him the leaf, in which was Taha, and he read it, and when he had read its beginning he said: how fine and noble this discourse is. When Khabbab ibn al-Aratt heard that, he came out to him and said: by Allah, O Umar,
I hope Allah has honored you with the invocation of His prophet, for I heard him yesterday saying: O Allah, strengthen Islam with Abu l-Hakam ibn Hisham or with Umar ibn al-Khattab. On then, O Umar! He said then: point me to Muhammad, O Khabbab, that I may come to him and accept Islam. Khabbab said to him: he is in a house at as-Safa with a group of his companions. Umar took his sword and girded it, then headed for the Messenger of Allah and his companions and knocked at their door. When they heard his voice, one of the companions of the Messenger of Allah rose and looked through the chink of the door and saw him girding the sword, and returned in fear to the Messenger of Allah and said: O Messenger of Allah, here is Umar ibn al-Khattab girding the sword. Hamza said: open for him: if he has come intending good, we shall let him share, and if he has come intending evil, we shall kill him with his own sword. The Messenger of Allah said:
open for him. The man opened for him, and the Messenger of Allah rose toward him until he met him in the passage, seized him by the folds of his garment or the gathering of his clothes, pulled him strongly and said: what brings you, O son of al-Khattab? By Allah, I see not that you will desist until Allah sends down upon you a calamity. Umar said: O Messenger of Allah, I have come to you to believe in Allah and His Messenger and in what has come from Allah. The Messenger of Allah magnified with a takbir by which the people of the house knew that Umar had accepted Islam. The companions of the Messenger of Allah dispersed from their places, and they rejoiced within themselves at the Islam of Umar along with the Islam of Hamza, and they knew that the two would protect the Messenger of Allah and avenge them upon their enemies. Ibn Ishaq said: these are the accounts of the transmitters of Medina concerning the Islam of Umar when he accepted Islam.
Ibn Ishaq said: Abdallah ibn Abi Najih al-Makki narrated to me, from his companions Ata’ and Mujahid and those who related this, that the Islam of Umar, according to what they related, was as he said: I was far removed from Islam, and in the Jahiliyya I was a drinker of wine who loved it and drank it. We had a council where men of Quraysh gathered, at al-Hazwara. I went out one night wishing to join my companions and found none of them there, and I said: if I go to so-and-so the wine merchant, perhaps I shall find wine there and drink it. I went out and came to him and did not find him, and I said: if I go to the Kaaba and make its circuit, seven rounds or two. I came to the sanctuary and there was the Messenger of Allah, standing in prayer, praying toward Syria, having made the Kaaba between himself and Syria, his place of prayer between the black corner and the Yemenite corner. Seeing him I said: by Allah, if I listened to Muhammad this night until I hear what he says. I said: if I drew near to him to listen, I would frighten him. So I came by the side of the Hijr and entered beneath its curving, and I made to walk softly. The Messenger of Allah, standing in prayer, reciting the Quran,
until I stood in his qibla facing him, and between him and me only the curtain of the Kaaba. When I heard the Quran my heart softened, and I wept, and Islam entered into me, and I did not cease standing in my place until the Messenger of Allah had finished his prayer, then he turned away and went out to the abode of Ibn Abi Husayn, which was his abode in the adjoining house which was in the hands of Mu’awiya. Umar said: I followed him until, passing between the abode of al-Abbas and the abode of Ibn Azhar, I caught up with him. When he heard my noise he recognized me and thought I had not followed him except to harm him, and he seized me and said: what brings you, O son of al-Khattab, at this hour? I said: I have come to believe in Allah and His Messenger and in what has come from Allah. The Messenger of Allah praised Allah, then said: may Allah guide you then, O Umar. Then he wiped my chest and invoked for me steadfastness. Then I turned away and the Messenger of Allah entered his house. Ibn Ishaq said: and Allah knows best which of the two it was. I say: I have researched in detail the manner of the Islam of Umar and what came concerning it of hadiths and athars, in detail,
at the beginning of the sira which I devoted to him alone, and to Allah belong praise and grace. Ibn Ishaq said: Nafi’, freedman of Ibn Umar, narrated to me, from Ibn Umar: when Umar accepted Islam he said: who of Quraysh is most given to spreading news? It was said to him: Jamil ibn Ma’mar al-Jumahi. He came to him in the morning, and Abdallah said: I went out in the morning following his trail, watching what he would do, and I was a boy who retained all that I saw, until I joined him. He said to him: do you know, O Jamil, that I have entered Islam and entered the religion of Muhammad? And Jamil followed him without answering him until he rose dragging his garment, and Umar followed him, and I followed my father, until he stood at the door of the sanctuary crying at the top of his voice: O Quraysh, while they were in their councils around the Kaaba: behold, the son of al-Khattab has been seduced! Umar said from behind him: he has lied, but I have entered Islam and borne witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger. They rushed upon him, and he did not cease fighting them and being fought until the sun was upon their heads. He said:
he sat and they stood over him, and he kept saying: do what seems good to you; and I swear by Allah that had we been three hundred men we would have left it to you, or you would have left it to us. While they were upon that an old man of Quraysh came, wearing a dyed cloak and an embroidered shirt, until he stood before them and said: what ails you? They said: Umar has been seduced. He said: and then? A man has chosen for himself an affair; and what do you want? Do you think the Banu Adi will deliver their companion to you like this? Leave off this man. And by Allah they melted away like a garment one had doffed. I said to my father after he had emigrated to Medina: O my father, who is that man who held the people back from you in Mecca the day you accepted Islam while they fought you? He said: it is al-As ibn Wa’il as-Sahmi. This is a good and strong chain, and it indicates the lateness of the Islam of Umar, for Ibn Umar attended Uhud when he was fourteen years old, and Uhud was in the third year of the Hijra, and he was an adolescent the day his father accepted Islam, and his Islam was before the Hijra by about four years, that is about nine years after the mission, and Allah knows best.