— Walid ibn Mughira, the chief of the Banu Makhzum clan, also confronts Prophet. The Prophet recites the Qur’an to him as well, & he has same reaction as Utbah

1. Walid also claims, “Oh, this is just fancy poetry Muhammad has come up with.”

2. The ayah 74:11 is about both Utbah bin Rabi’ah & Walid bin Mughira: “Leave me to deal with that liar. We have given him all his blessings and he slanders, and I will deal with him severely.”

— When the Quraysh’s talk with the Prophet failed (about him ceasing his preaching), they settled on torturing the Muslims

• When the violence & aggression became full-scale against the Muslims in the 5th year of Prophethood, the Prophet gathered the weak & oppressed Muslims together & told them, “It’s time for you all to go outside Makkah to live safely & in peace.”

— The Prophet was an empathetic leader

• By this point in time, there were over a 100 Believers, so the Muslims were growing in number, which gives them strength, community, & solidarity among them

• In spite of that, the Prophet put the well-being & security of the Muslims first. Their safety was more important to the Prophet than having large numbers & large community of Muslims

— The Prophet also understood that as a leader, it was his job to be well-informed, so that he would know what options were available to him

• He found out that there was an-Najashi, the Christian King of Abyssinia (Habesha), was well-known for his religious tolerance. There were many minority religious communities in an-Najashi’s kingdom – Jews, fire-worshippers, & idol worshippers

— In the month of Rajab, in the 5th year of Prophethood, the Prophet gathers some of his Believers together & proposed that those who need to migrate should explore the opportunity to leave for Abyssinia

• The first group of people who migrated to Abyssinia comprised of 15-16 people. There were 4 women, who were wives of 4 of the men in that group. The rest were single men

• Uthman ibn Affan & his wife, Ruqayyah bint Muhammad (the Prophet’s 2nd daughter)

• Abu Hudahayfa bin Utbah & his wife Sahla bint Suhail• Zubayr ibn al-Awam• Mus’ab ibn Umair• Abdur Rahman ibn Awf

• Abu Salama & his wife Ummu Salama, who later becomes the wife of the Prophet

• Uthman ibn Madh’oon• Amir ibn Rabi’a & his wife Layla bint Abu Hadhma• Abu Sabra• Disputed: Hatim ibn ‘Amr or Abdullah ibn Mas’ood (more

authentic narrations say that Abdullah ibn Mas’ood went with the 2nd wave of migrants to Abyssinia)

• The group left at night• There wasn’t enough transportation for all of them, so some

would take turns riding the animals. Between 15-16 people there were 7-8 animals for rides

• When morning came & people realized that they were gone, the Quraysh put together a search party to look for them.

• The Quraysh wanted to drag the refugees back to Makkah & keep them there under their torture

— The Muslim migrants reached a port called Suhaiban

• They had very limited funds (half a dinar – gold coin) & limited food rations

• They spoke to a man at the port who had a small boat. They were able to rent a boat & crew to sail them to Eastern Africa

• By the time the search party from Quraysh reached the port, the Muslims had already departed

— The Prophet was curious as to what happened to the Muslim migrants

• He hears of someone coming from Abyssinia. The man was probably a trader or businessman from Abyssinia. The Prophet searched out that man & asked him, “Have you heard of some people leaving Makkah & going towards Habesha?”

• The man replied, “Yes, I heard about some people.”• The Prophet asked, “How are they doing?”• The man said, “As far as I know, they’ve reached Habesha

safely.”• The Prophet was relieved (he’s speaking as a father here). He asked,

“Were you able to see these people? Speak with them?”• The man said, “Yes, I spoke to them.”• The Prophet said, “Have you seen a couple, they are like the leaders

of the group?” He was speaking of Uthman & Ruqayyah (the Prophet’s daughter)

• The man from Abyssinia confirms. He said, “The last I saw them, the husband had put his wife on top of a mule, and the husband was leading the mule. It was a very slow and weak animal.”

• The Prophet was relieved at this news. “May Allah be with them.”

— The Prophet then said, “Uthman has revived a great tradition of the Prophets of the Past. Uthman is the first one to leave his home with his family for the sake of his Imaan since Lut (alayhi as-salaam).”

• This dispels the notion that these Muslims who chose to leave Makkah are weaker than the Muslims who stayed behind. The Prophet’s compliment to Uthman lets us know that the Muslim migrants were just as noble as the ones who stayed behind in Makkah

• When some of the Khawaarij seized Medina during the khilafa of Uthman (3rd khalifah) & assassinated Uthman, they were making accusations against Uthman that he was a coward & ran away from Makkah when he migrated to Abyssinia. They were trying to discredit Uthman & make him out to be a coward, but the Prophet spoke of the migrants’ virtue & made dua for these migrants to Abyssinia

— The Prophet told those Muslims to lay low when they reach Habesha & keep quiet

• They lived slightly outside of a major city in Habesha. This was so that the men could go work & buy at market in the major city, but lived outside of that city so that the migrants won’t be the point of curiosity or contention from that particular community

— When the search party from Quraysh failed to find the Muslims who had escaped Makkah, the Quraysh decided to put tighter clamps on the remaining Muslims in Makkah

• The Quraysh kept a strict eye on who exactly the Muslims were, & did not allow any of those Muslims to exit Makkah. The Quraysh set up a border patrol & tracked the Muslims in Makkah

— Two months after the first group of Muslims left Makkah, a major incident occurs

• It’s month of Ramadan (obligations of Ramadan have not yet been sent down). The Prophet went to the Haram as part of his normal routine at the Baytullah to pray. Nobody likes it, but they tolerate it, because the Prophet has the protection from Abu Talib & Banu Hashim

• As the Prophet is praying at the Haram, he recites the Qur’an, out loud (for whatever reason)

• As the Prophet continues to recite the Qur’an out loud, the people are agitated. “Now Muhammad has gone too far. He comes here, does his thing, which we’ve put up with because he’s Abu Talib’s nephew. But now he’s going to make us listen to his ramblings? This is too much.”

• They get close to the Prophet to sort him out. As soon as they

get close enough to hear him, they stop dead in their tracks & listen to the Prophet’s words

• The Prophet then raises his voice. Now everyone at the Haram is listening. They all become quiet & stop what they’re doing to listen to the Prophet’s words, completely captivated

— The Quraysh listen to the Prophet reciting from Surat Al Najm, from Ayah 53:19 & on:

• So have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza? And Manat, the third the other one (idols that the Quraysh primarily worshipped)? Are the male angels for you and for Him the female? That, then, is an unjust division. They are not but mere names you have named them – you and your forefathers – for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow not except assumption and what their souls desire, and there has already come to them from their Lord guidance.

• Or is there for man whatever he wishes? Rather, to Allah belong the Hereafter and the first (life).

• And how many angels there are in the heavens whose intercession will not avail at all except only after Allah has permitted it to whom He wills and approves.

• Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter name the angels female names, and they have thereof no knowledge. They follow not except assumption, and indeed, assumption avails not against the truth at all.

• So turn away from whoever turns his back on Our message and desires not except the worldly life. That is their sum of knowledge. Indeed, you Lord is most knowing of who strays from His way, and He is most knowing of who is guided. And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth – that He may recompense those who do evil with (the penalty of) what they have done and recompense those who do good with the best (reward)

• Those who avoid the major sins and immortalities, only (committing) slight ones. Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He was most knowing of you when He produced you from this earth and when you were fetuses in the wombs of your mothers. So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him.

• Have you seen the one who turned away and gave a little and (then) refrained? Does he have knowledge of the unseen, so he sees? Or has he not been informed of what was in the scriptures of Moses and of Abraham, who fulfilled [his obligations] – that no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another and that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives and that his effort is going to be seen. Then he will be recompensed for it

with the fullest recompense and that to your Lord is the finality and that it is He who makes [one] laugh and weep and that it is He who causes death and gives life

• Interesting to note that death mentioned first, then life (talking about al Qiyama)

• And that He creates the two mates – the male and female – from a sperm-drop when it is emitted and that [incumbent] upon Him is the next creation and that it is He who enriches and suffices and that is He who is the Lord of the Sirius.

• And that He destroyed the first [people of] ‘Aad and Thamud – and He did not spare [them] and that people of Noah before. Indeed, it was they who were [even] more unjust and oppressing.

• And the overturned towns He hurled down and covered them by that which He covered. Then which of the favors of your Lord do you doubt? This [Prophet] is a warner like the former warners.

• The Approaching Day has approached. Of it, [from those] besides Allah, there is no remover.

• Then at this statement do you wonder? And you laugh and do not weep while you are proudly sporting? So prostrate to Allah and worship [Him].

— The Quraysh, who were listening to the Prophet recite these ayat, felt as they were being spoken directly to by Allah

• Then the Prophet fell into sajdah. Instinctively, everyone who was in the Haram (the vast majority who had not accepted Islam) also fell into sajdah

• Abu Jahl, who was there, also fell into sajdah• Walid ibn Mughira, who had an exchange similar to the one

that Utbah ibn Rabi’ah did with the Prophet, did not want to fall into sajdah with everyone else. “No, I’m not going to do what Muhammad does.” Even so, Walid felt compelled to do something after hearing the Qur’an, so he picked up a bit of dirt & put it on his forehead. Ajeeb.

• The Prophet then comes up from sajdah, & everyone else does too. There’s now an awkward silence. The Prophet lets them sit in that awkward silence for a while. if this wasn’t there fitrah talking, then what else was it?

• After a while, those people dispersed from the Haram• Later, the leaders of Quraysh gathered for some PR conference.

They claimed that the Prophet was reciting sorcery, which took physical control over the Qurayshis’ bodies & made everyone fall into sojood

• “Don’t worry. This was all just part of Muhammad’s sorcery.”— This incident doesn’t fall under radar. Word started to spread outside Makkah that basically all of Quraysh had accepted Muhammad’s religion

• These rumors reach Abyssinia that Quraysh has accepted Islam. The Muslim migrants in Abyssinia think, “it’s time to go back home.”

• 12 out of 16 original migrants head back for Makkah— They meet a Qurayshi just outside Makkah. The Qurayshi said to the group of Muslims, “Hey, you guys are the ones that left, right?”

• The migrants said, “Yeah, there was a lot of persecution, so we had to leave. But now that all the Quraysh has accepted Islam we’ve decided to come back.”

The man said, “What are you talking about?”• The Muslims said, “Quraysh, all of them became Muslim, right?”

Man: “No, none of that happened.”• The Muslim migrants learned what really happened, about the

sajdah. They’re heartbroken.“What do we do now? Do we stay or we leave?”A couple of them go back to Makkah & stayed there. When the

Prophet saw them, he asked them why they were back, & those Muslims tell him about the rumors they heard

10 of the migrants go back to Abyssinia.— But now, the Muslims in Makkah do learn that Abyssinia is perfectly safe for Muslims to worship freely without any fear of persecution

• The torture of Muslims in Makkah start to intensify day by day, with no signs of stopping, so the migration to Abyssinia becomes a favorable option for these Muslims

• In the next few weeks, dozens of Muslims began to leave Makkah in waves. They leave in small groups of 4-5 people, because of the border patrol in Makkah

— About 80 some odd people leave Makkah for Abyssinia, until a small community of Muslims emerged in Abyssinia

• There are about 82-83 Muslim men & 16 Muslim women. They consisted of both the elite & former slaves

• Towards the end of 5th year of Nabu’ah, once there are about 100 Muslims in Abyssinia, the Quraysh start to realize that Makkah is emptying out for Muslims

• The Quraysh are concerned because now the Muslims are just setting up camp somewhere else. “We can’t let that happen! We gotta crash this Muslim party that’s going on in Abyssinia.”

— Lessons of leadership from the Prophet

• A responsible leader has to be well-researched & well-informed• A good leader has to be willing to make sacrifices. The Prophet was

willing to lose some numbers in order to prioritize the safety of

his followers• The Prophet is a father at the end of the day. He was concerned for

his daughter Ruqayyah’s safety, who was one of the migrants to Abyssinia. A quality leader is a quality family man

• The Prophet also understood the circumstances of the time, when he advised the Muslim migrants to keep a low profile in Abyssinia

This does not mean that the Muslims in Abyssinia didn’t do dawah

Those Muslims understood that they were oppressed minority in Makkah, & they should not show up in Abyssinia, where they knew they’d be safe, & act as though they own the place. They should be respectful in how they conduct themselves

• Surat An-Najm, the surah that the Prophet was reciting to the Quraysh, ends with the call for us to “prostrate to Allah and worship Him” [53:62]

This is one of the ayahs in the Qur’an where you have to do sajdah after hearing it

— Most Muslims fled to Abyssinia to establish a safe community for themselves in the tolerant kingdom. Only about a dozen high profile Muslims remained in Makkah, because they can’t be touched, like the Prophet & Abu Bakr

3. This was part of Prophet’s strategy— During the khilafa of Umar bin al-Khattab, the ranks of Muslims were diverse. There were many Sahaba & tabiyoon (people who became Muslims after the Prophet’s death). The tabiyoon were generally less experienced & younger than Sahaba

• The Muslim soldiers were standing in their lines to fight the

Persians. Some were fully armored & some were not as well-shielded. The soldiers in the front lines were completely armored with steel from head to toe. The sun was at highest point in the day, so the steel shone brightly

• One of the tabiyin looked at the front lines & said, “I don’t see anything but steel. I don’t see any humans. Just an army made of steel.” He says that out loud next to a Sahabi

• The Sahabi replied, “You sound like you recently accepted Islam. You don’t sound like you have too much experience.”

Instead of acknowledging, “Yeah, they’re armed to the teeth,” or instead of motivating the tabiyin, the Sahabi continued, “We stood by the Prophet by the Battle of Badr and Battle of Uhud, when we had been sandwiched. We stood by the Prophet when we dug trenches around Medina & tied stones to our stomachs. We stood by the Prophet when thousands of Muslims fled during the Battle of Hunayn & only a few hundred remained to achieve victory for the Muslims. We stood behind the Prophet & made istighfar with him when we conquered Makkah. But you sound new to this situation.”

— The Prophet cared more about the preservation & continued spiritual development of the Muslims at this stage, so he exported 90% of his community & sent them to a safe place in Abyssinia

• He told them to nurture their imaan so they can be strong enough to aid the Prophet for the day he needs them by his side

— The Prophet had a philosophy of protecting yourself from the fitna of evil people (refer to Surat Al Nas)

• There’s the evil of shayatin (jinn). There’s the evil that’s also within people

• In the Medinan period of Prophethood, when Islam and Muslims became well-established, the Prophet was sitting & enjoying the day with Aisha (ra), when the Prophet saw a person coming from a distance.

• The Prophet told Aisha to go inside the house, “Because that is the worst man of his people. That’s trouble walking toward us right now.”

• Aisha went inside but sat right behind the curtain so she can listen to the two men

• When the man came, the Prophet welcomed him. They make small talk, & exchanged formalities & pleasantries

• The Prophet excused himself, saying, “I have to take care of stuff.”

• After the man left, Aisha asked the Prophet, “What was that? You told me to go inside because he’s a troublemaker & you chatted

with him so nicely. You had such a mundane conversation with him.”

• The Prophet: “I was protecting my people from his evil and harm. I didn’t confront him. I didn’t call him out. I didn’t want to poke the bear and invoke his wrath & evil.”

— The Prophet realized that Makkah was irritated – the more visible & prominent Islam was becoming, it was like poking a bear

• By removing the vast majority of Muslims from Makkah & moving them to Abyssinia, the agitation in Makkah went down several notches

• Two of the most high-profile conversions to Islam had occurred after the Migration of Abyssinia

— The Quraysh looked around Makkah & realized that 90% of the troublemakers are gone. They use their sources to find out that the Muslims have settled in Habesha

• They tell each other, “We can’t have that. We can’t let them get away & be free. They’re gonna settle there, build an army there, & march over here to come after us. We can’t let these people get off there. We gotta go after them.”

They discuss their plans. “We’ll play our hands right.”— The Quraysh start by recruiting a couple of people

• Amr ibn al-‘As (ra)• He later accepts Islam, & brings Islam to Misr (Egypt))• He was recruited because he was most well-traveled of the

Quraysh. He had been to Rome, Persia, Egypt, etc. He was very cultured, intelligent, & politically savvy

• Umara ibn Walid ibn Mugira• He was also said to be very intelligent & likable. He was a

little arrogant; he’s the son of a very powerful man & came from a powerful family

• The pretty face of Quraysh. A public personality.— Now the Quraysh collect funds. They bought the most expensive gifts they could find for the King of Abyssinia

• The King of Abyssinia’s name is As-hama, although some narrations say Mus-hima, which translates to “very pious man” or “righteous man”

• He was known by title of an-Najashi (nigoos – the English pronunciation). The tile “an-Najashi” is like the title Emperor or President

• It was rumored that he was very fond of camel skins/hide, because camels weren’t common or native in Habesha, especially

Arabian camels• Skins of Arabian camels were used as a blanket or cloak• The Quraysh found the largest red camels, slaughtered &

skinned them, tanned the camel hides, & packaged them as gifts

— The 3rd part of the plan was for Amr ibn al-‘As comes to find out which key ministers in an-Najashi’s court has the ear of the king

• Amr will approach those ministers to persuade them with the money & the gifts to win them over. Then Amr will persuaded those ministers to put in a good word so he can talk with the king

— Once, when the Prophet was at the Haram & in sujood, some youths thought it would be funny to dump a whole bunch of camel guts on the Prophet’s back. Those guts were so heavy that the Prophet got pinned down underneath them

• Either some family member of the Prophet or Abu Bakr removed the guts from the Prophet’s back

• When the Prophet got up, he was very upset. A bunch of people around him were laughing.

• There were 7 people who were part of this act, & Prophet went to them & warned them of Allah’s punishment

Umara ibn Walid was one of those 7 people. He was an ill-mannered person

— With that, Amr ibn al-‘As, Umara ibn Walid, & a few others set out with all those gifts on a boat

• In this journey to Abyssinia, Amr ibn al-‘As’s wife accompanied him• During this journey, Umara, being the wretched man he was, went

up to Amr & said to him, “I find your wife attractive. Would you mind if I sleep with her?”

• Amr, who is a very respectable man, said, “NO. What’s wrong with you? Didn’t your mother love you when you were a child?”

• Amr was a smaller man in stature & very thin. Umara was a 6 foot tall & well-built guy

• One evening, when Amr was off guard, Umara came up behind him & threw Amr off the boat into the water

• Umara didn’t know that Amr was a good swimmer. Typically people in Quraysh didn’t know how to swim since they lived in middle of the desert.

• Amr swam back up to the boat with ease. He said, “You didn’t factor that in did you, smart guy? This is why I’m the brains & you’re just the pretty face. You might be pretty but you’re an idiot.”

• Umara said, “If I knew that you knew how to swim, I wouldn’t

have thrown you in the water.”• Amr replied, “You go sit in the corner before I have something

done to you.”— The Makkan party take care of their business in Abyssinia, but didn’t have much luck with an-Najashi

• Umara messed around in Abyssinia as well. An-Najashi had an opposition party, a rebel group that tried to overthrow him

• Umara tried to join in cahoots with the opposition party• Both the Prophet & An-Najashi made dua against Umara• While he’s in Abyssinia, Umara ended up becoming insane &

ran away• No one could find Umara, so Amr ibn al-‘As had to leave for

Makkah without Umara• Later on, they find Umara living out in the wilderness. He had

completely lost his mind• Much later on, during khilafa of Umar ibn al-Khattab, when

Muslims go in large numbers to Habesha, they find Umara in his insane state. They were surprised to see Umara, because by then everyone had believed him to be dead

• The Muslims grab him & restrain him to help him• Umara kept screaming, “Let me go, let me go. If you don’t let

me go, I’ll die.”• Umara had developed some sort of social phobia where he couldn’t

be around people; he would become extremely paranoid when he was around other people

• When people tried to restrain him and nurse him to health, Umara died by that evening

— Amr & Umara arrive in Abyssinia, make their way to the court of the king, approach the key ministers, give them gifts & tell them about the Muslim “slaves” that had run away from Makkah. Amr & Umara try to convince the minsters that the Muslims will become a problem for Abyssinians later on

• Amr & Umara fatten up the ministers with the gifts & were able to confirm an audience with the King of Abyssinia for the next day

— The Quraysh were able to bribe the King of Abyssinia’s ministers with gifts so they could appear in the King of Abyssinia (al-Najashi’s) court & gain an audience with al-Najashi. The Quraysh present themselves & their gifts to al-Najashi

4. Amr & Umara lie to al-Najashi, “Some of our abeed un Sufaha – these foolish slaves – have run away from our masters, & they’ve come here & found refuge in your kingdom. We have come to remove them from your hands & take them back home.”

5. The King was a very good & honest man. He replied, “Even if the slaves have run away, I cannot take them & hand them to you since they have found refuge here. I will not hand them to you unless I have heard both sides of the story.”

This was one of the reasons that the Prophet sent the early Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia, because he had heard of this King’s reputation

— Al-Najashi then requested the Muslim immigrants to present themselves in his court

• Ummu Salama, who had migrated here with her husband (who would later die), narrated, “When we got the news that king was asking for us, we were very worried. We had kept a very low profile all this time.”

• The leaders of the Muslim immigrants got together & said, “Look, we don’t know what it’s about. We haven’t done anything wrong, & we don’t intend to do anything wrong. Let’s go there and not assume the worst. We have to be confident. We have the best of intentions. We’re here to live quietly in a life of freedom. We’re not here to step on anyone’s toes. All we have to do is go and express that.”

— They appoint Ja’far ibn Abi Talib (older brother of Ali), cousin of Prophet to represent the Muslims in the King’s court

• Ja’far was a very calm & collected person. He was very intelligent,

thoughtful, mild-mannered, soft-spoken, & eloquent• 12 years after migrating to Habesha, Ja’far left to return to the

Prophet & reunite with him in Medina. He arrived in Medina at the time when Battle of Khayber was ending

• When Ja’far walked into the Muslim camp & the Prophet saw Muslims from Habesha returning, the Prophet said, “I don’t know which makes me happier – that we won Battle of Khayber or that Ja’far has returned. You’re the coolness of my eyes.  Ja’far, you are my brother. You resemble me in looks & you resemble me in character.”

— Ja’far is chosen to speak for the Muslims in Habesha

• All 100 Muslim migrants (women, children, & men) are ordered to stand in the court of the King of Abyssinia. They were to stand their calmly, & Ja’far would speak for them

• When Ja’far steps forward to audience of king, al-Najashi, he didn’t bow down to the king. He greeted the king & thanked the king for the audience

• Immediately, Amr and Umara quickly tell the king’s minsters, “He didn’t bow down to the king!”

— Al-Najashi overhead & asked Ja’far, “Why didn’t you bow down like the rest of your tribespeople? They bowed down, so obviously it’s a part of your custom. Don’t you follow your custom? Why didn’t you bow down?”

• Ja’far replied, “We don’t bow down in front of anyone except for Allah.”

• The King said, “Tell me about Allah.”• Ja’far said, “Allah sent a Messenger to us. He’s the same Prophet

that Isa foretold the coming of. The Prophet told us we should never prostrate in front of anyone except Allah. He has also commanded us to pray & give charity. He tells us to do good things – to be good to our family and take care of orphans. He tells us to stay away from bad things – from fornication, from prostitution, from cursing, from oppression, from stealing.”

— Al-Najashi was very impressed with Ja’far’s words

• Al-Najashi responded, “I don’t see anything wrong with what you believe in. This is exactly what Isa ibnu Maryam taught us to do. This is what your Rasul tells you to do.”

Then Amr spoke up and said, “But they’ve escaped away from us. They’re slaves.”

• Al-Najashi then said to Ja’far, “They claim that you are slaves of theirs. Is that true?”

• Ja’far was amused at this comment. He said, “How does he say we’re his slaves? I’m the son of the leader of our tribe. My

father is more powerful & more respected than this man. We’re equals of theirs. We’re not slaves. We’re brothers in terms of lineage. If I’m a slave then that makes him a slave too. We’re not property. This is a false claim.”

Ja’far turned to Amr & asked, “Do you have any evidence that we’re your slaves?”

Amr said, “No.”• Al-Najashi said, “I will not hand these people over to you.”— Then Al-Najashi dismissed everyone from the court

• Amr then leaned over to Umara, “I swear to you that I’ll cook up something better. I have a better game plan tomorrow.”

• The Muslims camped overnight in the capital. Al-Najashi told the Muslims, “You’re my guests for tonight. I’ll take care of your dinner & sleeping arrangements.”

• Amr later went to the King & said, “We have no argument against your decision, you’re the king, your word is final. I just thought you should know, that the Muslims say some very serious & shocking things about Isa.”

• Al-Najashi is taken aback. He’s a devout Christian, an alim of his religion.  He said, “Really?”

— The next morning, the King summoned everyone to court (Muslims, ministers, the Quraysh). The Muslims were scared even more on the 2nd day. Ja’far is again appointed to speak on their behalf. Amr & Umara were smirking

• Al-Najashi looked a little upset. He said to Ja’far, “What is this I hear? You have something shocking to say about al-Massih?”

• The Prophet’s dawah was dominated by the Qur’an. He read to the Sahaba from the Qur’an. Ja’far is talking to a non-Muslim, who is right now a bit confrontational. So how do you give dawah to him?

• Ja’far doesn’t say anything for a bit. Then he said, “Audhubillah minash shaytanar rajeem. Bismillahir rahmanir Rahim.”

• Then he starts reciting Surat Maryam to the point where it starts with story of Zakariya & Yahya. Ja’far continues beyond Ayah 16, which talks about how Maryam was chaste and pure, how Allah told her to isolate herself, how an angel communicates with her to tell her that she’ll give birth to a very pure boy, how Isa addresses the people as an infant, “I’m a slave of Allah. I’ve been given a scripture and Allah has made me a prophet.” 

— By the time Ja’far had finished reading these ayat from Surat Maryam, there was not a single dry eye in the court. Al-Najashi was so overcome with emotion that his beard was wet. He took a couple of minutes before he could talk

• Ja’far explained, “Isa is the spirit of Allah (he was the result of the command of Allah). Allah brought him to the earth from the very chaste Maryam. No man had gone near her.”

— When al-Najashi regains his composure, he gets off his throne, bends down to ground, picks up a twig & holds it up to everyone.  He said, “Oh, fraternity of ministers & priests, I swear to God that what these people say about Isa ibnu Maryam is not even this much different from what we believe about Isa & Marium.”

• There are gasps around the room, since many Christians believed that Isa was the Son of God

• Al-Najashi is a scholar of the Scripture. He goes on to say, “This is the truth. This man recites the truth. All of you (Muslims) are welcome here in my kingdom. The man that you represent here in my court today (Muhammad), he is also welcome. I’m at his service. I bear witness that he’s the Messenger of Allah, and he’s the one that Isa said would come. If I was not here entrusted with the rulership of my people, I would have gone to him & kiss his shoes. You are free to stay here.”

• Al-Najashi then commanded his minsters to provide the Muslims with food and clothing, and anything else they need

The King also said, “As for these two (Amr & Umara), give them back their gifts. I know you ministers got gifts from them. If I find out that any one of you kept them, you’ll answer to me.”

Then Amr & Umara returned to Makkah dejected• Now there’s an official word from the King of Abyssinia that

Muslims were welcome in the kingdom, so people treat them well

— Al-Najashi’s father passed away when al-Najashi was a young boy. His dad’s younger brother at that time was told that the current Najashi is very young to rule a kingdom by himself, so the uncle would rule until his nephew was old enough to rule on his own

• The people around al-Najashi’s uncle were power-hungry. They told him to get rid of the boy. The uncle agrees with their idea

• Those people later kidnap the boy, put tattered old clothing on him, & dirty him up a bit. Then they take the young al-Najashi to the slave market to be sold off as a slave

• When people wake up in the morning, they find that the boy-king is gone. They suspect that the prince (al-Najashi’s uncle) is involved in his nephew’s disappearance

• The supporters of the boy-king refuse to accept the uncle as the permanent king, so rebellion starts. “He’s gotten rid of our rightful king.”

• There’s a civil war. The prince realizes that the only way to quell

this rebellion is to bring the boy back, so he dispatches people to track him down

— After some time, they bring al-Najashi back. He worked as a slave during this time, so of course, he’s traumatized. The people who arranged for him to be sold off as a slave lie, “He was lost, he was kidnapped. We punished those responsible.”

• The boy realizes at this point that his uncle is trying to get rid of him. As he grows up, he leans on people who were loyal to his father. They gather more loyalists & launch another civil war against the uncle (crown prince)

• The civil war eventually ends, & now the boy sits in his proper place as King of Abyssinia. He imprisoned the crown prince and others who were against him

• Because of his life experiences (kidnap, slavery, civil war), al-Najashi was a very compassionate, understanding, & spiritual king

— When Ja’far recited the Qur’an in the court of the king, al-Najashi felt a boost of Imaan

• Afterward, the ministers huddled up. “We got a situation on our hands. The King said some crazy stuff yesterday.” They tell him to take back the things he said about Isa & Muhammad

• The king replied, “No, why should I take it back?”• The ministers then gather all the priests & monks together, they

assure each other, “When al-Najashi said, ‘I swear he’s the Messenger of God,’ he was talking about Isa, not this man Muhammad. You know the King’s policy. He takes care of the minorities. You know that he’s fair to everyone. He’s kind to Muslims so we should also be kind to them, BUT the king has not forsaken Christianity. Don’t worry, the king is fine.”

— The next day, the ministers go to al-Najashi & tell him that even though he quelled his opposition in the civil war, there is another opposition gaining on him

• The minister told al-Najashi, “Your opponents are calling you a heretic.  Whatever you believe, you can believe. We’re going to pretend we never heard it. We just want to help you run the country. But don’t say any more about the Muslims’ Prophet.”

• Al-Najashi understood that another civil war could occur if he keeps publically proclaiming agreement with the Muslims. He kept those thoughts to himself

— But civil war does arise again in Abyssinia

• This time, the opposition is stronger than they were last time. Al-Najashi lost ground against the opposition, & the king suffered a

lot of losses• When the Prophet heard about another civil war in Abyssinia, & how

al-Najashi is not faring well, the Prophet made dua for al-Najashi’s victory because he had been so kind to the Muslim refugees

Shortly after the dua, even though al-Najashi’s forces were losing ground, they were able to defeat the opposition & remain in power

• Later on in his life, al-Najashi accepted Islam— Ramlah bint Abu Sufyan was one of the Muslims who migrated to Abyssinia

• Her husband was possibly emotionally disturbed after leaving Makkah. Something cracked him, so he started drinking alcohol to the point that he became a raging alcoholic. In his drunken state, he was very abusive to Ramlah. Some narrations say he left Islam. Eventually he drank himself to death

• Ramlah, now a widow, was pregnant at this time. She gave birth to her daughter Habiba, & Ramlah is now known as Ummu Habiba

• This was during the Medinan period. When the Prophet that one of the women who went to Abyssinia had all these things happen to her (abused, widowed, single mother) & now she’s there by all herself, the Prophet sent her a marriage proposal

The culture was that if a woman was previously married, abused, or had a child, she was not deemed fit to be married again, but in this case, the Prophet himself sent Ramlah a marriage proposal, which Ramlah accepted

Al-Najashi himself facilitated the marriage. He prepared an entire caravan for the ceremony, with bodyguards, food, gifts (mahr from the Prophet to Ramlah)

— In the 9th year of Hijrah, shortly before  the Prophet’s death, he received news that al-Najashi has died

• The Prophet gathered the Sahaba together & they all prayed Salat al-Janazi for al-Najashi

• When Ja’far came from Abyssinia to Medina to rejoin the Muslim community in Medina after the Battle of Khayber, he told the Prophet that Al-Najashi sent a messenger along with the rest of the Muslim migrants

• This messenger was a personal servant al-Najashi, someone who was like family to al-Najashi

• The servant asked Ja’far to tell the Prophet how al-Najashi treated the Muslims in Abyssinia

• Ja’far told the Prophet about al-Najashi’s kindness toward the Muslims & his proclamation in belief of Allah. Al-Najashi also asked the Prophet to ask Allah for forgiveness on al-Najashi’s

behalf• After the Battle of Khayber, the Prophet gathered Sahaba together

and asks Allah for al-Najashi’s forgiveness• All the Sahaba said “Amin”— Key point: The Prophet prayed Salat al-Janaza for someone who died elsewhere. There’s no body present

• Majority of scholars say that praying Janaza for someone who is not physically there is not permissible (e.g. if someone dies in California, you can’t pray Salat al-Janaza for the deceased if you’re in New York)

• Minority of scholars believe that this is permissible because the Prophet did it. But because it is permissible, it should be restricted to the following circumstance:

It should only be done in a situation where a Muslim passes away where his Islam is not known (it is a secret for whatever purpose) & that he doesn’t receive the proper burial rites

• There were a few Muslims living in Abyssinia. Many of the local people had accepted Islam as well. When the Arab expats left Abyssinia & came back to Arabia (Medina), they went back & prayed Janaza for al-Najashi

The Prophet took into consideration that al-Najashi’s Islam wasn’t public, so he wouldn’t get proper Islamic burial

Since Al-Najashi was a ruler, the Salat al-Janaza for al-Najashi was a gesture of respect by Prophet, so this is not to be taken as a general precedent

• We don’t find any other instance of the Prophet ever offering Salat al-Janaza for people who died elsewhere.  Some Muslims died in Makkah. The Prophet was in Medina at the time, but he didn’t offer Salat al-Janaza for them

That’s why majority of scholars say that it’s not permissible to pray Janaza for those who died elsewhere

— Amr bin al-‘As, one of the leaders of Quraysh who was sent to Abyssinia to bring back the Muslims, returned to Makkah. He then locked himself in his house & would not come out or mingle with anyone

6. This was unlike him. People were curious, since Amr was very social, outgoing, & a leader of Makkah

7. When news reached him that people are inquiring about him, Amr said, “As-hama (al-Najashi of Abyssinia) is convinced that this gentleman among our midst (Muhammad) that has all of Makkah in frenzy, is a Messenger.”

8. Amr was deeply affected by this. It made him contemplate. He wondered, “How is al-Najashi so convinced that Muhammad is a Messenger? What is it that I’m not seeing? Why does As-hama see Muhammad as a Prophet?”

This deep thought eventually led Amr ibn al-‘As to accept Islam. He furthered Islam into many areas later on

— Much later on, some people came from Habesha (East Africa) to Medina

• The Prophet got up and started getting food, water, & pillows for the travelers. He showed them hospitality

• The Sahaba, being the students of Prophet, told him, “Don’t trouble yourself, O Rasulallah. We’ll take care of all the hospitality.”

• The Prophet replied, “No, no, no. These people honored & showed hospitality to my companions – when we were oppressed & few in number. My beloved Sahaba went to these people – the people of Habesha – and these people showed my people hospitality. Today, it is my honor & my privilege that I get to serve them.”

The Prophet had lasting gratitude to the people of Habesha— Whenever As-hama Al-Najashi (King of Abyssinia) did something that was publically challenged, he had a tradition to deal with it

• Al-Najashi had a piece of paper on which he had written the Shahada including, “Allah placed Isa divinely into the womb of his mother” (basically the aqeeda of al-Najashi). He had written down that he didn’t believe in Isa’s divinity

• He kept that paper in his shirt, on top of his pocket on his heart

• The people would sometimes confront & ask al-Najashi, “Do you say that Isa is the Son of God?”

• Al-Najashi would say yes, while placing his hand on the piece of paper where he had written the Shahadah

• Al-Najashi’s life was once threatened• He had a personal servant, who had also accepted Islam, told

al-Najashi that some people in his court planned to assassinate him for forsaking Christianity

• The piece of paper thing was his own trick so as to keep his enemies at bay while at the same time keeping his imaan intact

— After the migration of Abyssinia, the next major incident that occurred was Hamza’s acceptance of Islam

— Hamza ibn Abdul Mutallib

• He was the paternal uncle of the Prophet & also the milk-brother of the Prophet. They were very close in age & grew up like brothers

• Majority of scholars say that Hamza accepted Islam AFTER the migration of Abyssinia took place

• The slave woman (owned by Abu Lahab) Thuyaba had nursed both Hamza & Muhammad.

— Hamza before Islam

• He was a very respected individual• He was the son of Abdul Mutallib, so he had status• He was also the cool guy, life of the party, focal point of the

room. “A guy’s guy”. Fun to be around• Hamza was well-known for being a fighter• He was one of the few people in Arabia known for fighting

with both hands. He would wield a sword on each hand— Hamza’s hunting trips were famous. Sometimes he’d be gone for days at a time

• Once, he was gone on one of these hunting tripsThe Prophet had crossed paths with Abu Jahl on Mount SafaAbu Jahl was in one of those I-gotta-torture-a-Muslim moods.

He started to insult the Prophet. He got even more aggressive than he had ever been before. Abu Jahl kept getting more vile & disrespectful to Prophet, to the point that he created a huge scene & other people told Abu Jahl to knock it off already

Of course, Abu Jahl wouldn’t listen. He continued to insult the Prophet even as the Prophet tried to walk away from the situation

A slave woman was observing all of this quietly• Hamza returned later in the day after his hunt, all geared up with

his bow & arrow & skins. He was in a good mood, ready to hang with his boys

He always had a spiritual nature to him. Whenever he would

return from his hunts, he would go to the Haram, put everything down, and do Tawaf, expressing his gratitude for the hunt & coming back safely

Hamza returned from this hunt & everyone who sees Hamza greets him. The slave woman who watched the scene between Abu Jahl & the Prophet also saw Hamza  & walked over to him

• Hamza was friendly in nature, so the slave woman felt comfortable walking up to him

The slave woman said, “You know you’re walking around with a big smile on your face while something disrespectful was done.”

Hamza said, “Why, what’s going on?”The slave woman replied, “Your nephew, your brother, who

you’re supposed to be so protective of, Muhammad, was just treated terribly. It was unbelievable what happened to him today.”

Hamza said, “Who messed with him?”The woman told him what went on. “No one stepped in, no one

told off Abu Jahl.”— Hamza’s blood is boiling. He walked to the Haram, & Abu Jahl is sitting there, gloating with his friends about the scene he had caused earlier that day

• Hamza walked up to Abu Jahl, & looked down at him, very furious. Abu Jahl said, “What are you looking at?”

• Hamza then pulled off his bow from his shoulder & cracked Abu Jahl over the head with it. Abu Jahl started bleeding from the forehead

• Hamza said, “You disrespect Muhammad? You deal with me.”• Abu Jahl said, “Hamza, you sound like you’ve left the religion

(of the unbelievers) as well.”• Hamza replied, “I have. I believe in what Muhammad believes.

I believe Muhammad is the Messenger. Wanna mess with me? Come on.”

• Other people then start to approach Hamza with their fists raised. Hamza started to get into his warrior-mode

• Abu Jahl said, “No, no, no. Back off. Dawu Abu Imara. Leave Aba Imara (Hamza) alone.”

• This could turn into a very ugly situation. Before you know it, both tribes will be fighting

• Abu Jahl then said, “Leave Abu Imara alone, because I most definitely did curse his nephew very badly. I was out of line.” By this time, blood was covering his face

• Hamza said, “Let me know if you wanna rumble. Time and place. Let me know. Then he walked away

— Hamza went home. He started to think about what he had done. He started to feel very nervous. “What have I done? I love Muhammad with all my heart. But do I truly believe in his message?”

• He had doubts. He made du’a. “Oh Allah if this is true, what Muhammad says, then put the truth of that into my heart. Let me be firm in my belief of it. And if it’s not, then Allah give me a way out of this situation.”

• Hamza beat Abu Jahl over the head while making a loud public proclamation of accepting Islam. He can’t back out of it, “Oops, yes, I made you bleed, but I take it back.”

• He tossed & turned that whole night— In the morning, Hamza went to the Prophet. “Dear nephew, I’ve put myself in a position I don’t know how to get out of. This matter I’ve stepped into, I don’t know if it’s good or bad. So talk to me, please. I just want you to talk to me.”

• The Prophet sat down with Hamza & laid out the truth for Hamza. By the time the Prophet was done, imaan had been put in Hamza’s heart

• Hamza said, “I fully testify to the fact that you tell the truth. Lay the framework of what you’re teaching. Because I swear to Allah, I would not go back to the religion I was following.”

• 3 days after Hamza accepted Islam, Umar ibn al-Khattab also accepted Islam

• This was a huge wake-up call for the Quraysh, because now they knew that the Prophet had enforcers

• The Prophet is already untouchable due to having protection from Abu Talib, but Abu Jahl & Abu Lahab fancied themselves to be just as powerful as Abu Talib

• Now Hamza is on the Prophet’s side, the Prophet’s enemies have to evaluate themselves, because Hamza just don’t care – he’ll crack you on the head with his bow

— Hamza accepted Islam in the early part of the 5th year of Prophethood

• This brought the Prophet a lot of peace & tranquility. Anyone accepting Islam brought the Prophet a lot of happiness, but the Prophet’s own family members accepting Islam was especially beloved to the Prophet

• Hamza’s acceptance of Islam also reaffirmed the relationship between him & the Prophet, because Hamza always looked out for Muhammad like an older brother, a protector of Muhammad

So the Prophet was used to Hamza always having his back. It was shocking enough to the Prophet that 5 years had gone

by without Hamza accepting Islam & standing side by side to the Prophet in imaan

— Banu Hashim and Banu Amir are top 2 families of Quraysh. They’re bit of rivals

• Umar ibn al-Khattab’s mother was the sister of Abu Jahl. Abu Jahl is maternal uncle of Umar ibn al-Khattab

• Umar had been mentored by Abu Jahl• Abu Jahl was a diplomatic leader of Makkah & Quraysh. He would

manage relations between all the tribes & families. The Secretary of State of Makkah

• Umar’s pre-Islamic position in the community was being a delegate of negotiating terms of contract to the other tribe. He was the deputy to the Secretary of State. He used to be sent by Quraysh by Abu Jahl to negotiate terms with other people

• From the get-go Umar ibn al-Khattab had leadership qualities. He was very confident & decisive. He was also a bit imposing & a little intimidating  

— At the time, prostitution, gambling, fighting, & drinking were rampant

• Umar was the representative of Quraysh, but he was a bit of a loose cannon, taking part in those activities. How can it look good for a representative of Quraysh to be acting like that?

• Without his imaan, there was nothing to contain Umar’s social gifts properly. He was a bit of trouble

• The leaders of Quraysh were not sure whether Umar was reliable, but Umar was just so gifted & talented at what he did that when it was time for him to negotiate terms with another tribe, he’d sober up, go in, take care of business, problem solved. “I’ll be partying if you need me again.”

— Umar ibn al-Khattab had close brushes with Islam, even before the occasion on which he accepted Islam

• He had built up pride & ego due to his status. He had a bit of a rowdy lifestyle

• One time, Umar was out all night & drinking. He later walked into a temple that was for worshipping idols, laid down, & passed out

• Of course, normally people would be upset – you can’t just get drunk & then pass out a temple, but this was Umar, so people aren’t going to say, “Get lost” to him. So they pretend that he’s not there, passed out at the corner of the temple

• Ritual of the temple was people would bring in an animal & sacrifice it to the idol that was in the temple. Then the worshippers would take out the innards of the animal & lay it on the feet of

the idol. They’d also soak the idol with the animal’s blood as part of the ritual

• Umar was lying down & woke up after the people walked in the temple. Even before Islam, the worship of idols didn’t sit well with Umar. It just seemed unintelligent to him

• When those worshippers dragged in the goat that was kicking & screaming, Umar was thinking, “Here you go, these superstitious people. They’re gonna waste a perfectly good goat on this idol.”

• Umar was watching the scenario. The worshippers slaughter the animal & take out the animal’s guts.

• Then all of a sudden, a voice comes from inside the dead animal

• Umar acknowledged that he was hangover & a little out of it, but even the people who slaughtered the goat heard the voice & jumped back

• The voice from inside the goat said, “This whole ritual business – it’s time for this nonsense to stop. The time of Muhammad has arrived & it’s time to go back to original worship of one Allah.”

• Basically a dead animal was saying this• The worshippers all just left the animal half-cut open there &

ran out the temple• Umar kept laying there in his drunkenness. In time he forgot

about the incident— Umar ibn al-Khattab’s second close encounter with Islam

• Umar was hanging out the Haram. The Prophet walked by & stood In front of the Ka’bah on the side where he’d not only pray toward the Baytullah but also toward Bayt al Maqdis (Masjid al Aqsa). This was the Prophet’s way of offering salah & combining both the Qiblas.

The Prophet offered salah openly in broad daylight. He would occasionally be violated, but he also had protection from his uncle Abu Talib. Abu Talib commanded enough respect in Makkah to offer protection to his nephew & allow the Prophet a certain amount of freedom

• Umar saw the Prophet & thought, “What’s all the big fuss about? What’s all the hoopla about? What he’s got to say, let’s hear him out. Let me just go listen to what Muhammad has to say.”

Umar got behind the Prophet & listened to him recite Surah 69 (Surat al Haqqa)

• Umar was very captivated. He narrated years later, “I was completely gripped. It had a powerful grip on me, but at the same time, the stubbornness was still there. I thought to myself, listen man, don’t get too caught up on this guy. Muhammad is just a really, really talented poet.”

The second Umar thought that in his head, the Prophet recited, “These are not the words of a poet; little do you believe.” [69:41]

This caught Umar off guard. Umar thought to himself, “How did he know what I was thinking? I know. He’s a kahin. He’s a sorcerer. He’s a soothsayer. He’s into the hocus-pocus.”

• The Prophet then recited the next ayah: “Similarly, this is not the word of a soothsayer or magician either; little do you remember.” [69:42]

Now Umar was completely floored• The next ayat were, “Rather this is something that’s gradually been

revealed by the Lord of the Worlds. You think Muhammad is making this up? IF in the craziest scenario possible, that Muhammad had the audacity to make these things up & attribute them to Allah, then We would grab him by the right hand and stab him in the heart. No one would be able to protect him. Rather, this is a powerful reminder of those who are God-conscious. We know some of you won’t believe. Some of you will deny & call it lies. And all that does, is it makes the situation of the unbelievers all the more pathetic. But this is as real as it gets. So exalt the name of your Lord, the Most Great” [69:43-52]

This end part of Surat al-Haqqa had a profound effect on Umar. It broke him down spiritually as he was standing there. Umar walked away from the Haram, completely bewildered