Hadith #211

Arabic Text

English Translation

Ya'qub narrated to us, my father narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn 'Ubaydullah ibn Shihab narrated to me, from Abu Bakr ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, from Umm Salamah bint Abi Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: When we settled in the land of Abyssinia, we had the best neighbor in the Negus. We were safe in our religion and worshipped Allah without being harmed or hearing anything we disliked. When that reached the Quraysh, they conspired to send two resolute men to the Negus against us, and to present the Negus with gifts from the rare goods of Makkah. The most prized thing that came to him from there was leather, so they gathered much leather for him. They did not leave a single one of his patriarchs without giving him a gift. Then they sent all that with 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi and 'Amr ibn al-'As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi. They gave them their instructions and said: Give each patriarch his gift before you speak to the Negus about them. Then present the Negus with his gifts, then ask him to hand them over to you before he speaks to them. She said: So they departed and arrived at the Negus while we were with him in the best abode and with the best neighbor. Not a single patriarch was left without receiving his gift before they spoke to the Negus. Then they said to each patriarch: Some foolish youths from among us have fled to the king's land. They have left the religion of their people and have not entered your religion. They have come with an invented religion that neither we nor you recognize. The nobles of their people have sent us to the king to return them. When we speak to the king about them, advise him to hand them over to us without speaking to them, for their people know them best and are most aware of their faults. They said: Yes. Then they presented their gifts to the Negus, and he accepted them. They spoke to him and said: O king, some foolish youths from among us have fled to your land. They have left the religion of their people and have not entered your religion. They have come with an invented religion that neither we nor you recognize. The nobles of their people, their fathers, uncles, and clansmen, have sent us to you to return them, for their people know them best and are most aware of their faults and what they reproach them for. She said: Nothing was more hateful to 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah and 'Amr ibn al-'As than that the Negus should hear their words. His patriarchs around him said: They speak the truth, O king. Their people know them best and are most aware of their faults. Hand them over to these two so they can return them to their land and their people. The Negus became angry and said: No, by Allah! I swear by Allah, I will not hand them over to these two! I will not betray a people who have come to my land, settled in my country, and chosen me over all others, until I summon them and ask them what these two are saying about them. If they are as they say, I will hand them over and return them to their people. But if they are otherwise, I will protect them from these two and be a good neighbor to them as long as they are my neighbors. She said: Then he sent for the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and summoned them. When his messenger came to them, they gathered and said to one another: What will you say to the man when you come to him? They said: By Allah, we will say what we know and what our Prophet ﷺ commanded us, whatever the consequence. When they came to him, and the Negus had called his bishops, who spread their scriptures around him, he asked them: What is this religion for which you have separated from your people, and have not entered my religion or the religion of any of these nations? She said: The one who spoke to him was Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه). He said: O king, we were a people of ignorance. We worshipped idols, ate carrion, committed indecencies, severed ties of kinship, mistreated our neighbors, and the strong among us devoured the weak. We remained in that state until Allah sent us a Messenger from among us, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity we knew. He called us to Allah, to worship Him alone and to abandon what we and our fathers used to worship of stones and idols. He commanded us to speak the truth, fulfill trusts, maintain ties of kinship, be good to our neighbors, and refrain from forbidden acts and bloodshed. He forbade us from indecencies, false testimony, consuming the wealth of orphans, and slandering chaste women. He commanded us to worship Allah alone, ascribing no partner to Him. He commanded us to pray, give charity, and fast. He enumerated the matters of Islam for him. We believed him, had faith in him, and followed what he brought. We worshipped Allah alone, associating nothing with Him. We forbade what He forbade and permitted what He permitted. Then our people attacked us, tortured us, and tried to turn us away from our religion back to the worship of idols, and to make us accept the evil practices we used to accept. When they overpowered us, oppressed us, and came between us and our religion, we came to your land, chose you over all others, desired your neighborliness, and hoped that we would not be wronged in your presence, O king. She said: The Negus said to him: Do you have with you anything of what he brought from Allah? She said: Ja'far said to him: Yes. The Negus said: Read it to me. So he recited to him the opening of Kaf-Ha-Ya-'Ayn-Sad [Surah Maryam]. She said: By Allah, the Negus wept until his beard was wet, and his bishops wept until their scriptures were wet when they heard what he recited to them. Then the Negus said: By Allah, this and what Musa brought come from the same source. Go, for by Allah, I will never hand them over to you, and I will not be deceived. She said, Umm Salamah: When they left his presence, 'Amr ibn al-'As said: By Allah, I will tell him tomorrow of their fault with him, then I will uproot them completely. 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah, who was the more God-fearing of the two men toward us, said: Do not do that, for they have ties of kinship, even if they have opposed us. He said: By Allah, I will tell him that they claim that 'Isa ibn Maryam is a servant. She said: The next day he went to him and said: O king, they say about 'Isa ibn Maryam something grave. Send for them and ask them what they say about him. She said: He sent for them to ask about it. She said: Nothing like it had ever befallen us. The people gathered and said to one another: What will you say about 'Isa when he asks you? They said: By Allah, we will say about him what Allah said and what our Prophet brought, whatever the consequence. When they entered upon him, he said: What do you say about 'Isa ibn Maryam? Ja'far ibn Abi Talib said: We say about him what our Prophet brought: He is the servant of Allah, His Messenger, His Spirit, and His Word which He cast to Maryam the Virgin, the Pure. She said: The Negus struck his hand on the ground and picked up a stick. Then he said: 'Isa ibn Maryam did not exceed what you have said by the length of this stick. His patriarchs around him snorted when he said what he said. He said: Even if you snort! By Allah, go, for you are safe in my land. Whoever insults you will be fined, then whoever insults you will be fined. I would not love to have a mountain of gold if it meant I harmed a single one of you. And dabr in the Abyssinian language means mountain. Return their gifts to them, for we have no need of them. By Allah, Allah did not take a bribe from me when He restored my kingdom, so why should I take a bribe for it? And the people did not obey me, so I should obey them against Him. She said: So they left his presence humiliated, their gifts returned to them. We remained with him in the best abode with the best neighbor. She said: By Allah, while we were in that state, someone rose against him to contest his kingdom. By Allah, we never knew a grief more severe than the grief we felt at that, fearing that this one would prevail over the Negus and a man would come who would not recognize our rights as the Negus recognized them. She said: The Negus marched out, with the width of the Nile between them. She said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Who will go out to witness the battle and bring us the news? She said: Al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam said: I will. He was the youngest of them. They inflated a waterskin for him, and he placed it on his chest and swam on it until he reached the side of the Nile where the armies met. Then he went until he witnessed the battle. She said: We supplicated to Allah for the Negus to prevail over his enemy and to be established in his land. The affairs of Abyssinia were settled in his favor, and we stayed with him in the best place until we came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was in Makkah.