Second Migration to Abyssinia

The first migration to Abyssinia had taken approximately fifteen Muslims across the Red Sea in secret. When a false rumor reached them that the Quraysh had converted to Islam, many returned — only to find the situation unchanged. The response was the second migration, significantly larger: approximately eighty-three men and nineteen women, constituting a substantial portion of the early Muslim community, crossed to Abyssinia in the sixth or seventh year of prophethood. This was not a retreat but a deliberate strategic relocation under conditions of systematic persecution that had made remaining in Mecca incompatible with practicing Islam. The roster of the second migration included figures of the first rank: Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet's eloquent cousin who would serve as the Muslim spokesman before the Negus; Umm Salamah and her husband Abu Salamah, whose years of separation and endurance during this period became one of the most moving narratives in early seerah literature; Abdullah ibn Mas'ud; and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. The Quraysh sent a second, more carefully prepared embassy to the Negus — led by Amr ibn al-As and Abdullah ibn Abi Rabia — with gifts calibrated to persuade the court. They argued the migrants were neither practicing the religion of their ancestors nor Christianity, and should be returned. The Negus summoned both parties. Ja'far ibn Abi Talib delivered one of the most significant speeches in Islamic history: describing the pre-Islamic condition of Arabia, the nature of the Prophet's message, and the Islamic position on Jesus ibn Maryam. He recited the opening of Surah Maryam. The Negus and his bishops wept. The Negus drew a line on the ground with a stick and said the difference between what the Muslims said about Jesus and what he believed was no more than that line. He refused to extradite the Muslims, returned the Qurayshi gifts, and dismissed the envoys. The community in Abyssinia remained for years — some nearly a decade — practicing their faith under the protection of a just ruler who would eventually, in Islamic tradition, accept Islam privately before his death. The Prophet ﷺ later led the funeral prayer for him in Medina — the only salat al-gha'ib recorded in the prophetic career.