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{{Short description|Episode in the early history of Islam}}
{{See also|Diplomatic career of Muhammad}}
{{Infobox historical event
|Event_Name = Migration to Abyssinia
| image = Hijra Abyssinia (Rashid ad-Din).jpg
|AKA = Hijrah Habshah ʽUla ({{Script/Arabic|الهجرة الأولى إلى الحبشة}}) or Hijrah il-al-Habshah ({{Script/Arabic|الهجرة إلى الحبشة}})
|motive=To escape [[Persecution of Muslims by Meccans|persecution by the Quraysh]]|blank_label=Departure location|blank_data=[[Mecca]], [[Hejaz]], [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]]|blank1_label=Destination|blank1_data=[[Axum|Aksum]], [[Kingdom of Aksum]]|Participants = The early ''[[Companions of the Prophet|Sahabah]]'': Eleven men and four women
|caption=1314 manuscript illustration by [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani|Rashid ad-Din]] depicting the [[Negus]] of [[Kingdom of Aksum|medieval Abyssinia]] declining a [[Quraysh|Meccan]] delegation's request to surrender the [[History of Islam|early Muslims]].|native_name={{Script/Arabic|الهجرة إلى الحبشة}}|native_name_lang=ar|Date = c. 613-615 CE (9-7 [[Islamic calendar|BH]])
|nongregorian = Julian
|partof=the [[diplomatic career of Muhammad]]|Result = Some of the early [[Muslims]] settle in Aksum
}}
{{Muhammad}}

The '''migration to Abyssinia''' ({{lang-ar|الهجرة إلى الحبشة|translit=al-hijra ʾilā al-habaša}}), also known as the '''First Hijra''' ({{lang-ar|الهجرة الأولى|translit=al-hijrat al'uwlaa|label=none}}), was an episode in the early history of [[Islam]], where the first followers of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] (they were known as the [[Companions of the Prophet|Sahabah]]) migrated from [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] due to their persecution by the [[Quraysh]], the ruling [[Arabs|Arab]] tribal confederation of [[Mecca]]. They sought and were granted refuge in the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], an ancient [[Christian state#History|Christian state]] that was situated in modern-day [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]] (also referred to as [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]]),<ref>{{cite book|author=E. A. Wallis Budge|title=A History of Ethiopia: Volume I: Nubia and Abyssinia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWQtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PR7|date=Aug 1, 2014|publisher= Routledge|pages=vii|isbn=9781317649151}}</ref> in {{BH|9|613}} or {{BH|7|615}}. The ruling [[List of kings of Axum|Aksumite monarch]] who received them is known in Islamic sources as [[Najashi]] ({{lang-ar|نجاشي|translit=najāšī|label=none}}), the [[Negus]] of the kingdom; modern historians have alternatively identified him with the Aksumite king [[Najashi|Armah]] and [[Ella Tsaham]].<ref>{{cite book|author=M. Elfasi, Ivan Hrbek|title=Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century|year=1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tw0Q0tg0QLoC&pg=PA560|publisher=UNESCO|page=560|isbn=9789231017094}}</ref> Some of the Sahabah exiles returned to Mecca and made the [[Hegira|migration to Medina]] with Muhammad, while others remained in Aksum and arrived in [[Medina]] in 628.<ref name="Watt1961">{{cite book|author=William Montgomery Watt|title=Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman|year=1961|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLN2hNidLw4C&pg=PA66|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=66|isbn=9780198810780}}</ref>

==Background==
According to the traditional view,{{Clarification needed|reason=Which traditional view?|date=July 2022}} members of the [[History of Islam|early Muslim community]] in [[Mecca]] faced persecution, which prompted [[Muhammad]] to advise them to seek refuge in [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]]. The earliest extant account is given in the [[Prophetic biography|''sirah'']] of the eighth-century [[Muslims|Muslim]] historian [[Ibn Ishaq]]:<ref name="sira146">{{cite book|last=Ibn Ishāq|author-link= Ibn Ishāq|title=Sīratu Rasūlillāh (tr. [[Alfred Guillaume]])|year=2004|page=146|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref name="Watt110-111"/>

{{blockquote|When the apostle saw the affliction of [[Companions of the Prophet|his companions]], [...] he said to them: "If you were to go to Abyssinia (it would be better for you), for the king will not tolerate injustice and it is a friendly country, until such time as ''[[Allah]]'' shall relieve you from your distress." Thereupon his companions went to Abyssinia, being afraid of apostasy and fleeing to [[God in Islam|God]] with their religion. This was the first hijra in [[Islam]].}}

Another view, grounded in the political developments of the time, suggests that following the [[Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem|capture of Jerusalem in 614]] by the [[Sasanian Empire]], many believers saw a potential danger to the community as they were not the partisans of the [[Iranian peoples|Persians]] who practiced [[Zoroastrianism]] and had earlier supported the [[Jewish tribes of Arabia|Jews of Arabia]] in [[Himyarite Kingdom|Himyar]]. The acceptance of these Muslims into the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] at precisely a moment of Persian triumph in the [[Levant]] recalls the Aksumite foreign policy of the previous century, which saw Aksum and Persia [[Aksumite–Persian wars|compete for influence]] in [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]].<ref>Bowersock, G.W (Dr). ''The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam''. Oxford University Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-19-973932-5}}</ref>

==The migration(s)==
According to [[List of Muslim historians|historians of Islam]],{{Which?|date=July 2022}} there were two migrations, although there are differences of opinion with regard to the dates.<ref name="ahlulbayt">{{cite web|title=The Two Migrations of Muslims to Abyssinia|url=http://www.al-islam.org/restatement-history-islam-and-muslims-sayyid-ali-ashgar-razwy/two-migrations-muslims-abyssinia|publisher=[[Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project]]|access-date=18 December 2015}}</ref><ref name="Watt110-111">{{cite book |title=Muhammad at Mecca|author=W. Montgomery Watt|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1980|pages=110–111}}</ref><ref name="Oxford">{{cite book |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam|editor= John L. Esposito |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E324pQEEQQcC&pg=PA351|page=351|isbn= 9780199757268}}</ref><ref name="Zakaria">Rafiq Zakaria, 1991, ''Muhammad and The Quran,'' New Delhi: [[Penguin Books]], pp. 403-4. {{ISBN|0-14-014423-4}}</ref>

The first group of [[Human migration|migrants]], which comprised twelve men and four women, who fled [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] in the year {{BH|7|615}} or {{BH|9|613}} according to other sources,<ref name="Oxford"/> and was granted asylum by [[Najashi]], the [[Negus]] of the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], a [[Christian state]] that existed in modern-day [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]]. This group included [[Muhammad]]'s daughter [[Ruqayyah bint Muhammad|Ruqayyah]] and his son-in-law [[Uthman|Uthman ibn Affan]], who would later become the [[Rashidun|third caliph]] of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] after Muhammad's death. Prior to the exile, Muhammad chose [[Uthman ibn Maz'un|Uthman ibn Mazʽun]], one of his most important [[Companions of the Prophet|companions]], as the leader of this group. According to [[Ibn Sa'd|Tabqat Ibn Saʽd]], the group boarded a merchant ship from the sea port of Shuʽaiba and paid a half-dinar each to cross into [[East Africa]] via the [[Red Sea]].<ref>{{cite web |title=First Hijrah: Migration to Abyssinia |url=https://madainproject.com/migration_to_abyssinia |website=Madain Project |access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref> After a year, the exiles heard rumours that the [[Quraysh]] had [[Conversion to Islam|converted to Islam]], which prompted them to return to [[Mecca]]. Confronted with the opposite reality, they set out for the Aksumite kingdom again in {{BH|6|616}} or {{BH|7|615}} according to other sources,<ref name="Zakaria"/>{{Clarify|reason=What "other sources"?|date=July 2022}} this time accompanied by other newly-founded Muslims, with the migrant group comprising 83 men and 18 women in total.<ref name="ahlulbayt"/>

Some [[Western world|Western]] historians such as [[Leone Caetani]] (1869–1935) and [[W. Montgomery Watt|William Montgomery Watt]] (1909–2006) questioned the account of two migrations.<ref name="Watt110-111"/> Although [[Ibn Ishaq]] provided two partially overlapping lists of migrants, he did not mention that the first group returned and went back a second time.<ref name="Watt110-111"/> Watt argued that the word used by Ibn Ishaq (''tatāba‘a'', {{Translation|'followed one after another'}}) and the order of the names on the lists suggests that the migration may have taken place in a number of smaller groups rather than two large parties, while the appearance of the two lists reflected the controversies surrounding the assignment of priority on official registers during the reign of the second [[Rashidun]] caliph, [[Umar|Umar ibn al-Khattab]].<ref name="Watt110-111"/>

==In Aksum==
Much of the coverage of this event comes from the historian [[Ibn Ishaq]].<ref name="sira150">{{cite book|last= Ibn Ishāq|author-link= Ibn Ishāq|title=Sīratu Rasūlillāh (tr. [[Alfred Guillaume]])|year=2004|pages=150–153|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref name="Lings">{{cite book|last= Martin Lings|author-link= Martin Lings|title=[[Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources]]|year=2006|pages=81–84|publisher=Inner Traditions}}</ref>

When the [[Quraysh]] learned that the early Muslims were planning to move to the [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite kingdom]], they sent a delegation to the [[Negus]] to demand the surrender of the fugitives. They selected two envoys: [[Amr ibn al-As|‘Amr ibn al-‘As]] and Abdullah bin Rabiah. The Meccan envoys were given gifts for the Aksumite king [[Najashi]] and his generals. The gifts were made up of leather and prepared by fine skin.<ref name="sira150" /><ref name="Lings" /> The Meccans appealed to the generals, arguing that the [[Muslims|Muslim]] migrants were rebels who had invented a new religion, the likes of which neither the Meccans nor the Aksumites had heard of, and that their relatives were asking for their return. The king granted them an audience, but ultimately refused to hand over the migrants until he heard their defence.<ref name="sira150" /><ref name="Lings" />

The [[Companions of the Prophet|Sahabah]] were later brought in front of the Negus and his bishops. [[Ja'far ibn Abi Talib|Jaʽfar ibn Abi Talib]], who acted as the leader of the exiles, spoke in their defence:

{{blockquote|O king, we were a wicked and ignorant people who [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|worshipped idols]] and ate corpses. We committed all types of disgraceful acts and did not pay our due obligations to neighbours and relatives. The strong man of us suppressed the weak by power. Then ''[[Allah]]'' raised [[Muhammad in Islam|a prophet among us]] whose nobility, righteousness, good character and pure life were well-known to us. He called us to worship [[Tawhid|only one God]], and exerted us to give up idolatry and stone worship. He taught us to speak the truth, to fulfill the promise, to regard the rights of relatives and neighbours. He forbade us from indecency; asked us to offer prayer and pay [[Zakat]]; to shun everything foul and to avoid bloodshed. He forbade adultery, lewdness, telling lies, misappropriating the orphan’s heritage, bringing false accusation against others and all other indecent things to that sort. He taught us the [[Quran|Holy Quran]], the divine revelation. When we believed in him and acted upon his nice teachings, our people began to persecute us and to subject us to torture. When their cruelties exceeded all bounds, we took shelter in your country by the permission of our prophet.|source=the [[prophetic biography]] by [[Ibn Hisham]]{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}|author=|character=Jaʽfar ibn Abi Talib}}

The [[Christians|Christian]] king requested their revelations from [[God in Abrahamic religions|God]]. Jaʽfar then recited a passage from the Quran's [[Maryam (surah)|Surah Maryam]] ({{Literal translation|Chapter of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]]}}). When the king heard it, he wept and exclaimed: "Verily, this and what [[Jesus]] brought (the [[Gospel]]) has come from the same source of light (''miškāt'')".

However, one of the envoys, ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, thought of an alternative tactic. On the following day, he returned to the king and told him that the Muslims had disrespected Jesus. When the Muslims heard that the king had summoned them again to question them about their view of Jesus, they tried to find a diplomatic answer, but ultimately decided to speak according to the revelation they had received. When the king addressed Jaʽfar, he replied that they held Jesus to be "God's servant, His prophet, His spirit, and His word which He cast upon the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|virgin Mary]]". Muslim accounts state that upon hearing these words, the Negus declared that Jesus was indeed no more than what he had said; he turned to the Muslims and told them: "go, for you are safe in my country". He then returned the gifts to the envoys and dismissed them.<ref name="sira150" /><ref name="Lings" />

==End of the Muslim exile==
Many of the exiles in [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] returned to [[Mecca]] in 622 and made the [[hegira|hijra to Medina]] with [[Muhammad]], while a second wave went to [[Medina]] in 628.<ref name="Watt1961" /><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LhaWBAAAQBAJ&pg=PP87|title= The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate: AD 500 - 1000|author= Timothy Power|publisher= [[I.B. Tauris]]|year= 2012|page= 87|isbn= 9781617973505}}</ref>

==First migration list==
The first list of emigrants reported by [[Ibn Ishaq]] included the following eleven men and four women:<ref name="sira146"/>

*[[Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas]]
*[[Jahsh ibn Riyab]]<ref>He is father of Zainab and a father-in-law of Muhammad. In some accounts relating to Sahabahs in China, he (Jahsh) is noted as Geys. Muslims of Chams (Cambodiya) trace ancestry to a father-in-law of Prophet Muhammad, who is none other than Jahsh (Geys). See [[T.W. Arnold|T. W. Arnold]], ''The Preaching of Islam'', 294n8.</ref>
*[[Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh]]
*[[Ja'far ibn Abi Talib]] leader of the group
*[[Uthman]], son-in-law and [[Companions of the Prophet|companion]] of [[Muhammad]], husband of [[Ruqayyah bint Muhammad|Ruqayyah]], and the third [[Rashidun|rightly guided caliph]].
*[[Ruqayyah bint Muhammad]], the wife of Uthman and daughter of Muhammad.
*[[Abu Hudhayfa ibn 'Utba]]
*[[Sahla bint Suhail]], wife of Abu Hudhayfa
*[[Zubayr ibn al-Awwam]]
*[[Mus'ab ibn Umair]]
*[[Abdur Rahman bin Awf]]
*[[Abu Salama Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Asad]]
*[[Umm Salama]], wife of Abu Salama
*[[Uthman bin Maz'oon]]
*Amir bin Rabiah
*Layla bint Abi Asmah – wife of Amir<ref name="list">{{cite web|url=http://dcbun.tripod.com/id17.html|title=Authentic History of King Negash of Abyssinia (Currently Ethiopia)|work=tripod.com|access-date=2010-12-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118233450/http://dcbun.tripod.com/id17.html|archive-date=2018-01-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=July 2022}}

==See also==
*[[Diplomatic career of Muhammad]]
*[[Mosque of the Companions]] in [[Massawa]], Eritrea
*[[Negash]]
*[[Second migration to Abyssinia]]
*[[Timeline of 7th century Muslim history|Timeline of 7th-century Muslim history]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

[[Category:Islam in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Life of Muhammad]]
[[Category:Medieval Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Medieval Somalia]]
[[Category:Horn of Africa]]
[[Category:Islam in Eritrea]]
[[Category:Islam in Somalia]]
[[Category:610s]]
[[Category:7th century in Africa]]
[[Category:Christian and Islamic interfaith dialogue]]

Migration to Abyssinia - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article