Thursday, August 16, 2012

The King Who Believed
As the number of the Prophet's followers increased so the enemies of the Muslims grew more and more angry. At last some of the Muslims decided to go to another country in order to live in peace. It was only five years since the Archangel Gabriel had first come to the Prophet (pbuh) and two years since the Prophet (pbuh) had spoken out in public. The Muslims asked the Prophet (pbuh) to allow them to leave Mecca. He agreed, saying 'It would be better for you to go to Abyssinia. The king there is a just man and it is a friendly country. Stay there until Allah makes it possible for you to return. The Muslims prepared for the journey. They decided to wait until night so that they could leave without being seen. The first sixteen left Mecca and, after reaching the shore of the Red Sea, crossed over to Abyssinia. Another eighty-three men and nineteen women followed, all hoping to be welcomed by the king and people of that country. This was the first hijrah, or migration, in Islam.
  The Meccans were furious when they discovered that these Muslims had secretly left the city for among them were the sons and daughters of many of the leading families of Mecca. The anger of the Meccans was even greater when they found out that the Muslims had been warmly welcomed in Abyssinia. The leaders of Quraysh decided to send two men to the Abyssinian king in hopes of persuading him to send the Muslims back. These were 'Amr ibn al-'As, a very clever speaker, and 'Abd Allah ibn abi Rabi'ah. Before they met this king, they gave each of his advisers a gift, saying: 'Some foolish men from our people have come to hide in your country. Our leaders have sent us to your ruler to persuade him to send them back, so when we speak to the king about them, do advise him to give them up to us.' The advisers agreed to do what the Meccans wished.

Amr ibn al-'As and 'Abd Allah ibn abi Rabi'ah then went to the king and presented him also with a gift, saying: 'Your Highness, these people have abandoned the religion we have always followed in Mecca,

No comments:

Post a Comment