The Two Emigrations to Abyssinia

To know why the two emigrations to Abyssinia happened, the names of their most prominent participants, and to see how the accounts present their return.

• Distinguish the first emigration from the second and name what marks each.
• Name who sheltered them and who spoke for them before the king.
• See how the differing accounts of the emigrants' return are attributed to their sources.

This lesson is smaller and narrower than "The Meccan Period", focusing on one event and its people, and shows how the museum presents differing accounts of the same event. Approximate duration: 25 minutes; 11 steps. This is an experimental trail within "Tour and Learn".

It is best to start with The Meccan Period: From the Cave to the Hijra.

1. Why Did They Leave?

The persecution of the vulnerable: the context — the harm that preceded the emigration.

2. The First Emigration

The first emigration to Abyssinia: who left, when, and how.

3. The King Who Sheltered Them

The Negus: who the Negus is as the page presents him, and what is said about his Islam.

4. The Second Emigration

The second emigration to Abyssinia: who left a second time, and what Quraysh did.

5. Ja'far ibn Abi Talib

Ja'far ibn Abi Talib: the one who spoke before the king on the emigrants' behalf.

6. The Emigrants to Abyssinia

The emigrants of Abyssinia: how Ibn Ishaq classifies them by their return.

7. A Different Case

Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh's conversion to Christianity in Abyssinia: not everyone who left remained Muslim, as Ibn Ishaq relates; note that the book does not date the event.

8. Umm Habiba

Umm Habiba Ramla bint Abi Sufyan: one who emigrated, returned, and became a Mother of the Believers.

9. Asma bint Umays

Asma bint Umays: one of the women who emigrated with their husbands.

10. The Return

The arrival of the Abyssinian emigrants with Ja'far ibn Abi Talib: its account on the page, according to Ibn Ishaq.

11. Another Account of Ja'far's Arrival

Ja'far ibn Abi Talib's arrival to the Prophet at Khaybar: a report Ibn Hisham transmits from other than Ibn Ishaq; compare the two pages.

Try next: The Women Around the Prophet: Twelve Lives.