The Arrival of Ja‘far ibn Abī Ṭālib and Those with Him

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim relate: Abū Kurayb told us; Abū Usāmah told us; he said: Burayd related to me, from Abū Burdah, from Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī, who said:

While we were in Yemen, news reached us that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had set out, so we left as emigrants to him—myself and two of my brothers; I was the youngest. One of them was Abū Ruhm and the other Abū Burdah. We were, he said, a little over fifty—or he said fifty-two—men from my clan. We boarded a ship, and our vessel carried us to the Negus in Abyssinia, where we met Ja‘far ibn Abī Ṭālib and his companions. Ja‘far said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has sent us and ordered us”—meaning that we should stay—“so stay with us.” We therefore remained with him until we all set out together and reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the time when Khaybar was conquered. He assigned us a share of the booty, and he had given nothing to anyone who had been absent from the conquest of Khaybar—apart from those who had been on our ship together with Ja‘far and his companions; to them as well he allotted a share.

Abū Mūsā added: Some people used to say to us, “We preceded you in hijrah.”

He went on to say: Asmaʾ bint ʿUmays—who had come with us—visited Ḥafṣah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ; Asmaʾ too had emigrated to the Negus. ʿUmar entered to see Ḥafṣah while Asmaʾ was with her. When ʿUmar saw Asmaʾ he asked, “Who is this?” Ḥafṣah replied, “Asmaʾ bint ʿUmays.” ʿUmar said, “The Abyssinian woman, the seafarer?” She answered, “Yes.” ʿUmar remarked, “We preceded you in migration; we therefore have more right to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than you.” Asmaʾ grew angry and retorted, “No, by Allah, O ʿUmar! You were with the Messenger of Allah—”