205 – ’A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ standing in front of me, shielding me while I watched the Abyssinians playing in the mosque …” — the ḥadīth. Agreed upon (1).

Glossary of the ḥadīth
– The Abyssinians: a people of Black Africans whose country is now called Ethiopia, with its capital Addis Ababa, bordered by Eritrea to the north, Somalia to the east, and Sudan to the west. Islam reached their land in the seventh century.
– “They were playing”: the word “play” applies to every form of recreation; Muslim’s version reads, “They were playing in the mosque with their spears.”

Points derived from the ḥadīth
1 – The Abyssinians are naturally inclined toward play and rhythmic display; therefore the Prophet ﷺ allowed them to pursue that interest inside the mosque, taking into account an important principle of public policy indicated in certain wordings of the ḥadīth, namely:
(a) To inform those groups that had not yet embraced Islam—because they feared it was harsh and severe—that Islam is a religion of tolerance, openness, and breadth. Foremost among such groups were the Jews, who kept their distance from Islam and dissuaded others from it. Thus one wording of the report mentions that ’Umar objected to the display, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ said, “Leave them alone, so that the Jews may know that there is latitude in our religion and that I was sent with the easy-going ḥanīfiyyah.”

(1) Agreed upon by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.