for the Muslims to emigrate to Abyssinia, Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, her infant daughter Habiba, and her husband ʿUbayd Allah ibn Jahsh (1) were among the very first to set out—migrating for Allah’s sake and taking refuge with the Negus (2) under the shelter of their faith.

Yet Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and the other chiefs of Quraysh found it unbearable (3) that this small band of believers had slipped from their grasp and were now tasting the comfort of Abyssinia. They therefore dispatched envoys to the Negus, stirring him up (4) against the emigrants, urging him to hand them over, and claiming that these Muslims spoke of the Messiah and his mother Mary in terms that would offend him (5).

Accordingly, the Negus summoned the leaders of the emigrants and questioned them.