Layla bint Abi Hathmah (1), Hatib ibn Amr, and Sahl (2) ibn Bayda, may Allah be pleased with them. They set out for the sea and took a ship to the land of Abyssinia for half a dinar. This was in Rajab, in the fifth year after the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began his mission. This was the first migration. Then Ja'far ibn Abi Talib departed, and the Muslims followed one another there. Altogether, eighty-two Muslim men migrated to Abyssinia, apart from women and children.
When Quraysh learned of this, they sent Amr ibn al-As and his companion with gifts to the Negus and his bishops, so that they might return the Muslims to them. But Allah protected them. The account has been mentioned in Surah Al Imran.
When the two returned disappointed, the Muslims remained there, in the best of lands and under the finest protection, until the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, migrated and his cause prevailed. In the sixth year after the Hijrah, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wrote to the Negus through Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri, asking him to arrange his marriage to Umm Habibah bint Abu Sufyan—who had migrated to him with her husband, but whose husband had died—and to send him the Muslims who were with him.
The Negus sent a servant-girl named Abarah to Umm Habibah to inform her that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had proposed marriage to her. Delighted by this, she gave her some of her jewelry. She authorized Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As to act on her behalf, and he concluded her marriage for a dower of four hundred dinars. The Negus, may Allah be pleased with him, proposed on behalf of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Negus then sent her four hundred dinars through Abarah. When Abarah brought them to her, she gave her fifty dinars, but Abarah returned them, saying, “The king instructed me not to take anything from you.” She said, “I am responsible for the king’s perfumes and clothing. I have affirmed Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and believed in him. All I ask of you is that you convey my greetings to him.”
Umm Habibah said, “Certainly. The king has also instructed his women to send you whatever aloeswood and ambergris they possess.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would see these things upon her and in her possession, and he did not object.
Umm Habibah said: “We departed for Medina while the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was at Khaybar. Whoever went out to meet him did so, while I remained in Medina until the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, arrived. I entered upon him, and he asked me about the Negus. I conveyed to him Abarah’s greetings, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, returned her greeting.”
Then Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, revealed:
“Perhaps Allah will bring about affection between you and those with whom you have been at enmity among them.”
That is, affection toward Abu Sufyan—through the marriage to Umm Habibah. When news of Umm Habibah’s marriage reached Abu Sufyan, he said, “That is a worthy man who cannot be turned away.” (3)
After Ja'far arrived before the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the Negus sent his son, Azha ibn Ashamah ibn Abjar, along with sixty men from Abyssinia, and wrote to him: “O Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that you are truly the Messenger of Allah, confirming the truth. I have pledged allegiance to you, and I have pledged allegiance to