The Muslim delegation thus departed from Mecca after its ravines and mountains—indeed, the entire length and breadth of the Arabian Peninsula—had closed in upon them. They arrived in the Negus’s land and found him just as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had described him: a man of sound judgment, firm in his conduct, who afforded generous protection to those who sought refuge with him. Neither precious gifts nor embellished speeches could sway him, even if his interlocutor was the shrewdest of the Arabs, renowned for his command of language, eloquent delivery, and captivating rhetoric—as was ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās.

Honoured brothers,

This migration of the Companions was truly unique. It was not a move from a land of disbelief to a land of Islam, as some people define migration. Nor was it even a move from a place of lesser virtue to one of greater virtue. Rather, it was from Mecca to Abyssinia in Africa. Abyssinia was not a land of Islam; indeed, Islam had not yet entered it. Neither of those descriptions, then, applied to this migration.

Their aim was to flee in order to preserve their religion and creed, for which they had been tortured, and to find somewhere they could worship Allah freely, without opposition. This is what they found with the Negus—praise be to Allah—before finding it with anyone else.

What emerges from their situation, the circumstances of their departure, and the course of their story is that they were refugees. Their concern was to find a land where they could openly practise the rites of their religion and worship Allah, their Lord, free from pressure and persecution. This is what their story indicates. Yet Allah, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, blessed that remarkable journey, and they became bearers of the call to Islam to the virgin continent of Africa.