سيدنا محمد

The King Who Believed
As the number of the Prophet's followers increased so the
enemies of the Muslims grew more and more angry. At last
some of the Muslims decided to go to another country in order
to live in peace. It was only five years since the Archangel
Gabriel had first come to the Prophet (pbuh) and two years
since the Prophet (pbuh) had spoken out in public. The
Muslims asked the Prophet (pbuh) to allow them to leave
Mecca. He agreed, saying 'It would be better for you to go to
Abyssinia. The king there is a just man and it is a friendly
country. Stay there until Allah makes it possible for you to
return. The Muslims prepared for the journey. They decided to
wait until night so that they could leave without being seen.
The first sixteen left Mecca and, after reaching the shore of die
Red Sea, crossed over to Abyssinia. Another eighty-three men
and nineteen women followed, all hoping to be welcomed by
the king and people of that country. This was the first hijrah,
or migration, in Islam.
The Meccans were furious when they discovered that these
Muslims had secretly left the city for among them were the
sons and daughters of many of the leading families of Mecca.
The anger of the Meccans was even greater when they found
out that the Muslims had been warmly welcomed in Abyssinia.
The leaders of Quraysh decided to send two men to the
Abyssinian king in hopes of persuading him to send the
Muslims back. These were 'Amr ibn al-'As, a very clever
speaker, and ‘Abd Allah ibn abi Rabi’ah. Before they met this
king, they gave each of his advisers a gift, saying: 'Some
foolish men from our people have come to hide in your
country. Our leaders have sent us to your ruler to persuade
him to send them back, so when we speak to the king about
them, do advise him to give them up to us.' The advisers
agreed to do what the Meccans wished.