The Negus gives refuge to the early Muslims (2022-06-26) #

0:00:03 in this story we read one of the most
0:00:05 touching episodes in the early history
0:00:08 of the muslim community
0:00:10 and i continue to read from muhammad his
0:00:13 life based on the earlier sources by
0:00:15 martin ling's chapter 27 entitled
0:00:19 abyssinia
0:00:21 the emigrants were well received in
0:00:24 abyssinia and were allowed complete
0:00:26 freedom of worship
0:00:28 in all not counting the small children
0:00:31 they took with them there were about 80
0:00:34 in number but they did not all go at the
0:00:37 same time
0:00:38 their flight was secretly planned and
0:00:41 carried out unobtrusively in small
0:00:44 groups
0:00:45 their families word and could have
0:00:48 stopped it
0:00:49 if they had known about it but the move
0:00:52 had been totally unexpected and they
0:00:55 failed to realize what had happened
0:00:57 until the believers had all reached
0:01:00 their final destination
0:01:03 the leaders of quraish however were
0:01:06 nonetheless determined that they should
0:01:08 not be left in peace to establish there
0:01:12 beyond their control a dangerous
0:01:15 community which might be increased
0:01:18 tenfold if others joined them
0:01:21 so they speedily thought out a plan and
0:01:24 made ready a quantity of presence of a
0:01:27 kind that the abyssinians were known to
0:01:31 value most
0:01:33 leatherwork they prized above all
0:01:37 so a large number of fine skins were
0:01:40 collected
0:01:41 enough to make a rich bribe for every
0:01:45 one of the negus's generals
0:01:49 there were also rich gifts for the negus
0:01:52 himself then they were then they
0:01:55 carefully chose two men one of whom was
0:02:00 of the clan of sham
0:02:03 quresh told them exactly what to do
0:02:07 they were to approach each of the
0:02:09 generals separately
0:02:12 give him his present and say
0:02:15 some young foolish men and women of our
0:02:18 people have taken refuge in this kingdom
0:02:22 they have left their own religion not
0:02:24 for yours but for one they have invented
0:02:28 one that is unknown to us
0:02:31 and to yourselves
0:02:33 the nobles of their people have sent us
0:02:36 to your king on their account that he
0:02:38 may send them home
0:02:40 so when we speak to him about them
0:02:44 counsel him to deliver them into our
0:02:47 hands and have no words with them
0:02:50 for their people see best how it is with
0:02:54 them
0:02:57 the generals all agreed and the two men
0:03:00 of quraish took their presence to the
0:03:03 negus
0:03:05 asking that the immigrants should be
0:03:07 given into their hands and explaining
0:03:10 the reason as they had done to the
0:03:12 generals
0:03:13 and finally adding
0:03:16 the nobles of their people who are their
0:03:18 fathers their uncles and their kinsmen
0:03:22 begged thee to restore them unto them
0:03:27 the generals were present at the
0:03:29 audience and now with one voice they
0:03:32 urge the to comply with their
0:03:34 request and give up the refugees in as
0:03:38 much as kinsmen are the best judges of
0:03:41 the affairs of their kinsmen
0:03:46 but the negus was displeased
0:03:49 and said
0:03:51 nay by god they shall not be put
0:03:54 betrayed
0:03:56 a people that have sought my protection
0:03:59 and made my country their abode and
0:04:02 chosen me above all others
0:04:06 give them up i will not
0:04:09 until i have summoned them and
0:04:11 questioned them concerning what these
0:04:13 men say of them
0:04:16 if it be as they have said then i will
0:04:19 deliver them unto them that they may
0:04:22 restore them to their own people
0:04:25 but if not then i will be their good
0:04:28 protector so long as they seek my
0:04:31 protection
0:04:34 then he sent for the companions of the
0:04:37 prophet and at the same time he
0:04:39 assembled his bishops who brought with
0:04:42 them their sacred books and spread them
0:04:45 open around the throne
0:04:48 amma and his fellow envoy had hoped to
0:04:52 prevent this meeting between the negus
0:04:55 and the refugees and it was indeed in
0:04:57 their interests to prevent it even more
0:05:01 so than they realized
0:05:04 for they were unaware that while the
0:05:06 abyssinians tolerated them for
0:05:09 commercial and political reasons
0:05:12 they looked down on them as heathens
0:05:16 and were conscious of a barrier between
0:05:18 them
0:05:20 they themselves were christians
0:05:23 many of them devout
0:05:26 they had been baptized they worshipped
0:05:28 the one god and they carried in their
0:05:31 flesh the sacrament of the eucharist
0:05:35 as such they were sensitive to the
0:05:37 difference between the sacred and the
0:05:40 profane and they were keenly conscious
0:05:43 of the profanity of men like amma
0:05:48 so much the more were they receptive
0:05:51 none more than the negus himself
0:05:53 to the impression of holy earnestness
0:05:57 and depth which was made on them by the
0:06:00 company of believers who were now
0:06:03 ushered into the throne room and a
0:06:06 murmur of wonderment arose from the
0:06:08 bishops and others
0:06:10 as they recognized that here were men
0:06:13 and women more akin to themselves than
0:06:17 to such a quraish as they had previously
0:06:20 encountered
0:06:22 moreover most of them were young and in
0:06:25 them many of them their piety of
0:06:28 demeanor was enhanced by a great natural
0:06:32 beauty
0:06:35 not for all of them had the emigration
0:06:37 been a necessity
0:06:39 uthman's family had given up trying to
0:06:42 make him recount
0:06:44 but the prophet nonetheless allowed him
0:06:47 to go and to take with him rukaya
0:06:50 their presence was a source of strength
0:06:53 to the community of exiles
0:06:57 another couple very pleasing to look
0:06:59 upon were jaffa and his wife asma
0:07:03 they were well protected by abu talib
0:07:06 but the refugees needed a spokesman and
0:07:09 jaffar was an eloquent speaker
0:07:13 he was also most winning in his person
0:07:16 and the prophet said to him on one
0:07:18 occasion
0:07:20 thou art like me in looks and in
0:07:23 character
0:07:25 it was jaffa he had chosen to preside
0:07:28 over the community of exiles
0:07:31 and his qualities of attraction and
0:07:34 intelligence were amply seconded by
0:07:37 masub of abd al-daar a young man whom
0:07:41 the prophet was later to entrust with a
0:07:43 mission of immense importance in virtue
0:07:47 of his natural gifts
0:07:50 likewise remarkable was a young maximite
0:07:54 known as shamas
0:07:56 whose mother was the sister of utbah
0:08:00 his name which means deacon
0:08:03 was given him because on one occasion
0:08:06 mecca had been visited by a christian
0:08:09 dignitary of that rank a man so
0:08:12 exceptionally handsome as to arouse
0:08:15 general admiration
0:08:17 whereupon utber had said
0:08:20 i will show you a shamas
0:08:22 more beautiful than he
0:08:25 and he went and brought before them his
0:08:28 sister's son
0:08:30 zaba
0:08:31 sophia's son was also present and there
0:08:34 were other cousins of the prophet
0:08:37 tulabe the son of awa two sons of uma
0:08:42 abd allah ibn jash and ube allah
0:08:45 together with the ubaid allah's umaired
0:08:48 wife um habiba
0:08:50 and the two sons of bara
0:08:57 both with their wives
0:08:59 it is from the beautiful um salama that
0:09:03 most of the accounts of this first
0:09:05 emigration have come down
0:09:10 when they were all assembled the
0:09:12 spoke to them and said
0:09:15 what is this religion wherein ye have
0:09:18 become separate from your people
0:09:20 though you have not entered my religion
0:09:23 nor that of any other of the folk that
0:09:26 surround us
0:09:28 and jaffa answered him saying
0:09:32 o king
0:09:33 we were a people steeped in ignorance
0:09:37 worshiping idols
0:09:39 eating unsacrificed carrion
0:09:42 committing abominations and the strong
0:09:45 would devour the weak
0:09:48 thus we were
0:09:50 until god sent us a messenger from out
0:09:54 of our midst
0:09:55 one whose lineage we knew
0:09:58 and his veracity and his worthiness of
0:10:00 trust and his
0:10:02 integrity he called us unto god
0:10:06 that we should testify to his oneness
0:10:09 and worship him and renounce what we and
0:10:13 our fathers had worshiped in the way of
0:10:15 stones and idols
0:10:19 and he commanded us to speak truly to
0:10:22 fulfill our promises to respect the ties
0:10:26 of kinship and the rights of our
0:10:29 neighbors
0:10:30 and to refrain from crimes and from
0:10:33 bloodshed
0:10:36 so we worship god alone and sitting not
0:10:40 beside him counting as forbidden what he
0:10:44 hath forbidden
0:10:45 and as listed what he hath allowed
0:10:49 for these reasons have our people turned
0:10:52 against us and have persecuted us to
0:10:56 make us forsake our religion and revert
0:10:59 from the worship of god to the worship
0:11:02 of idols
0:11:04 that is why we have come to thy country
0:11:07 having chosen thee above all others
0:11:11 and we have been happy in thy protection
0:11:15 and it is our hope o king that here with
0:11:19 thee
0:11:20 we shall not suffer wrong
0:11:26 the royal interpreters translated all
0:11:28 that he had said
0:11:30 the negus then asked if they had with
0:11:32 them any revelation that their prophet
0:11:35 had brought them from god and when jaffa
0:11:39 answered that they had
0:11:41 he said
0:11:42 then recite it to me
0:11:45 whereupon jaffa recited a passage from
0:11:48 the surah of mary which had been
0:11:51 recently revealed shortly before their
0:11:54 departure
0:11:56 the quran says
0:11:58 and make mention of mary in the book
0:12:01 when she withdrew from her people unto
0:12:04 her place towards the east
0:12:06 and secluded herself from them
0:12:09 and we sent unto her our spirit and it
0:12:12 appeared unto her in the likeness of a
0:12:15 perfect man
0:12:17 she said
0:12:19 i take refuge from thee in the
0:12:21 infinitely good if any piety thou hast
0:12:25 he said
0:12:26 i am none other than a messenger from
0:12:29 thy lord that i may bestow on thee a son
0:12:33 most pure
0:12:35 she said how can there be for me a son
0:12:39 when no man hath touched me nor am i
0:12:43 unchaste
0:12:45 he said
0:12:46 even so shall it be
0:12:49 thy lord saith it is easy for me
0:12:54 that we may make him a sign for mankind
0:12:58 and a mercy from us
0:13:00 and it is a thing ordained
0:13:06 the legos wept and his bishops wept also
0:13:10 when they heard him recite and when it
0:13:12 was translated they wept again and the
0:13:15 said
0:13:16 this hath truly come from the same
0:13:19 source as that which jesus brought
0:13:23 then he turned to the two envoys of
0:13:26 quresh and said
0:13:28 you may go
0:13:29 for by god i will not deliver them unto
0:13:32 you they shall not be portrayed betrayed
0:13:39 but when they had withdrawn from the
0:13:41 royal presence ammo said to his
0:13:43 companion
0:13:44 tomorrow i will tell him a thing that
0:13:47 shall tear up this green growing
0:13:49 prosperity of theirs by the roots
0:13:53 i will tell them that they aver that
0:13:55 jesus the son of mary is a slave
0:14:00 so the next morning he went to the negus
0:14:03 and said o king
0:14:05 they utter an enormous lie about jesus
0:14:09 the son of mary
0:14:10 do but send to them and ask them what
0:14:14 they say of him
0:14:16 so they went so they so he sent them
0:14:19 word to come to him again and to tell
0:14:22 him what they said of jesus
0:14:25 whereupon they were troubled for nothing
0:14:27 of this kind had ever yet befallen them
0:14:31 they consulted together as what they
0:14:34 should reply when the question was put
0:14:37 to them though they all knew that they
0:14:39 had no choice but to say what god had
0:14:42 said so when they entered the royal
0:14:45 presence and it was said to them what
0:14:48 say ye o jesus the son of mary
0:14:51 jafar said
0:14:53 we say of him what our prophet brought
0:14:55 unto us
0:14:57 that he is the slave of god and his
0:15:01 messenger and his spirit and his word
0:15:05 which he cast unto mary the blessed
0:15:08 virgin
0:15:11 the lagos took a piece of wood and said
0:15:14 jesus the son of mary exceedeth not what
0:15:17 thou has said by the length of this
0:15:20 stick
0:15:21 and when the generals ran him snorted he
0:15:25 added for all your snorting
0:15:29 then he turned to jafar and his
0:15:30 companions and said
0:15:32 go your ways for you are safe in my land
0:15:36 not for mountains of gold would i harm a
0:15:39 single man of you
0:15:42 and with a movement of his hand towards
0:15:44 the envoys of quraish he said to his
0:15:47 attendant
0:15:48 return unto these two men their gifts
0:15:52 for i have no use for them
0:15:56 so amma and the other man went back
0:15:59 ignominiously
0:16:01 to mecca
0:16:03 meanwhile the news of what the
0:16:06 had said about jesus spread among the
0:16:09 people and they were troubled
0:16:12 and came out against him asking for an
0:16:15 explanation and accusing him of having
0:16:18 left their religion
0:16:20 he there upon sent to jafar and his
0:16:23 companions and made red made ready boats
0:16:26 for them and told them to embark and to
0:16:29 be ready to sail if necessary
0:16:33 then he took a parchment and wrote on it
0:16:38 he testifieth that there is no god but
0:16:41 god and that muhammad is his slave and
0:16:43 his messenger and that jesus the son of
0:16:46 mary is his slave and his messenger and
0:16:49 his spirit and his word which he cast
0:16:52 unto mary
0:16:55 then he put it beneath his gown and went
0:16:59 out to his people who were assembled to
0:17:02 meet him
0:17:03 and he said to them abyssinians
0:17:07 have i not the best claim to be your
0:17:10 king
0:17:11 they said that he had
0:17:14 then what think ye of my life amongst
0:17:16 you
0:17:17 it hath been the best of lives they
0:17:20 answered
0:17:21 then what is it that troubleth you he
0:17:24 said
0:17:26 that thou
0:17:27 left thou has left our religion they
0:17:31 said and has maintained that jesus is a
0:17:34 slave
0:17:37 then what say you of jesus he asked
0:17:40 we say that he is the son of god he
0:17:44 answered
0:17:45 then he put his hand on his breast
0:17:48 pointing to where the parchment was
0:17:50 hidden
0:17:51 and testified to his belief in this
0:17:56 which they took to refer to their words
0:18:01 so they were satisfied
0:18:03 and went away
0:18:04 for they were happy under his rule and
0:18:07 only wished to be reassured
0:18:10 and the negus sent words jafar and his
0:18:13 companions that they could disembark and
0:18:16 go back to their dwellings
0:18:19 where they went on living as before
0:18:22 in comfort
0:18:24 and security
0:18:28 and there ends the 27th chapter of the
0:18:31 book entitled abyssinia
0:18:34 martin ling's his life based on the
0:18:36 earliest sources
0:18:38 till next time