Hadeeth of Ja'far bin Abi Talib %26 It is Hadeeth of al Hijrah (migration)

When we came to the land of Abyssinia, we stayed there under the protection of the best of protectors, the Negus, and we felt safe to practise our religion and we worshipped Allah without being bothered or hearing anything we disliked. When news of that reached Quraish, they decided to send two tough men to the Negus concerning us and to give the Negus gifts of some of the goods of Makkah. Among the goods of Makkah that he liked best was leather, so they collected a great deal of leather and they did not leave any of his bishops without giving him a gift. Then they sent that with ‘Abdullah bin Abi Rabee"ah bin al-Mugheerah al-Makhzoomi and ‘Amr bin al"As bin Wa"il as-Sahmi, and they told them what to do. They said to them: Give to each bishop a gift before you speak to the Negus concerning them [the Muslims], then give the Negus his gifts, then ask him to hand them over to you before he speaks to them. She said: They set out and came to the Negus, when we were in the best land and under the best protection, and they did not come to any bishop but they gave him his gift before they spoke to the Negus. And they said to each bishop: Some foolish young men of ours have come to the land of the king; they have left the religion of their people and they have not entered your religion; they have invented a religion that neither we nor you recognize. The nobles of their people have sent us to the king concerning them, so that we can bring them back. When we speak to the king concerning them, advise him to hand them over to us and not speak to them, for their people know best about them and how to handle them, and they know best about their faults. They [the bishops] said to them: Yes (we will do that). Then they brought their gifts to the Negus and he accepted them from them, then they spoke to him and said: O king, some foolish young men of ours have come to your land; they have left the religion of their people and they have not entered your religion; they have invented a religion that neither we nor you recognize. The nobles of their people, their fathers, uncles and clans, have sent us to you concerning them, to bring them back, for they know best how to handle them and they know best about their faults. Nothing was more hateful to "Abdullah bin Abi Rabee"ah and "Amr bin al-"As than that the Negus should listen to what they [the Muslims] had to say. The bishops around him said: They have spoken the truth, O King; their people know best how to handle them and they know best about their faults. So hand them over to them and let them take them back to their land and their people. But the Negus got angry and said: No, by Allah, I shall never hand them over to them; I shall never expel people who came seeking my protection and settled in my land, and chose me over all others, until I summon them and ask them about what these two are saying concerning them. Then if they are as these two say, I shall hand them over to them to return them to their people, but if they are not like that, I shall keep them away from them and I shall be kind to them so long as they are under my protection. Then he sent for the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and summoned them. When his messenger came to them, they met together and said to one another: What will you say to the man when you go to him? They said: By Allah, we shall say what our Prophet (ﷺ) taught us and enjoined upon us, no matter what the consequences. When they came to him, the Negus had also summoned his bishops and they had spread their books around him. He asked them: What is this religion for which you left your people, and you did not enter my religion or the religion of any of these nations? The one who spoke was Ja"far bin Abi Talib. He said to him: O king, we were an ignorant people, worshipping idols, eating dead meat, committing immoral actions, severing ties of kinship and mistreating neighbours; the strong among us would devour the weak. We were like that until Allah sent to us a Messenger from among us; we knew of his lineage, his sincerity, his trustworthiness and his dignity. He called us to Allah, to believe in Him alone and to worship Him, and to give up what we and our fathers used to worship of rocks and idols. And he commanded us to speak the truth, render back trusts, uphold ties of kinship, treat neighbours well, and refrain from crimes and bloodshed; he forbade us to commit immoral actions, speak falsehood, consume the wealth of orphans and slander chaste women. He instructed us to worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him; he enjoined us to pray, give zakah, and fast - and he listed the commandments of Islam - and we believed in him and followed that which he brought. So we worshipped Allah alone and did not associate anything with Him. We regarded as forbidden that which he forbade to us and we regarded as permissible that which he permitted to us. But our people turned against us: they tortured us and tried to make us give up our religion and go back to worshipping idols instead of worshipping Allah, and so that we would regard as permissible that which we used to regard as permissible of evil things. But when they persecuted us and mistreated us, and tried to make us give up our religion, we came to your land and chose you over all others; we sought your protection and hoped that we would not be mistreated in your land, O king. The Negus said to him: Do you have with you any of that which he brought from Allah? Ja"far said to him: Yes. The Negus said to him: Recite it to me. So he recited to him the beginning of Soorat Maryam, and by Allah, the Negus wept until his beard became wet and his bishops also wept until their books became wet when they heard what he recited to them. Then the Negus said: This and what Moosa brought came from the same lamp. Go away, for we will never hand them over to you or harm them. Umm Salamah said: When they left his presence, "Amr bin al-"As said: By Allah, tomorrow I shall tell him of something that he will regard as serious, and by means of that I will be able to eradicate them. ‘Abdullah bin Abi Rabee"ah, who was the more reasonable of the two men towards us, said: Do not do it, for they have ties of kinship with us, even though they have differed from us. ["Amr] said: By Allah, I shall certainly tell him that they claim that "Eesa Ibn Maryam is a slave (of Allah). Then he came to him the next day and said to him: O king, they say something very serious about "Eesa Ibn Maryam; sent for them and ask them what they say about him. So he sent for them to ask them about that. Nothing like this had happened to us before, so the people gathered and said to one another: What will you say about "Eesa when he asks you about him? They said: By Allah, we will say about him what Allah said about him and what our Prophet (ﷺ) said about him, no matter what the consequences. When they entered upon him, he said to them: What do you say about "Eesa Ibn Maryam? Ja"far bin Abi Talib said to him: We say about him what our Prophet (ﷺ) taught: he is the slave of Allah and His Messenger, a Spirit created by Him and His word that He bestowed upon Maryam the Virgin. The Negus struck his hand on the ground and picked up a stick, then he said: Eesa Ibn Maryam is no different than what you said, not even as much as this stick. His bishops around him groaned when he said that, and he said: Even if you groan, by Allah! Go, for you are safe in this land. Whoever annoys you will be punished, then whoever annoys you will be punished, then whoever annoyed you will be punished. I would not like to have a mountain of gold in return for harming one of you. Give their gifts back to them; we have no need of them. By Allah, Allah did not take from me a bribe when He restored my kingdom to me, so why should I take a bribe to go against Him (concerning them)? And He did not listen to the people concerning me, me so why should I listen to them and go against Him? So they left him, defeated and with their gifts returned to them, and we stayed in his land under the best protection. By Allah, we remained like that until some trouble befell him, i.e., someone competed with him for his kingdom, and by Allah we never knew any grief or worry worse than that which befell us for fear that (this contender) would prevail over the Negus, and there would come a man who did not recognize our status as the Negus did. The Negus marched forth, and they were separated by the Nile. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Who will go out and watch the battle, then bring us the news? Az-Zubair bin al-"Awwam said: I will. He was one of the youngest of the people. They inflated a waterskin and he tied it to his chest, then he swam, floating with it, until he reached the other side of the Nile, where the people had met in battle. Then he went and watched them, and we prayed to Allah to grant victory to the Negus over his enemy and make him stronger in his land and give him full control over Abyssinia. We remained with him, in the best situation, until we came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he was in Makkah.