Musnad Ahmad 995:1

Ya'qub narrated to us, my father narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn 'Ubayd Allah ibn Shihab narrated to me, from Abu Bakr ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, from Umm Salamah, daughter of Abu Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: When we arrived in the land of Abyssinia, we lived there under the best of neighbors, the Negus. We felt secure in our religion, and we worshipped Allah the Exalted, not being harmed, nor hearing anything we disliked. When this reached the Quraysh, they conspired to send two strong men to the Negus regarding us, and to gift the Negus with presents from the curiosities of the merchandise of Mecca. Among the most pleasing things to him from it was leather. So they gathered much leather for him, and they did not leave a single one of his patriarchs without gifting him a gift. Then they sent with that 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Rabi'ah ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi and 'Amr ibn al-'As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi, and they instructed them in their affair and said to them: "Give to every patriarch his gift before you speak to the Negus about them. Then present the gifts to the Negus, then ask him to hand them over to you before he speaks to them." She said: So they went out and arrived at the Negus, and we were with him in the best of homes and the best of neighbors. There did not remain a single patriarch of his but that they gave him his gift before they spoke to the Negus. Then they said to every patriarch among them: "Some foolish youths from our people have apostatized to the King's land. They have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered into your religion, and they have brought a novel religion that neither we nor you know. We have been sent to the King regarding them by the nobles of their people to return them to them. So when we speak to the King about them, advise him to hand them over to us and not speak to them, for their people are more observant of them and more knowledgeable of what they have faulted them for." They said to them: "Yes." Then they brought their gifts to the Negus, and he accepted them from them. Then they spoke to him and said to him: "O King, some foolish youths from our people have apostatized to your land. They have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered into your religion, and they have brought a novel religion that neither we nor you know. We have been sent to you regarding them by the nobles of their people—their fathers, their paternal uncles, and their clans—to return them to them, for they are more observant of them and more knowledgeable of what they have faulted them for and reproached them for." She said: And there was nothing more hateful to 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Rabi'ah and 'Amr ibn al-'As than that the Negus should hear their speech. So his patriarchs around him said: "They have spoken the truth, O King. Their people are more observant of them and more knowledgeable of what they have faulted them for, so hand them over to them so they may return them to their lands and their people." He said: The Negus became angry and said: "No, by Allah, I will not hand them over to them, nor will I betray a people who have sought my neighborhood, settled in my land, and chosen me over others, until I call them and ask them what these two say regarding their affair. If they are as they say, I will hand them over to them and return them to their people. And if they are otherwise, I will protect them from them and treat them well as long as they remain my neighbors." She said: Then he sent for the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he summoned them. When his messenger came to them, they gathered. Then some of them said to others: "What will you say to the man when you come to him?" They said: "We will say, by Allah, what we know and what our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has commanded us, whatever may come of that." When they came to him, and the Negus had summoned his bishops, and they spread their scriptures around him, he asked them and said: "What is this religion for which you have abandoned your people and have not entered into my religion nor into the religion of any of these nations?" She said: The one who spoke to him was Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, and he said to him: "O King, we were a people of ignorance (Jahiliyyah), worshipping idols, eating dead meat, committing indecencies, severing ties of kinship, and mistreating neighbors; the strong among us would devour the weak. We were upon that until Allah sent to us a Messenger from among us, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity we know. He called us to Allah the Exalted, to unify Him and worship Him, and to discard what we and our fathers used to worship besides Him of stones and idols. He commanded us to speak the truth, to fulfill trusts, to maintain ties of kinship, to treat neighbors well, and to refrain from forbidden things and bloodshed. He forbade us from indecencies, speaking falsehoods, consuming the wealth of the orphan, and slandering chaste women. He commanded us to worship Allah alone, associating nothing with Him, and he commanded us to pray, give charity, and fast." He said: He enumerated to him the matters of Islam. "So we believed him and had faith in him, and we followed him in what he brought. We worshipped Allah alone, associating nothing with Him; we forbade what he forbade for us, and we permitted what he permitted for us. Then our people transgressed against us, tortured us, and persecuted us regarding our religion to return us to the worship of idols from the worship of Allah, and that we should deem lawful the foul things we used to deem lawful. When they oppressed us, wronged us, made life difficult for us, and stood between us and our religion, we went out to your land, and we chose you over others, and we desired your neighborhood, and we hoped that we would not be wronged in your presence, O King." She said: The Negus said to him: "Do you have with you anything of what he brought from Allah?" She said: Ja'far said to him: "Yes." The Negus said to him: "Then recite it to me." So he recited to him a portion of *Kaf-Ha-Ya-'Ayn-Sad*. She said: By Allah, the Negus wept until he soaked his beard, and his bishops wept until they soaked their scriptures when they heard what he recited to them. Then the Negus said: "Indeed, this and what Musa brought come from the same niche. Go, for by Allah, I will never hand them over to you, nor will I betray them." Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: When they went out from his presence, 'Amr ibn al-'As said: "By Allah, I will come to him tomorrow and fault them before him, and I will thereby uproot them." She said: 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Rabi'ah, who was the more pious of the two, said to him: "Do not do it, for they have ties of kinship, even if they have opposed us." He said: "By Allah, I will inform him that they claim that 'Isa ibn Maryam is a servant." She said: Then he went to him the next day and said to him: "O King, they say a grave thing about 'Isa ibn Maryam. So send for them and ask them what they say about him." Umm Salamah said: So he sent for them to ask them about him. She said: Nothing like this had ever befallen us. So the people gathered and said to one another: "What will you say about 'Isa when he asks you about him?" They said: "We will say, by Allah, regarding him what Allah said and what our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought, whatever may come of that." When they entered upon him, he said to them: "What do you say about 'Isa ibn Maryam?" Ja'far ibn Abi Talib said to him: "We say about him what our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought: He is the servant of Allah, His Messenger, His spirit, and His word which He cast into Maryam, the virgin, the chaste." She said: The Negus struck his hand on the ground and took a stick from it. Then he said: "'Isa ibn Maryam did not exceed what you said by this stick." His patriarchs around him snorted when he said what he said. He said: "Even if you snort, by Allah! Go, for you are *suyum* in my land." And *suyum* means the safe ones. "Whoever insults you shall be fined, then whoever insults you shall be fined, then whoever insults you shall be fined. I would not like to have a mountain of gold and that I had harmed a man among you." And *dayr* in the Abyssinian language means mountain. "Return their gifts to them, for we have no need of them. For by Allah, Allah did not take a bribe from me when He returned my kingdom to me, so I should take a bribe regarding it, and people did not obey me regarding it, so I should obey them regarding it." She said: So they went out from his presence, disgraced, with what they had brought returned to them. We remained with him in the best of homes with the best of neighbors. She said: By Allah, we were in that state when someone came against him—meaning someone who disputed his kingdom. She said: By Allah, we never knew any grief more intense than the grief we felt at that time, fearing that he would prevail over the Negus, and a man would come who did not know of our rights what the Negus knew. She said: The Negus marched, and between them was the breadth of the Nile. The companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Who is a man who will go out until he witnesses the battle of the people, then brings us the news?" She said: Al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam said: "I." She said: And he was the youngest of the people. She said: So they inflated a waterskin for him and he placed it on his chest, then he swam upon it until he came out on the side of the Nile where the meeting of the people was, then he went until he was present with them. She said: We prayed to Allah the Exalted for the Negus to prevail over his enemy and to be established in his land. The affair of Abyssinia was settled for him, and we were with him in the best of dwellings, until we came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was in Mecca.