Musnad Ahmad 19:1

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 bint Abi Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: When we descended into the land of Abyssinia, we lived there under the best of neighbors, the Negus. We felt secure in our religion, and we worshipped Allah without being harmed, and we did not hear anything we disliked. When that reached the Quraysh, they conspired to send two strong men to the Negus regarding us, and to gift the Negus with presents from the novelties of Mecca. Among the most pleasing things to him from there was leather, so they gathered much leather for him, and they did not leave any of his patriarchs without giving him a gift. Then they sent that with 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Rabi'ah ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi and 'Amr ibn al-'As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi. They instructed them in their affair and said to them: "Give every patriarch his gift before you speak to the Negus about them. Then present the Negus with his gifts, 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 with the best of neighbors. There was not a single patriarch of his left to whom they did not give his gift before they spoke to the Negus. Then they said to every patriarch among them: "Some foolish youths from among us have apostatized to the King's land. They have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered into your religion. They have brought an invented religion that neither we nor you know. We have sent to the King regarding them 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 among us have apostatized to your land. They have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered into your religion. They have brought an invented religion that neither we nor you know. We have sent to you regarding them the nobles of their people, from their fathers, their uncles, and their clans, so that you may 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: 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. 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." She said: The Negus became angry, then he said: "No, by Allah, I will not hand them over to them, and I will not betray a people who have sought my neighborhood and descended into 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, and some 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, 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. He said to him: "O King, we were a people of ignorance, worshipping idols, eating carrion, committing indecencies, severing ties of kinship, and mistreating neighbors. The strong among us would devour the weak. We were like that until Allah sent to us a Messenger from among us, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity we know. He called us to Allah to unify Him and worship Him, and to cast off what we and our fathers used to worship besides Him, of stones and idols. He commanded us to speak the truth, fulfill trusts, maintain ties of kinship, treat neighbors well, and refrain from forbidden things and bloodshed. He forbade us from indecencies, false speech, consuming the wealth of orphans, 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 the matters of Islam to him. "So we believed him, had faith in him, and followed him in what he brought. We worshipped Allah alone, associating nothing with Him, and we forbade what He forbade for us, and permitted what He permitted for us. Our people then 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, chose you over others, desired your neighborhood, and 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, and I will not betray them." Umm Salamah said: When they went out from him, 'Amr ibn al-'As said: "By Allah, I will inform them tomorrow of their fault regarding them, then I will uproot them entirely." 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: The next day he went to him and said: "O King, they say a grave thing about 'Isa ibn Maryam. So send for them and ask them what they say about him." She said: So he sent for them to ask them about him. She said: A situation like this had never befallen us. The people gathered, and some said to others: "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 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 brought: He is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, and His spirit and His word which He cast to Maryam, the chaste virgin." She said: The Negus struck his hand to the ground, took a stick from it, and 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 will be fined, then whoever insults you will be fined. I would not like to have a mountain of gold and that I harmed a man among you"—and *dabr* 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 shall take a bribe regarding them, and I shall not obey people regarding them, so they should obey me regarding them." She said: So they went out from him disgraced, with what they had brought returned to them, and 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 to him—meaning someone who was disputing his kingdom. She said: By Allah, we never knew a sadness greater than the sadness 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 width of the Nile. She said: 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 attends the battle of the people, then brings us the news?" She said: Al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam said: "I will." She said: He was the youngest of the people. She said: They inflated a waterskin for him, he placed it on his chest, then he swam upon it until he reached the side of the Nile where the meeting of the people was, then he went until he attended them. She said: We prayed to Allah for the Negus for victory over his enemy and for his establishment in his land. The affair of Abyssinia was settled for him, and we remained 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.