informed that the whole of Quraish had embraced Islam so they made their way back home. They  arrived in Makkah in Shawwal of the same year. When they were only an hour's travel from Makkah,  the reality of the situation was discovered. Some of them returned to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), others  sneaked secretly into the city or went in publicly but under the tutelage of a local notable. However,  due to the news that transpired to the Makkans about the good hospitality and warm welcome that the
Muslims were accorded in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), the polytheists got terribly indignant and started to  mete out severer and more horrible maltreatment andtortures to the Muslims. Thereupon the
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) deemed it imperative to permit the helpless creatures to seek  asylum in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) for the second time. Migration this time was not as easy as it was the  previous time, for Quraish was on the alert to the least suspicious moves of the Muslims. In due  course,  however, the Muslims managed their affairs too fast for the Quraishites to thwart their attempt of  escape. The group of emigrants this time comprised eighty three men and nineteen or, in some  versions, eighteen women. Whether or not A ' mmar was included is still a matter of doubt.
QURAISH'S MACHINATION AGAINSTN THE EMIGRANTS: Quraish could not tolerate the prospect  of a secure haven available for the Muslims in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), so they despatched two staunch  envoys to demand their extradition. They were A ' mr bin Al -A ' s and A ' bdullah bin Abi Rabia ' — before  embracing Islam. They had taken with them valuable gifts to the king and his clergy, and had been  able  to win some of the courtiers over to their side. The pagan envoys claimed that the Muslim refugees  should be expelled from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and made over to them, on the ground that they had  abandoned the religion of their forefathers, and their leader was preaching a religion different from  theirs and from that of the king.
The king summoned the Muslims to the court and asked them to explain the teachings of their  religion.
The Muslim emigrants had decided to tell the whole truth whatever the consequences were. Ja'far bin
Abi Talib stood up and addressed the king in the following words: "O king! we were plunged in the  depth of ignorance and barbarism; we adored idols, we lived in unchastity, we ate the dead bodies,  and  we spoke abominations, we disregarded every feeling of humanity, and the duties of hospitality and  neighbourhood were neglected; we knew no law but that of the strong, when Allâh raised among us a  man, of whose birth, truthfulness, honesty, and purity we were aware; and he called to the Oneness  of
Allâh, and taught us not to associate anything with Him. He forbade us the worship of idols; and he  enjoined us to speak the truth, to be faithful to our trusts, to be merciful and to regard the rights of  the  neighbours and kith and kin; he forbade us to speak evil of women, or to eat the substance of  orphans;  he ordered us to fly from the vices, and to abstain from evil; to offer prayers, to render alms, and to  observe fast. We have believed in him, we have accepted his teachings and his injunctions to worship
Allâh, and not to associate anything with Him, and we have allowed what He has allowed, and  prohibited what He has prohibited. For this reason, our people have risen against us, have persecuted  us in order to make us forsake the worship of Allâh and return to the worship of idols and other  abominations. They have tortured and injured us, until finding no safety among them, we have come  to  your country, and hope you will protect us from oppression."
The king was very much impressed by these words and asked the Muslims to recite some of Allâhs '
Revelation. Ja'far recited the opening verses of Sûrah Maryam (Chapter 19 — Mary) wherein is told  the  story of the birth of both John and Jesus Christ, down to the account of Mary having been fed with the  food miraculously. Thereupon the king, along with the bishops of his realm, was moved to tears that  rolled down his cheeks and even wet his beard. Here, the Negus exclaimed: "It seems as if these  words  and those which were revealed to Jesus are the rays of the light which have radiated from the same  source." Turning to the crest-fallen envoys of Quraish, he said, "I am afraid, I cannot give you back  these refugees. They are free to live and worship in my realm as they please."
On the morrow, the two envoys again went to the king and said that Muhammad (Peace be upon him)  and his followers blasphemed Jesus Christ. Again the Muslims were summoned and asked what they  thought of Jesus. Ja'far again stood up and replied: "We speak about Jesus as we have been taught by