Hadhrat Ja'afar in the court of Negus, king of Abyssinia

 Hadhrat Ja'afar in the court of Negus, king of Abyssinia

 

Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) told the Companions in Makkah: It is good if you go to Abyssinia because the King of that land is such that in his land, nobody is oppressed.  It is the best land until Allah Most High opens another way for you.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) ordered the Companions to go to Abyssinia even though the king of that land was non-Muslim and the government was a non-Islamic one.

 

In that non-Islamic country, what kind of relations were maintained with the Non-Muslims and what standard of morality did the Muslims display can best be understood by the brilliant speech of Hadhrat Ja'afar (May Allah be pleased with him), which he gave in the court of the king of Abyssinia:

 

O King! All of us were ignorant and dim-witted.  We worshipped idols, ate unsacrificed carrion and indulged in various types of immodesty.  We broke relations with our relatives.  We mistreated our neighbors.  The strong among us oppressed the weak.  We were in this state when Allah Most High had mercy on us.  He sent down a Prophet from among us, whose lineage, truth and honesty, modesty was well known to us.  He (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) invited us towards Allah Most High and taught us to know and believe that Allah Most High is One and to worship Him only; and to relinquish those idols which we and our forefathers worshipped.  He commanded us to worship only Allah Most High and not to hold anybody as an associate with Allah.  He (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) commanded us to perform Salaat i.e. Prayers, Zakaat i.e. charity and Sawm i.e. fasting.

 

Hadhrat Ja'afar (May Allah be well pleased with him) mentioned the rules of Islam and said: The True Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) ordered us to be truthful.  He ordered us not to break trust, to honor our relations, to treat our neighbors well, to refrain from bloodshed and stopped us from all kinds of immodesty, from unlawful actions, from lying, from embezzling the money of orphans and from slandering virtuous women.  Thus, we acknowledged Him as the Prophet and believed in Him and followed whatever He brought for us from Allah Most High.  Accordingly, we worship only Allah Most High and do not consider anybody as His associate.  Whatever Allah Most High made lawful for us, we consider it lawful and whatever is made unlawful for us we consider it unlawful.

 

Only because of this, our people turned into our enemies. They troubled us to no end.  They tortured us in many ways, so that we may return to worship of idols and consider those filthy, unlawful things as lawful.  When they crossed all limits in their torment and torture, when they constrained us, when they came between us and our religion, then we left our land and preferred you over others and assumed your neighborhood in the hope that you will not oppress us."

 

King Negus said: Do you remember any of the Word of Allah Most High which your Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) brought?  Hadhrat Ja'afar answered in the affirmative.

 

Negus said: Recite something from it, so that I may listen.  Hadhrat Ja'afar (May Allah be pleased with him) recited the beginning verses of Surah Maryam.  The King and all the courtiers started weeping.  The King's beard became wet with tears.  When the recitation ended, the King said: This Word and the words which Hadhrat ‘Isa (Prophet Jesus) brought are light of one and the same truth." He told the Quraish delegation frankly: I will not hand over these people to you and there is no chance of it.  (Subul Ul Huda War Rashaad)