Tarikh (al-Tabari) 763
The emigration to Abyssinia and what occurred therein
فَصْلٌ قَالَ الْبَيْهَقِيُّ فِي " الدَّلَائِلِ ": بَابُ مَا جَاءَ فِي كِتَابِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ إِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ . ثُمَّ رَوَى عَنِ الْحَاكِمِ عَنِ الْأَصَمِّ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْجَبَّارِ عَنْ يُونُسَ عَنِ ابْنِ إِسْحَاقَ قَالَ: " هَذَا كِتَابٌ مِنَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ إِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، هَذَا كِتَابٌ مِنْ مُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ إِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ الْأَصْحَمِ عَظِيمِ الْحَبَشَةِ، سَلَامٌ عَلَى مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَى، وَآمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ، وَشَهِدَ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ صَاحِبَةً وَلَا وَلَدًا، وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، وَأَدْعُوكَ بِدَعَايَةِ اللَّهِ، فَإِنِّي أَنَا رَسُولُهُ، فَأَسْلِمْ تَسْلَمْ قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ [ آلِ عِمْرَانَ: 64 ] فَإِنْ أَبَيْتَ فَعَلَيْكَ إِثْمُ النَّصَارَى مِنْ قَوْمِكَ ". هَكَذَا ذَكَرَهُ الْبَيْهَقِيُّ بَعْدَ قِصَّةِ هِجْرَةِ الْحَبَشَةِ. وَفِي ذِكْرِهِ هَاهُنَا نَظَرٌ ; فَإِنَّ الظَّاهِرَ أَنَّ هَذَا الْكِتَابَ إِنَّمَا هُوَ إِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ الَّذِي كَانَ بَعْدَ الْمُسْلِمِ صَاحِبِ جَعْفَرٍ وَأَصْحَابِهِ، وَذَلِكَ حِينَ كَتَبَ إِلَى مُلُوكِ الْأَرْضِ، يَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قُبَيْلَ الْفَتْحِ، كَمَا كَتَبَ إِلَى هِرَقْلَ عَظِيمِ الرُّومِ قَيْصَرِ الشَّامِ، وَإِلَى كِسْرَى مَلِكِ الْفُرْسِ، وَإِلَى صَاحِبِ مِصْرَ، وَإِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ قَالَ الزُّهْرِيُّ: كَانَتْ كُتُبُ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ إِلَيْهِمْ وَاحِدَةً، يَعْنِي نُسْخَةً وَاحِدَةً، وَكُلُّهَا فِيهَا هَذِهِ الْآيَةُ، وَهِيَ مِنْ سُورَةِ آلِ عِمْرَانَ وَهِيَ مَدَنِيَّةٌ، بِلَا خِلَافٍ ; فَإِنَّهُ مِنْ صَدْرِ السُّورَةِ، وَقَدْ نَزَلَ ثَلَاثٌ وَثَمَانُونَ آيَةً مِنْ أَوَّلِهَا فِي وَفْدِ نَجْرَانَ، كَمَا قَرَّرْنَا ذَلِكَ فِي " التَّفْسِيرِ "، وَلِلَّهِ الْحَمْدُ وَالْمِنَّةُ. فَهَذَا الْكِتَابُ إِلَى الثَّانِي، لَا إِلَى الْأَوَّلِ، وَقَوْلُهُ فِيهِ: " إِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ الْأَصْحَمِ " لَعَلَّ " الْأَصْحَمَ " مُقْحَمٌ مِنَ الرَّاوِي بِحَسَبِ مَا فَهِمَ. وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْسَبُ مِنْ هَذَا هَاهُنَا مَا ذَكَرَهُ الْبَيْهَقِيُّ أَيْضًا، عَنِ الْحَاكِمِ عَنْ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْفَقِيهِ بِمُرْوَ: حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ أَحْمَدَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ حَدَّثَنَا سَلَمَةُ بْنُ الْفَضْلِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِسْحَاقَ قَالَ بَعَثَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَمْرَو بْنَ أُمَيَّةَ الضَّمْرِيَّ إِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ فِي شَأْنِ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ وَأَصْحَابِهِ، وَكَتَبَ مَعَهُ كِتَابًا: " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ مِنْ مُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ، إِلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ الْأَصْحَمِ مَلِكِ الْحَبَشَةِ، سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكَ، فَإِنِّي أَحْمَدُ إِلَيْكَ اللَّهَ الْمَلِكَ الْقُدُّوسَ الْمُؤْمِنَ الْمُهَيْمِنَ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ عِيسَى رُوحُ اللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ، أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى مَرْيَمَ الْبَتُولِ الطَّيِّبَةِ الْحَصِينَةِ، فَحَمَلَتْ بِعِيسَى فَخَلَقَهُ مِنْ رُوحِهِ وَنَفَخَهُ، كَمَا خَلَقَ آدَمَ بِيَدِهِ وَنَفَخَهُ، وَإِنِّي أَدْعُوكَ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَالْمُوَالَاةِ عَلَى طَاعَتِهِ وَأَنْ تَتَّبِعَنِي فَتُؤْمِنَ بِي، وَبِالَّذِي جَاءَنِي ; فَإِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَقَدْ بَعَثْتُ إِلَيْكُمُ ابْنَ عَمِّي جَعْفَرًا وَمَعَهُ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، فَإِذَا جَاؤُوكَ فَاقْرِهِمْ، وَدَعِ التَّجَبُّرَ، فَإِنِّي أَدْعُوكَ وَجُنُودَكَ إِلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَقَدْ بَلَّغْتُ وَنَصَحْتُ، فَاقْبَلُوا نَصِيحَتِي، وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَى ". فَكَتَبَ النَّجَاشِيُّ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ مِنَ النَّجَاشِيِّ الْأَصْحَمِ بْنِ أَبْجَرَ: سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكَ يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الَّذِي هَدَانِي إِلَى الْإِسْلَامِ، فَقَدْ بَلَغَنِي كِتَابُكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فِيمَا ذَكَرْتَ مِنْ أَمْرِ عِيسَى فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِنَّ عِيسَى مَا يَزِيدُ عَلَى مَا ذَكَرْتَ، وَقَدْ عَرَفْنَا مَا بَعَثْتَ بِهِ إِلَيْنَا، وَقَدْ قَرَيْنَا ابْنَ عَمِّكَ وَأَصْحَابَهُ، فَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَادِقًا مُصَدَّقًا، وَقَدْ بَايَعْتُكَ وَبَايَعْتُ ابْنَ عَمِّكَ، وَأَسْلَمْتُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَقَدْ بَعَثْتُ إِلَيْكَ يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ بِأَرِيحَا بْنِ الْأَصْحَمِ بْنِ أَبْجَرَ فَإِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي، وَإِنْ شِئْتَ أَنْ آتِيَكَ، فَعَلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فَإِنِّي أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مَا تَقُولُ حَقٌّ. وكَتَبَ -النبي ﷺ - إِلَيْهِ -النجاشي- أَنْ يُزَوِّجَهُ أم حبيبة بنت أبي سفيان وَكَانَتْ فِيمَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلَى أَرْضِ الْحَبَشَةِ مَعَ زَوْجِهَا عبيد الله بن جحش، فَتَنَصَّرَ هُنَاكَ وَمَاتَ، فَزَوَّجَهُ النَّجَاشِيُّ إِيَّاهَا وَأَصْدَقَهَا عَنْهُ أَرْبَعَمِائَةِ دِينَارٍ، وَكَانَ الَّذِي وَلِيَ تَزْوِيجَهَا خَالِدُ بْنُ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْعَاصِ. وَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَنْ يَبْعَثَ إِلَيْهِ مَنْ بَقِيَ عِنْدَهُ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ وَيَحْمِلَهُمْ، فَفَعَلَ وَحَمَلَهُمْ فِي سَفِينَتَيْنِ مَعَ عَمْرِو بْنِ أُمَيّةَ الضَّمْرِيِّ، فَقَدِمُوا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ بِخَيْبَرَ فَوَجَدُوهُ قَدْ فَتَحَهَا، فَكَلَّمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ الْمُسْلِمِينَ أَنْ يُدْخِلُوهُمْ فِي سِهَامِهِمْ فَفَعَلُوا.
Translation
✧ SECTION Al-Bayhaqī said in “Al-Dalāʾil”: Chapter on what has come concerning the Prophet’s ﷺ letter to the Najāshī. Then he narrated from al-Ḥākim, from al-Aṣamm, from Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Jabbār, from Yūnus, from Ibn Isḥāq, who said: “This is a letter from the Prophet ﷺ to the Najāshī: In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. This is a letter from Muḥammad, the Messenger of God, to the Najāshī al-Aṣḥam, the great one of Abyssinia. Peace be upon him who follows guidance and believes in God and His Messenger and bears witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, who has taken no companion nor son, and that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. I summon you with the summons of God, for I am His Messenger. Submit and you will be safe. Say: ‘O People of the Scripture, come to a word common between us and you, that we worship none but God and associate nothing with Him and do not take one another as lords besides God.’ If they turn away, then say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims’ [Āl ʿImrān: 64]. If you refuse, then upon you is the sin of the Christians among your people.” Thus al-Bayhaqī mentioned it after the story of the emigration to Abyssinia. In mentioning it here there is an issue; for the apparent meaning is that this letter was only to the Najāshī who came after the Muslim, the companion of Jaʿfar and his companions, and that was when he wrote to the kings of the earth, calling them to God, mighty and glorious, shortly before the conquest, as he wrote to Heraclius, the great one of the Romans, Caesar of Syria, and to Chosroes, king of the Persians, and to the ruler of Egypt, and to the Najāshī. Al-Zuhrī said: The letters of the Prophet ﷺ to them were one, that is, one copy, and all of them contain this verse, which is from Sūrat Āl ʿImrān and is Medinan, without disagreement; for it is from the beginning of the sūrah, and eighty-three verses from its beginning were revealed regarding the delegation of Najrān, as we have established that in the “Tafsīr”, and to God be praise and grace. So this letter is to the second, not to the first, and his saying in it: “to the Najāshī al-Aṣḥam” – perhaps “al-Aṣḥam” is inserted by the narrator according to what he understood. And God knows best. More appropriate here than this is what al-Bayhaqī also mentioned, from al-Ḥākim, from Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Faqīh in Marw: Ḥammād b. Aḥmad narrated to us, Muḥammad b. Ḥumayd narrated to us, Salamah b. al-Faḍl narrated to us, from Muḥammad b. Isḥāq, who said: The Messenger of God ﷺ sent ʿAmr b. Umayyah al-Ḍamrī to the Najāshī concerning the matter of Jaʿfar b. Abī Ṭālib and his companions, and wrote with him a letter: “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. From Muḥammad, the Messenger of God, to the Najāshī al-Aṣḥam, king of Abyssinia. Peace be upon you. I praise to you God, the King, the Holy, the Faithful, the Guardian, and I bear witness that Jesus is the Spirit of God and His Word, which He cast to Mary the virgin, the pure, the protected, and she conceived Jesus, and He created him from His Spirit and breathed it, as He created Adam with His hand and breathed it. I call you to God alone, without partner, and to allegiance in obedience to Him, and to follow me and believe in me and in what has come to me; for I am the Messenger of God. I have sent to you my cousin Jaʿfar and with him a group of Muslims. When they come to you, honor them and abandon arrogance, for I call you and your armies to God, mighty and glorious. I have conveyed and advised, so accept my advice. Peace be upon him who follows guidance.” The Najāshī wrote to the Messenger of God ﷺ: “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. To Muḥammad, the Messenger of God, from the Najāshī al-Aṣḥam b. Abjar. Peace be upon you, O Prophet of God, from God and the mercy of God and His blessings. There is no god but He who guided me to Islam. Your letter has reached me, O Messenger of God, concerning what you mentioned about the matter of Jesus. By the Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus is nothing more than what you mentioned. We have recognized what you sent to us, and we have honored your cousin and his companions. I bear witness that you are the Messenger of God, truthful and attested, and I have pledged allegiance to you and to your cousin, and I have submitted through his hands to God, Lord of the worlds. I have sent to you, O Prophet of God, Arīḥā b. al-Aṣḥam b. Abjar, for I possess only myself. If you wish me to come to you, I will do so, O Messenger of God, for I bear witness that what you say is true.” And the Prophet ﷺ wrote to him – the Najāshī – to marry him to Umm Ḥabībah bt. Abī Sufyān. She was among those who emigrated to the land of Abyssinia with her husband ʿUbayd Allāh b. Jaḥsh, who became a Christian there and died. The Najāshī married her to him and gave her as a dowry on his behalf four hundred dinars. The one who undertook her marriage was Khālid b. Saʿīd b. al-ʿĀṣ. And the Messenger of God ﷺ wrote to him to send to him those of his companions who remained with him and to transport them. He did so and transported them in two ships with ʿAmr b. Umayyah al-Ḍamrī. They arrived to the Messenger of God ﷺ at Khaybar and found that he had conquered it. The Messenger of God ﷺ asked the Muslims to include them in their shares, and they did so.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.