Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 69
69 Persec ution When the sufferings and tribulations of the Muslims at the hands of Quraish reached their limit, the Holy Prophet directed that those of them who could afford it should migrate to Abyssinia across the Red Sea. He observed that the ruler of Abyssinia was ju st and did not permit anyone being wronged in his dominions. The title of the ruler of Abyssinia was Najashi. The capital of the country was Axum, which was close to modern Adowa. The Najashi of the time, whose name was As - hama, was a just, intelligent and powerful ruler. He was a Christian by faith and ruled over a vast domain. Under the direction of the Holy Prophet, eleven men and four women from among the Muslims migrated to Abyssinia. The better - known ones of them were: Usman bin Affan and his wife Ruq ayya, daughter of the Holy Prophet; Abdul Rahman bin Auf; Zubair bin Awam; Abu Huzaifah bin Utba; Uthman bin Maz’un; Musa’b bin Umair; Abu Salama bin Abdul Asad and his wife Um Salama. All these were connected with powerful tribes of Quraish, which is an i ndication that even such people were not secure against the persecution of Quraish; and also that the weaker ones among the Muslims were so helpless that they could not undertake the journey.