Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq — Page 21
8 The Emigrations to abyssinia A fter several years the persecution by the disbelievers became so cruel that the Holy Prophet sa advised the Muslims to travel to neighbouring Abyssinia (Ethiopia) so they could worship without fear. When a person leaves their home country for the sake of Allah, it is called Hijrat (migration; the Islamic calendar begins with the migration of the Holy Prophet sa to Mad i nah). For this reason, two groups of Muslims left their homes and emigrated there. The first group was made up of eleven men and four women; and in the following year a second group of more than eighty men and women made the journey. The Christian ruler of Abyssinia at the time, referred to as the Negus , was very