Abyssinia Before The Birth of Islam

Abyssinia Before The Birth of Islam - Light of Islam

Following the study of the close
neighbours of Arabia, namely Iran and Egypt, our
discussion turns to Abyssinia which has an important role
in the history of Islam in comparison with other
neighbours.

a) General Conditions

Geographically there has been only a minor variation
between the Abyssinia of the past and the present; it
included the Eritrean coast on the Red Sea as well as
British Sumalia and French Sumalia which have now become
independent, a well as a part of the Sudan.

Abyssinia of that time was an extensive realm with an
old history, but its civilisation did not even equal the
level of the other neighbours of Arabia, and was at par
with Yemen. The rulers and people of Abyssinia belonged
to a race south and west of the Red Sea, who were called
the 'Habish' and 'Habash'. In early Islam the word
'Habish' was applied to those who came to Mecca from this
region, and from that word the word Abyssinia is derived,
a word which is closer to its root than Ethiopia which is
now used for that country in European languages and
papers and other publications. It was applied to those
who migrated from the shores of the Red Sea to this land,
and settled there.

Abyssinia itself is an extensive land having various
natural divisions. A considerable part of it is desert
with little agriculture and parse population; the other
part has high mountains and mountainous land with
abundant water and trees, with gold, silver and copper
mines and flourishing agriculture. About one thousand
years B.C. Abyssinia had a central government. I mention
this point to show that all the neighbours of Arabia
including Hira and Ghassan had a central government,
while Hejaz, the birthplace of Islam, lacked an organised
government and was socially well behind all the countries
surrounding it. Yet it made a sudden leap forward to
establish a central government and its own special
quality of democracy and freedom. What I would like to do
is to see how did all this take place in such a short
span of time, and what caused this quick change? And to
what extent does it influence our life today?

In Abyssinia numerous races existed in a scattered
way, with their local governments. At the same time
Abyssinia had central monarchy which was strong and
powerful enough to be obeyed by the neighbouring rulers,
and here and there also existed autonomous governments.
Yaqubi, in his book of history which was written in the
third century Hijri has recorded that there were many
independent governments existing, while the central
government of the Najashies (Neguses) exercised some
control over them, and received tributes from these small
local governments.[59] The present population of
Abyssinia is about 21,000,000[60] according to the last
(1960) statistics, of which 12.5 million are Muslims and
the rest are either Christians or idolaters, but in the
present situation the government is in the hands of the
Christians.[61] This population consists of different
branches to one of which belongs the Najashi group who
ruled as emperors. They have emigrated from Yemen.

The lineage of the emperors of Abyssinia reached
Prophet Solomon (a.s.) through his marriage with the
Queen of Shiba. Thus this family regarded themselves as
descendants of Prophet Solomon, the son of Prophet Dawood
(David). In the constitution of 1932 of Abyssinia it is
stated that kingship belongs permanently to this family,
each branch of which possesses a different name. However,
it is not clear to what extent this claim is a fable or
based on historical fact. My study of the Abyssinian
history did not confirm the correctness of this claim,
even a detailed source uses the phrase "It is
said", showing that the writer is doubtful about its
authenticity. I must narrate an hlistorical account which
is quite interesting and also disturbing. Until the
fourth century A.D. Abyssinia was a land of idolatry and
idolaters, having some local jungle beliefs, and the
Jews, too, seem to have asserted some influence, though
this matter is never publicly admitted or discussed in
detail. In those days a good deal of traffic existed
between Yemen and Abyssinia and some kind of historical
relations, showing that Judaism had been more or less
recognised there, though the number of its followers had
been rather small.[62] However, the common religion of
the Abyssinians was idolatry In the fourth century,
namely in 340 A.D. a Bishop of Syria - a Syrian was
dispatched from the church of Alexandria to Abyssinia as
a missionary.[63] This industrious bishop succeeded in
converting a group to Christianity in the 4th century
A.D., about 240 or 250 years before the birth of Islam.

Thus it would show that in Abyssinia did not have a
precedence of more than two and a half centuries before
the rise of Islam. Churches were built there, and thus
Abyssinia became a Christian base. According to the
description by one bishop of the church, Abyssinia is an
island of Christianity in a sea of polytheism, since at
that time no other religion existed there. The influence
of Christianity spread so far that the emperor himself
embraced that faith, and Negus who was a contemporary of
the prophet of Islam was a Christian. According to one
European writer, with the rise of Islam the connection
between Abyssinia and the Christian world was severed,
and this separation continued for nine centuries so that
the Christian world knew nothing of Abyssinia and of
their being Christians.

b) Re-discovery of
Abyssinia

When we say that the Christian world knew nothing
about a place called Abyssinia, it is due to the fact
that it is so recorded in a document that in 1520 A.D.
John II,[64] Emperor of Portugal, heard that on the other
side of the world there existed a country with Christian
religion and a wealthy emperor. The Portuguese emperor
was overcome with a desire to find out who this Christian
emperor was on the other side of the world, without being
aware of his geographical whereabouts. He ordered a
number of adventurers and seafarers to proceed to
discover that land for him. Eventually two navigators
departed for that country, and found it and sent a report
to the emperor. In Abyssinia the ruler welcomed these
envoys of Portugal and told them about his helplessness
in confronting the Muslims there, and asked the king of
Portugal to dispatch some troops to aid him against the
Muslims. Thus the first military negotiations took place
between the two countries, and the emperor of Portugal
sent a fleet in aid of the Abyssinians. This fleet
reached Abyssinia and remained there for six years.
Another present from the Portuguese emperor was a
religious mission that organised a base in Abyssinia and
engaged in religious propagation. The head of this
mission was a priest and a writer who wrote a long book
about Abyssinia which, according to current European
writers, is the most valuable source of information.[65]
This mission returned, and once again after some years
the Abyssinian emperor asked for further military
assistance. A large Portuguese fleet based in India was
dispatched to help the Abyssinians. This fleet had 450
riflemen, a significant force at that time. It also had
several old guns. With their aid, the Abyssinians
attacked their Muslim neighbours and vanquished them in
battle then drove them back to the waste lands near the
seashores. From this time on other European countries,
too, began to regard Abyssinia with interest thus the way
was opened for relations between England and Abyssinia,
and then between Italy and Abyssinia. An agreement was
reached first that a port on the Red Sea coast should be
given by Abyssinia to England to be used as a base like
Aden in latter years, for dispatching naval forces to
India.[66] By the beginning of the 19th century
colonialism found its way into Abyssinia, and during 19th
century several wars occurred between Abyssinia and
England and sometimes with Portugal. Later, Italy,
formally declared Abyssinia its own colony, and this
condition lasted until recent times when Abyssinia found
its independence.

The Abyssinian language has a Sabaean root which is
mingled with local dialects. Today seventy languages are
spoken in Abyssinia, and this number reaches 200 if local
dialects are included. But the official state language
which is the tongue of the family of the emperors, is
Amharic.[67]

c) Abyssinia Before the
Birth of Islam,

About one century before the birth of Islam, Abyssinia
played a significant role in the region of Arabia, more
influencing than that of the other neighbours. Two
centuries before Islam, namely at the end of the fourth
century A.D., the king of Yemen embraced Judaism, and
thereby Judaism became the state religion of that land.
Then a man named Dhunuvas in Yemen decided to put
pressure upon everyone who did not follow the Jewish
faith. Then reports reached him that in Najran, a city in
neighbouring Hejaz Christianity was spreading. Dhunuvas
launched a campaign against Najran, and started
persecuting and killing people. He had trenches filled
with fire and cast the Christians of Najran into those.
One of the Christians of Najran fled to the court of the
Roman emperor, and said to him "You call yourself
the emperor of Christians, see what are they doing to us
Christians there." The Emperor answered that he was
too far from that land, but "We have a coreligionist
in the Emperor of Abyssinia to whom I will write to come
to your assistance." This incident has been recorded
in Islamic as well as European sources in an identical
manner. The Emperor of Abyssinia dispatched an army to
Yemen under a commander named Eryat. among whose officers
was a man called Abraha. The army entered Yemen and
Dhunuvas was defeated, who in his flight jumped into the
sea with his horse and met his end. In this way Yemen
became a colony of Abyssinia, and Eryat. its governor.
They tried to propagate Christianity in Yemen which led
to an incident between Eryat. and Abraha which we will
proceed to recount in the following.

d) The Story of Abraha

Abraha was a competent officer in Eryat's army who did
not think much of his commander, and so he decided to
wrest power from him, and with the aid of his
subordinates rose against Eryat.

The Abyssinians got divided into two groups: one group
supported Abraha, while the other favourcd Eryat, and got
ready to fight. On the day of battle Abraha sent a
message for Eryat, saying that it was futile for the
Abyssinians to kill each other, and added: "As the
dispute is between you and me, let the two of us have a
man-to-man fight, and let the victor take the command of
the army " Eryat w agreed and in the fight he was
killed and Abraha took the reins of power in his hands.
Negus, emperor of Abyssinia, was enraged on hearing that
the second in command has killed his appointed supreme
commander, and swore that he would not rest until he had
trampled upon the soil of Yemen and pulled off the hairs
of Abraha.

The report reached Abraha that the Emperor was greatly
annoyed with him. He filled a box with the soil of Yemen
and ordered the hair of his head be shaved off and sent
it to the Emperor along with a number of gifts and
presents. He sent an accompanying message that he was
sorry that the Emperor had become annoyed with him
whereas he remained his loyal servant. He added that two
of the Emperor's officers had a fight and one overcame
the other and that the honour of the Emperor was in no
way involved. He appealed that in order to honour the
Emperor's oath, he was sending both his hairs and Yemeni
soil for. the Emperor to trample on. The emperor was so
pleased at this cleverness that he confrrmed him in his
appointment as commander in Yemen, and Abraha proceeded
to impose Christianity upon the people.[68]

He decided to spread Christianity in Yemen and uproot
Judaism and every other faith in the land. Abraha's close
associates told him that all his efforts were just
confined to Yemen whereas the people of the Arabian
peninsula were devoted to another place, namely the Kaaba
in Mecca, owing to its age old standing and high prestige
and that he should take steps in that direction.
Incidentally Abraha had built a very fine church in the
capital of Yemen and has adorned it with the most
beautiful stones, including the stones remaining from the
ancient palace of the Queen of Shiba. But when he noticed
that his beautiful church had little attraction for the
people against the simple stone structure in Mecca, he
decided to do whatever possible to end the influence of
the Ka'aba.

e) The Event of Aam-ul-Feel

Meanwhile a rumour spread among the people that Abraha
had decided to demolish the Ka'aba. This caused a
commotion among certain Arab people, and one Arab,
hearing of Abraha's intention, went to Yemen, entered the
church at night and polluted it with- his urine. This
incident enraged Abraha and the Christians. They told him
that, that was how much the Arabs respected his Church!
Abraha asked what was the reason for that? They replied
because they were devoted to Ka'aba in their heart of
hearts and the news that you intended to destroy the
Ka'aba had reached them. Abraha said that if that was the
way it was, when it was no more than a rumour, then he
was decided to destroy Ka'aba. He mobilised his forces
and proceeded towards Mecca, and on his way vanquished
all the Arab tribes that offered any resistance. On
approaching Mecca he sent a messenger to find out whoever
was the chief of Mecca and to summon him. He was informed
that the chief of Mecca was an old man named
Abdul-Mutallib. But before he could be contacted,
Abraha's soldiers plundered all the sheep, cows and
camels around Mecca including two hundred camels
belonging to Abdul-Mutallib. After consulting his friends
Abdul-Mut.allib decided to pay a visit to Abraha. The
latter arranged a formal audience, sitting upon a throne
and surrounded by his officers. It is said that when
Abdul-Mutallib entered, Abraha was so impressed by his
dignity and bearing that he descended from his throne,
sat down on a mattress and asked Abdul-Mutallib to sit
beside him. This dignified carriage is what the
historians call the radiance of prophethood in the bodies
of the prophet's ancestors.

Abraha said to him: "I have no issue with the
people of Mecca. I have only come to destroy the Ka'aba,
and if you do not confront me, I will carry out this task
and turn back, without shedding any blood."
Abdul-Mutallib advised him against his intention, but he
refused to change his mind. Abdul-Mutallib then asked him
why had he been summoned there, Abraha said that he had
come to see him, did he want anything of him. He had
thought that Abdul-Mut.allib might come up with some
bargaining to save Ka'aba. Abdul-Mutallib said that he
had no request to make except to demand the return of his
two hundred camels which had been seized. Abraha
expressed surprise at this trifling request, and said
that he had expected him to intercede for the city and
its people and Ka'aba. Abdul-Mutallib answered the reason
why he did not intercede for the Ka'aba was that he
realised that the people of Mecca had no power to resist
Abraha's forces, and Ka'aba had its owner who is Allah
and He would take care of His own house. Abraha was moved
at these words, but he felt that he had come to carry out
a mission. So he ordered the return of Abdul-Mutallib's
camels to him, and warned the people of Mecca to evacuate
the city and take refuge in the neighbouring hills. The
people evacuated the city at once to prevent the loss of
life, and Abraha prepared to demolish the Ka'aba with the
aid of his army and the elephants which he had brought
with him. This story has been narrated differently by
Arab and European historians. The Greek and European
version is that an epidemic of typhoid and smallpox at
that time so annihilated Abraha's army that they could
not carry out the attack. But the Islamic historian's
version which is based on the Qur'an and what
eye-witnesses had reported, is, according to the Arab
captives in Abraha's army, that a vast flock of small
birds like swallows, carrying pebbles in their beaks
darkened the sky and pelted them down upon the heads of
Abraha's army causing deep puncture-like wounds killing
many It is also said that at the same time for the first
time in Arabia, the diseases of typhoid and smallpox
appeared in Arabia affecting the whole army. Abraha
himself suffered from smallpox, and remained alive only
until he reached Yemen and died there. This is the theme
mentioned in the holy Qur'an, Chapter 105 'Feel'
(Elephant) as follows:

"Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with
the possessors of the elephant? Did He not cause their
war to end in confusion, and send down (to prey) upon
them birds in flocks, casting stones of baked clay, so He
rendered them like straw eaten up?"

There is a perfect harmony between what the Greek
historian who is the original source of European version,
and Islamic historians who have narrated this episode
except that the Greek historian makes no mention of the
birds. It needs no emphasis however, that the report of
eye-witnesses would be far more reliable than the
narration of a historian sitting hundreds of miles away
from the scene of occurrence and above all the text of
the holy Qur'an itself leaves no room for doubt.

Anyhow, Abraha and his Abyssinian army returned to
Yemen, and this part of Arabia, namely Mecca and Medina,
remained as before.[69] But despite the strained
relations between the Abyssinian government and the
people of Mecca and Medina, trade relations continued
between them until the birth of Islam.

f) Migration to Abyssinia

In the fifth or sixth year of the Prophethood,
pressure upon the Muslims of Mecca intensified. The
Prophet said to the Muslims: "Now that the enemies
of Islam have begun to torture you all. They are sparing
me and my family on account of Abu-Talib's (Prophets'
Uncle) support, I deem it advisable for you to migrate to
Abyssinia." This emigration of early Muslims to
Abyssinia is a very important event in the history of
Islam, and although the prophet's migration to Medina was
adopted as the commencement of the Islamic calendar, yet
the Muslim emigration to Abyssinia had an extraordinary
result. The prophet remained in Mecca actively
propagating Islam. He sent twelve Muslims to Abyssinia,
not to seek assistance, since history makes no such
mention. As he spoke to them: "I have hear.d that
the Emperor of Abyssinia is a liberal man. You should go
there to find temporary refuge as defenceless Muslims and
live in peace and above all preserve your faith".
Thus the Prophet sent them there to relieve them from the
pressure in the center of Islamic faith, namely Mecca, to
live in the Christian land of Abyssinia. With just twelve
refugees there was never a question of starting a
movement with this step. The next time when the pressure
upon the Muslims increased, the Prophet ordered a larger
emigration, and it is said that the time there were
seventy men together with their wives and children. In
the second emigration about two-thirds of the emigrants
belonged to the Prophet family who went to Abyssinia. In
view of the manner adopted by the Prophet to direct the
Islamic movement, the second emigration may seem to have
been an attempt to find a quarter other than Medina as a
base for Islam. The first emigration was a simple change
of home, but the second emigration included persons such
as the sister of Mu'awiah, daughter of Abu Sufyan
(Umm-e-Habiba) who had embraced Islam and was a very
devout Muslim, and was later to become a consort of the
Prophet. Also Uthman bin Affan and Ja'far bin-Abi Talib
went among the emigrants. So this emigration seemed to
have been based on a plan, especially since the Prophet's
trip to Ta'if proved of no avail for the founding of an
Islamic center, and in Mecca, too, he was faced with
failure, and he did not entertain much hope about Medina
as such a center. The spread of Islam in Medina is
related to a hater time, subsequent to the Abyssinian
emigration. The Prophet had also contacted a number of
tribes for a place of refuge to propagate his faith, but
no positive response was g given to him. Thus when those
twelve of the first group of emigrants found Abyssinia a
suitable place to live in and keep their faith there, a
few of them returned to Mecca and described the
favourable situation to the Prophet. They encouraged him
to order a larger emigration. The Prophet, appreciating
the dangers in Hejaz and the probability of a closed door
there, saw little hope for Islam, and considered the
second emigration a necessary step. As we see this
decision had far-reaching effects on the progress of
Islam.

This migration of the Muslims so demoralised the
enemies of Islam that they became anxious that the
emigrants may not gather strength and return to cause
serious trouble. They worried that, since the emigrants
were like Abraha's horde but Meccans like themselves,
they might overcome them. Therefore they took immediate
steps to check them. Thus the infidels of Mecca
dispatched 'Amru, As with another bearing numerous
presents for the Emperor of Abyssinia to request him to
extradite the Muslim refugees by force. These envoys
reached Abyssinia, presented themselves in the court of
Negus, and levelled many charges against the Muslims.
Ja'far bin Abi-Talib acquitted himself magnificently
during this audience and successfully countered their
charges, and the envoys returned to Mecca disappointed.
The Muslims remained there for a number of years in peace
and security. The prophet did not allow them to return
until some years after his own migration to Medina and
setting down there. These events reveal what a
significant roll was played by this neibour, otherwise
weaker of the great neighbours of Arabia, in the history
of Islam.

g) Questions and Answers

Question:

concerning the outbreak of epidemic
of smallpox as narrated in the episode of Abraha, has any
mention been made about the Arab inhabitants of Mecca and
its suburbs?

Answer:

This statement of Arab historians about
the first appearance of smallpox in Mecca seemed somewhat
dubious to me, too. But at that time, no Meccan died of
small pox. And there is sufficient historical evidence to
show that signs of typhoid and smallpox occurred only in
the dead of the Abyssinian invaders. Even the Greek
historians have made no mention of an epidemic in Mecca
itself even though it is affirmed that in that hot
weather the invaders came so close to Mecca that they
stole the camels of Abdul-Mutallib from the pastures of
Mecca.

Question:

Were that group of refugees who had
emigrated from Mecca to Abyssinia, able to establish a
center there?

Answer:

No. The migration to Abyssinia is an
interesting event which took place in peculiar
conditions. When the prophet dispatched individuals to
Medina, he would tell them to propagate Islam, but in the
case of Abyssinia, there is no evidence of propagation.
It seems that the purpose of this migration had been
solely to seek a refuge so that if Islam lost all its
strongholds in Hejaz, at least one shelter would remain.
But the manner of using that refuge was a matter that
would be seen to later on. Basically, they had been
expected to go and live there and continue to practice
their faith and that was all.

Question:

During those years of the Muslims'
stay in Abyssinia did they convert anyone to Islam? Is
there any mention of this in history?

Answer:

The possibility is there, that some
might have become Muslims but I do not recall it.
However, this is quite different from having a religious
mission. The absence of religious mission is interesting
in view of the fact that the Prophet calculated
everything as a leader, and here I am opposed to the idea
that all the progress made by Islam was due only to a
divine design of the prophet. Of course there is not the
slightest doubt according to explicit verses of the holy
Qur'an that the Prophet and Muslims enjoyed divine
support, as without any doubt he was the Prophet of God.
But a great deal of the progress was due to his wisdom
and prudence, an asset that even now the Muslims can
utilise. The concept of migration to Abyssinia had been a
very beneficial measure, since in view of the danger
which existed for the Muslims and even for the Prophet
and his household, despite Abu-Talib's protection, the
Prophet wished to do something to enable his group of
helpless Muslims to gain some social security and to have
a place as a refuge. In this respect the prophet 's
action was very wise and effective indeed.

Question:

As the Ka'aba at that time was the
home of idols and totally defiled by their presence,
would it not have been better to let Abraha destroy that
house? What reason existed that that bastion of
polytheism be preserved?

Answer:

Yes, but who should have destroyed it?
Should it have been destroyed by Abraha? Or should it
have remained till a man come and revive its original
sanctity cleansing it of desecration. This is a matter of
historical importance. The house could be rebuilt, but
what would be the implication of Abraha' s victory over
Mecca? It would have meant the victory of impurity over
purity, a mixing with impurity. It is true that he was a
Christian, but his faith was polytheistic Christianity, a
Christianity which Islam was to combat to cleanse it of
polytheism. What would be the good of letting one form of
polytheism replace another form of polytheism? It may be
said that had Abraha demolished that place, one base of
idolatry would have been eliminated but what would have
been its consequences in the minds of the people of that
time? What we are talking about is ideas and beliefs;
otherwise a house itself could not be guilty of an
offence to justify it destruction. The general effect
would have been that evil had been replaced with evil.
But as it happened, after this event the house of Ka'aba
suffered ruin in an accident, and it was in the time of
the Prophet himself that it was rebuilt.

The demolishing of the Ka'aba was not important. What
was of consequence was by whose hands and to what
purpose. The way adopted by Abdul-Mutallib in dealing
with Abraha is significant, as he said: "Since we
have not the power to protect the Ka'aba, we will
evacuate Mecca." Thus he set aside the question of
idols, and said that the house belonged to the One God.
In a branch of the Arabs, monotheism was still in vogue
and the family of Hashem followed this belief and
Abdul-Mutallib and some others were indifferent to the
idols. Muslims and even Sunni historians narrate that
when the people had evacuated Mecca, Abdul-Mutallib and a
few others stood beside the Ka'aba, he raised his hands
in prayer, saying: "O God: Here is your House and
there be Your enemies. If we had the force, we would have
protected it, but You are aware of their numbers and of
ours. We leave the House to you, and beg You to defend it
in such a way that no falsehood would ever vanquish the
truth in people's minds." Historians have also
narrated poetry recited by Abdul-Mutallib.[70] However it
is not my concern whether this is true or not, what is
significant is that in the intellectual milieu of those
days what mattered was what stood against what? Abraha,
the overly ambitious, wanted to spread Christianity by
force in Yemen. It is true, the Ka'aba suffered a ruin
some years later as a result of a natural disaster. But
its forcible destruction at the hands of Abraha would be
a different matter. If it were to be destroyed as a
bastion of idolatry by someone who was against idolatry,
it would make it logical. But there would have been no
logic in a destruction at the hands of a despot who for
the sake of protecting his church wished to raze it to
ground.

Question:

Why was the Ka'aba built originally
in Mecca?

Answer:

No special reason can be given for it,
since it could have been built any where in the world for
a given reason. But according to our traditions, and even
in the Nahjul Balagha[71] it is stated that this House
was built in a land which would offer no pleasure and
amusement for anyone to visit it, but only for the sake
of spiritual beliefs. It was built in a land that was
poor and waterless and lacked all recreational
attractions so that it would draw people of the faith as
the foremost factor. Even now a pilgrimage to this land
as compared to other recreational and tourist places is
quite different from the viewpoint of expense and
endurance of hardships.