Migration to Abyssinia

The Abyssinia migration comprises a very important focal point in the Prophet’s politics of apostleship during the Meccan period. When we examine this migration event carefully, we understand that we are face to face with a far-sighted founder of a state. Those who look at the event superficially and those who do not interpret the data in the sources carefully think that this migration was only made to escape the torture of the Meccans. If that had been the case, there should have been weak and orphaned Muslims in the convoy. However, the opposite was the case. In particular, the first migrants were members of prominent Quraish families and people who would perform important functions in Islamic history in later years.

There being a small number of people in the first migration and the majority going later on strengthens the probability that the first group were given the task of a vanguard group to control whether or not it was safe. There is also a strong probability that the Prophet sent a secret and private message to Negus, the Emperor of Abyssinia with the first convoy.

However much it is known that Abyssinia immigrants returned when they learned that the Meccans had accepted Islam, it is not proof that the Abyssinia emigration was not for the purposes of finding a base and to keep some distinguished Muslims safe from probable risks. It might have been thought that when conditions changed in Mecca, the base in Abyssinia could be abandoned and activities could be continued in Mecca. In addition, the Prophet’s intention to make a new evaluation of the situation could have been a part of this return to Mecca.

Another proof that the emigration to Abyssinia carried important strategic calculations is the strong reaction shown to it by the pagans. Sending their top diplomats who were in close dialogue with Abyssinia with valuable gifts, they wanted the immigrants back. If those who went there had been weak people escaping from oppression, there were many other weak Muslims in their hands in Mecca for the Quraish to fulfill their sadistic pleasures of oppression. This concern stemmed from their worry that Islam would take root in a place far from their control and develop into a force against them. In other words, they must have understood the strategy of the migration very well.

The emigrants to Abyssinia stayed there until it became apparent that Medina could be a base and a center for immigration. Some of them came to Medina in the first years of the migration, and some remained in Abyssinia until year 7 of the Hijrah (migration) or, in other words, until the Jewish problem in Medina was resolved and the Hudaybiyah peace was signed. Again, this was not a place of escape from Abyssinian oppression and it shows that the Prophet wanted to keep some of the Companions there until the situation in Mecca was stabilized. In this case we can say that Abyssinia was first tried as a base and then kept as a precautionary center after the Hijrah to use if needed.