Jafar ibn Abu Talib’s Speech to the Negus

The Muslims were forced out of their land because of the persecution of the polytheist Arabs, who tortured them because they said, “our Lord is one”. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) commanded the Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia, to live under the Negus, a just ruler. The Polytheists refused to let them leave peacefully, and confronted the king to demand the return of the Muslims. Jafar was chosen as the spokesperson for the Muslims to the king.

He said:

O King, we were a people in a state of ignorance and immorality, worshiping idols and eating the flesh of dead animals, committing all sorts of abomination and shameful deeds, breaking the ties of kinship, treating guests badly, and the strong among us exploited the weak. We remained in this state until Allah sent us a Prophet, one of our own people, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and integrity were well-known to us.

He called us to worship Allah alone, and to renounce the stones and the idols which we and our ancestors used to worship besides Allah.

He commanded us to speak the truth, to honor our promises, to be kind to our relations, to be helpful to our neighbors, to cease all forbidden acts, to abstain from bloodshed, to avoid obscenities and false witness, and not to appropriate an orphan’s property nor slander chaste women.

He ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to associate anything with him, to uphold Salat, to give Zakaah, and fast in the month of Ramadan.

We believed in him and what he brought to us from Allah, and we follow him in what he has asked us to do and we keep away from what he forbade us from.

Thereupon, O King, our people attacked us, visited the severest punishment on us, to make us renounce our religion and take us back to the old immorality and the worship of idols.

They oppressed us, made life intolerable for us, and obstructed us from observing our religion. So we left for your country, choosing you before anyone else, desiring your protection and hoping to live in Justice and in peace in your midst.

The Negus was impressed and was eager to hear more. He asked Jafar, “Do you have with you something of what your Prophet brought concerning God?”

“Yes,” replied Jafar.

“Then read it to me,” requested the Negus. Jafar, in his rich, melodious voice, recited for him the first portion of Surah Maryam, which deals with the story of Jesus and his mother Mary.

On hearing the words of the Quran, the Negus was moved to tears. To the Muslims, he said: “The message of your Prophet and that of Jesus came from the same source…”

To Amr and his companion (the men who were trying to convince the Negus to hand over the Muslims), he said: “Go. For, by God, I will never surrender them to you.”