The First Refuge

The First RefugeTeachPack I

The First Refuge: a study pack

For a halaqa or a classroom, built on chapter I. A page for the leader, a handout, and the answers. Print it whole, or just the handout.

Read the chapter

Part one

For the one leading

For
Ages 12 and up, and adult study circles
Time
About an hour
You will need
One handout each. The atlas on a screen, or a printed map. Pencils.
The chapter
I. The First Refuge, about a fifteen-minute read

Aims

  • Tell the story of the first emigration, about 615, and why the Prophet, peace be upon him, chose Abyssinia.
  • Explain what happened at the hearing before the Negus, and why it mattered that he was a Christian king.
  • Name Bilal ibn Rabah and Umm Ayman, and say why the first Muslim community already had Africa inside it.

In a halaqa

  1. 5 minOpen the circle and read the aims.
  2. 10 minRead the story in brief aloud, one line each.
  3. 10 minRead together: the passages, slowly, with the Arabic where given.
  4. 25 minTalk about it: two or three questions, not all of them.
  5. 10 minCheck yourself together, then each person names one thing to carry home.

In a classroom

  1. 5 minStart with the map: find the places on the atlas.
  2. 10 minRead the story in brief and the dates.
  3. 15 minOne activity from “Try this.”
  4. 10 minTalk in pairs: one question each.
  5. 10 minCheck yourself, then go over the answers.

Notes

The story comes from the early biographies (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa’d) and the account of Umm Salama, and the funeral prayer from Sahih al-Bukhari. Where the chapter says “about” or “by tradition,” keep that wording.

The hearing works well read aloud by three voices: a narrator, the king and Ja’far.

Read the chapter yourself first. Every question here can be answered from it, and the section to look in is named under each one.

Part two: the handout

I. The First Refuge

The Muslims of Makkah are few and hunted. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, sends some of them across the Red Sea to a Christian kingdom in Africa, and tells them why.

The story in brief

  1. In its first years in Makkah, Islam had no state and no army. Believers with no powerful clan were beaten and starved.
  2. About 615 the Prophet sent some of them across the Red Sea to Abyssinia, because its king was one under whom no one was wronged.
  3. The kingdom was Aksum, in what are now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its king’s title was the Negus, al-Najashi.
  4. Quraysh sent two envoys with gifts to bring the refugees back. The king would not decide without hearing them.
  5. Ja’far ibn Abi Talib spoke for the Muslims and recited from Surah Maryam. The king wept and refused to give them up.
  6. When the king died, about 630, the Prophet prayed the funeral prayer for him in Madinah and called him a brother.
  7. Bilal ibn Rabah, son of an Abyssinian mother, was the first to call the adhan. Umm Ayman, described as Abyssinian, cared for the Prophet as a child.

Dates

  • About 615The first Muslims emigrate from Makkah to Abyssinia and are given protection by the Negus.
  • About 630The Negus dies. The Prophet, peace be upon him, prays the funeral prayer for him in Madinah.
  • About 640Bilal ibn Rabah, the first to call the adhan, dies in Syria.

People

  • The Negus, Ashama ibn Abjar died about 630The Christian king who heard Ja’far recite the chapter of Mary and refused to hand the Muslim refugees back to Quraysh. When he died, the Prophet, peace be upon him, prayed the funeral prayer for him in Madinah and called him a brother.
  • Bilal ibn Rabah died about 640Son of an Abyssinian mother, enslaved in Makkah, tortured for his faith and freed by Abu Bakr. He was the first to call the adhan, and the Prophet heard his footsteps ahead of him in Paradise.
  • Umm Ayman, Barakah seventh centuryDescribed in the sources as Abyssinian. She cared for the Prophet in his childhood after his mother died, emigrated to Madinah, and raised Usama ibn Zayd.

Words to know

Negus (al-Najashi)
The title of the king of Aksum. It is a title, not a name. Muslim tradition gives this king’s name as Ashama ibn Abjar.
Quraysh
The tribe that held Makkah, and the Prophet’s own tribe. Its leaders persecuted the first Muslims.
Hijrah
Emigration for the sake of God. The Hijrah of the Prophet to Madinah came about seven years after the first emigration to Abyssinia.
Surah Maryam
The chapter of the Quran named for Mary, mother of Jesus. Ja’far recited from its opening.
Ahad
“One.” The word Bilal kept repeating while he was tortured for his faith.
Adhan
The call to prayer. Bilal was the first to call it in Madinah.
Funeral prayer
The prayer said for a Muslim who has died. The Prophet led it for the Negus, with four takbirs.

Read together

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) informed (the people) about the death of An-Najashi on the very day he died. He went towards the Musalla (praying place) and the people stood behind him in rows. He said four Takbirs (i.e. offered the Funeral prayer).

Sahih al-Bukhari 1245, translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan

Narrated Jabir:

When Negus died, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Today a pious man has died. So get up and offer the funeral prayer for your brother Ashama.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 3877, translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan

Narrated Abu Huraira:

At the time of the Fajr prayer the Prophet (ﷺ) asked Bilal, “Tell me of the best deed you did after embracing Islam, for I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise.” Bilal replied, “I did not do anything worth mentioning except that whenever I performed ablution during the day or night, I prayed after that ablution as much as was written for me.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 1149, translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan

Talk about it

  1. The Prophet sent the believers to a Christian king because no one was wronged under him. What made Abyssinia safe? Where do people look for that kind of safety today?See: A king under whom no one is wronged
  2. When the king asked what the Muslims believed, Ja’far recited about Mary. Why might that passage have mattered to this king in particular?See: The hearing
  3. The Prophet called the king “your brother Ashama.” They never met. What does it take to call someone a brother?See: Your brother Ashama
  4. Bilal answered with one word, Ahad, under torture. Where does that kind of strength come from?See: Bilal and Umm Ayman
  5. Bilal’s best deed was small and private: praying after every ablution. What small deed could each of us keep up this week?See: Bilal and Umm Ayman

Try this

  1. Follow the road. On the atlas, choose Makkah, then Aksum, and follow the line between them. Then find Madinah and Negash. What would the emigrants have needed for the journey?
  2. Hold the hearing. In groups of five, take the parts of the king, two bishops and the two envoys, with Ja’far speaking for the Muslims. Use only what the account says. Afterward, ask each player what their character wanted.
  3. Write home. Write a short letter from one of the emigrants to family in Makkah, after the hearing. Say what the court was like and why you are staying.

On the atlas: Makkah Aksum Madinah Negash

Check yourself

  1. About what year did the first Muslims emigrate to Abyssinia?
  2. What was the title of the king of Aksum?
  3. Who spoke for the Muslims at the hearing?
  4. Which chapter of the Quran did he recite from?
  5. What did the Prophet do when the king died?
  6. Who was the first to call the adhan in Madinah?
  7. What was Umm Ayman’s name?

From The First Refuge, ferrand.africa/teach/first-refuge/. Free to print and copy for teaching.

Part three

Answers and sources

  1. About what year did the first Muslims emigrate to Abyssinia?About 615.
  2. What was the title of the king of Aksum?The Negus, al-Najashi.
  3. Who spoke for the Muslims at the hearing?Ja’far ibn Abi Talib.
  4. Which chapter of the Quran did he recite from?Surah Maryam, the chapter named for Mary.
  5. What did the Prophet do when the king died?He prayed the funeral prayer for him in Madinah and called him a brother.
  6. Who was the first to call the adhan in Madinah?Bilal ibn Rabah.
  7. What was Umm Ayman’s name?Barakah.

The readings

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 1245: sunnah.com. Translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3877: sunnah.com. Translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 1149: sunnah.com. Translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan.

The chapter’s sources

  • Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, translated by A. Guillaume (Oxford University Press, 1955), pages 146 to 155.
  • Ibn Sa’d, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, on the first emigration to Abyssinia.
  • Musnad Ahmad, the narration of Umm Salama on the hearing before the Negus.
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 1245 and 1333, narrated by Abu Hurayrah. sunnah.com
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3877 and 3879, narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah. sunnah.com
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 1149, narrated by Abu Hurayrah. sunnah.com
  • Nehemia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels, editors, The History of Islam in Africa (Ohio University Press, 2000).
  • Zuzanna Augustyniak and Kamil O. Kuraszkiewicz, “The early Islamic tradition in Ethiopia: report on the first season of the archaeo-ethnographic research in Negash (Tigray),” Studies in African Languages and Cultures 59 (2025), pages 169 to 185. doi.org
  • Anadolu Agency, “Ethiopia vows to restore ancient iconic mosque,” January 5, 2021. aa.com.tr