the opposition produced many difficulties.

the opposition produced many difficulties. one of which was the persecution of the early muslims. this persecution led muslims to choose a new life as refugees. in the fifth year of the prophet's call ( 615 c.e.), when his followers were persecuted by the quraish, the prophet (p.) suggested to them to go abyssinia, ethiopia, in order to protect themselves. according to ibn hisham, who mentions them all by names, 83 men took up the prophet's(p.) suggestion and left for abyssina.

a number of them accompanied by their wives and children. this event is known in the islamic history as the first hijrah. the first muslim group which reached abyssinia was led by jaffer ibn abi talib (the prophet's(p.) cousin). after they had reached abyssinia, the leaders of quraish realized that the large proportion of prophet muhammad's (p.) followers have their freedom in abyssinia, they sent some deputies to the negus, the king of abyssina, to ask for their extradition.

the two delegates sent were men of outstanding capability and intelligence, they were abdullah ibn rabia and amr ibn al 'aasi, who later became one of the most famous muslim conquerors. they were instructed on their arrival in the court to bribe the abyssinian leaders in order to persuade them to use their influence with the negus on their behalf.

the delegation met with the king and accused the muslims saying, " they have forsaken our religion and not accepted yours but have introduced a new religion which they have invented. they begged negus to send them back to mecca. the negus, however, refused to expel them until they would have an opportunity to state their case. the king summoned the muslims to the royal presence, the refugees chose jaffar ibn abi talib as their spokesman. he commenced the difference by saying, " o king!

we were a barbarous nation, worshipping idols, eating carrion, commshameful acts, killing our blood related kins, forgetting our duty towards our neighbors, the strong amongst us devouring the weak. such was our state until god sent to us an apostle from ourselves, with lineage, integrity, trustworthiness and purity of life we were acquainted. he called us to god, to believe in his unity, to worship him and abandon the stones and idols which we and our fathers used to worship instead.