The First Hijra: Early Muslims and the Christian King of Aksum

The First Hijra was the migration of a small group of early Muslims from Mecca to the Christian kingdom of Aksum, in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea, around 615 CE. Facing persecution at home, they crossed the Red Sea to seek protection from the Aksumite king, remembered in Islamic tradition as the Najashi (in English often "the Negus"). When envoys from Mecca asked him to hand the refugees back, he refused. It is one of the earliest episodes in Islamic history, and it took place in Africa, under a Christian ruler.

The First Hijra came several years before the better-known Hijra to Medina in 622, from which the Islamic calendar is counted. That is why it is often called the first migration, or the migration to Abyssinia, the old name used for the Ethiopian highlands.

Why did early Muslims go to Abyssinia?

In the years after the Prophet Muhammad began preaching in Mecca, his followers faced growing hostility from the city's powerful Quraysh leadership. Those without strong family protection were especially vulnerable. According to the early biographies of the Prophet, he advised a group of his companions to go to Abyssinia, describing its king as a just ruler under whom no one was wronged.

The choice made sense. Aksum was a major Red Sea power, connected to Arabia by long-established trade, and its kings had been Christian since the fourth century. The first group was small, traditionally given as around a dozen men and a few women, including Uthman ibn Affan, who later became the third caliph, and his wife Ruqayya, a daughter of the Prophet. A second, larger group followed, numbering more than eighty in the traditional accounts, among them the Prophet's cousin Ja'far ibn Abi Talib.

The Najashi and the refusal

The most famous part of the story concerns a delegation from Mecca. The Quraysh sent two envoys, one of them Amr ibn al-As, with gifts for the king and his officials, asking for the refugees to be returned. The Najashi chose to hear the refugees for himself before deciding.

In the traditional account, Ja'far spoke for the Muslims. He described their former way of life and what the new faith had asked of them, and when the king asked to hear something of their scripture, he recited the opening of the Qur'anic chapter named after Mary, which tells of the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus. The king, it is said, was deeply moved, and remarked that the difference between his own belief and theirs was very small. The envoys tried again, raising what the Muslims said about Jesus, but the king accepted Ja'far's answer and sent the delegation home without its prize.

It matters to be clear about sources. The fullest narratives come from biographies of the Prophet compiled in the eighth and ninth centuries, more than a century after the events, and they include details that historians treat with caution. The core of the story, that early Muslims found refuge in Christian Aksum, is widely accepted. The precise words exchanged at court are best read as tradition, carefully remembered and deeply valued, rather than a transcript.

Who was the Najashi?

Islamic sources give the king a personal name, usually rendered Ashama, and some later traditions hold that he accepted Islam, citing the report that the Prophet prayed for him when he died. Ethiopian Christian memory, by contrast, generally remembers a Christian king who acted justly. Historians have not been able to match the Najashi securely with a ruler known from Aksumite coins or inscriptions, because the evidence for Aksum's kings in this period is thin. These differences are worth stating openly rather than smoothing over: the same figure is honoured in two traditions, each in its own way.

Many of the migrants stayed for years. Some returned to Mecca; others later joined the community in Medina. Ja'far and the last of the group are traditionally said to have returned around 628.

Negash and the mosque tradition

In Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, the town of Negash (also written Al Nejashi) is closely associated with the First Hijra. Local tradition holds that the Najashi and a number of the companions were buried there, and the town's mosque is widely described as one of the oldest Islamic sites in Africa. Negash has long been a place of pilgrimage for Ethiopian Muslims, and it appears on UNESCO's tentative list for possible future World Heritage status. The mosque was reported damaged in late 2020, during the war in Tigray. Ethiopia today has a large Muslim population, around a third of the country, and the story of the First Hijra is part of how Ethiopian Muslims understand their long presence in the land.

What the First Hijra means today

The story is often told as a model of sanctuary across faith boundaries. At the very beginning of Islamic history, Muslim refugees were protected by a Christian African king who listened to them before he judged them. It sits uncomfortably with the claim that Christianity and Islam are natural or permanent enemies, and it is cherished in Ethiopia by people of both faiths.

It also invites careful thought about refuge. The migrants were people fleeing danger, received by a state that weighed their case and chose protection. Comparing that with modern displacement can be illuminating, as long as the comparison is made with care and without pretending the seventh century and the twenty-first are the same.

On the road through Ethiopia

The walk from Cape Agulhas to Windsor is planned to cross Ethiopia from the Kenyan border east towards Djibouti. You can follow the line on the route page, or read our overview of the route from the Cape to London. The expedition's Ethiopian chapter asks how an ancient African civilisation came to hold its own forms of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and the First Hijra is one of its central stories, because it joins migration, refuge, Christianity, Islam and Africa in a single episode.

The expedition hopes to explore the story with Muslim and Christian scholars, and through the everyday hospitality a walker meets in towns and villages of every faith. In each place Leon passes, the walk plans to pay for one act of kindness and record it on the kindness ledger, an idea that sits naturally beside a story about welcoming strangers. You can read more about Leon, follow his updates in the journal once walking begins, or support the walk.

Frequently asked questions

When was the First Hijra?

Around 615 CE, several years before the migration to Medina in 622. Some accounts place the first departures a year or two earlier.

Who was the Najashi?

The king of Aksum who protected the early Muslim refugees. Islamic sources call him Ashama; historians have not securely identified him with a ruler known from Aksumite coins or inscriptions.

Who led the Muslims in Abyssinia?

Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet's cousin, is remembered as their spokesman at the king's court. Uthman ibn Affan and Ruqayya were among the first group.

Where is the Negash mosque?

In the town of Negash, in Tigray in northern Ethiopia, a place long associated with the Najashi and the companions of the Prophet.