In Islamic history and tradition, Ethiopia (Abyssinia or
Al-Habasha) is known as the "Haven of the First Migration or
Hijra."

For Muslims, Ethiopia is synonymous with freedom from
persecution and emancipation from fear.

Ethiopia was a land where its king, Negus or Al-Najashi, was
a person renowned for justice and in whose land human rights
were cherished.

The meaning and the significance of "Hijra" is embodied in the
Islamic calendar. Since its inception, the Islamic calendar
represents a history of perpetual struggle between truth and
falsehood, faith and blasphemy, freedom and oppression, light
and darkness, and between peace and war.

The first migration [Hijra] of the Companions and relatives of
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to
Ethiopia celebrates the birth of freedom of expression and
beliefs, whereas, the Second Migration of the Prophet
Muhammad to the Madinah celebrates the end of oppression.

"And dispute you not with the People of the Book,
except with means better, unless it be with those of
them who inflict wrong; But say, we believe in the
Revelation which has come down to us and in that
which came down to you: Our God and your God is
one; and it is to Him we bow in Islam: (Quran 29:46).

History has shown that the first migration to Ethiopia and the
second migration to Madinah have indeed laid down the
foundation on which Islam, as a universal religion, was built.
Ever since that experience, the Muslim community, wherever
they settled, shifted from the positive of minority to majority,
from weakness to permanent strength, from tribalism to
universal brotherhood that knows no defined political
boundaries.

The Quran says: "O mankind! We created you from a single
soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes,
so that you may come to know one another. Truly the most
honored of you in God’s sight is the greatest of you in piety.
God is All-Knowing, All-Aware (Quran 49:13).

With this spirit in mind, Bilal ibn Rabah, an Ethiopian slave
living in Makkah, became a leading companion of the Prophet
Muhammad. It was not a coincidence that his native land,
Ethiopia, was the country chosen by the Prophet when his
followers needed protection and freedom form oppression.

Muhammad Haykal, author of the "Life of Muhammad" said
that the Prophet Muhammad trusted that his followers and
relatives would be better off if they migrated to a country
whose religion was Christianity-a scriptural religion whose
Prophet was Jesus son of Mary. He was not afraid that his
followers would convert and give up their faith in favor of any
other established religion.

He was more convinced that Islam would be more protected
in its infancy in a fertile and prosperous land ruled by the
Scripture than among the ignominious pagans of Arabia.

The companions and relatives of the Prophet were prepared
to sacrifice and suffer all sorts of hardship and alienation rather
than give up their own conviction and freedom. The Prophet
gave his companions the following letter to give the king when
they reached Ethiopia.

"In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, Most
Gracious, From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah to
the Negus Al-Asham, king of Abyssinia.

Peace, I praise Allah to you, the King, the Holy, the
Peace, the Faithful, the Watcher, and I bear witness
that Jesus, son of Mary, is the Spirit of Allah and His
Word, Which He cast to Mary the virgin, the good, the
pure, so that she conceived Jesus. Allah created him
from His Spirit and His Breathing as He created Adam
by His Hand and His Breathing. I call you to Allah, the
Unique without partner, and to His obedience, and to
follow me and believe in that which came to me, for I
am the Messenger of Allah.

I have sent to you my cousin Jafar with a number of
Muslims, and when they come, entertain them without
haughtiness, for I invite you and your armies to Allah. I
have accomplished my work and my admonition, so
receive my advice. Peace upon all those that follow
True Guidance."

In view of this determination, the Ethiopian king, Negus
As’ha’mah, undoubtedly recognized the significance of the
Prophet Muhammad as a Messenger of Allah, and the need to
treat the Muslims with kindness and dignity. The Christian
church leaders who listened to the debate between the
Muslims learned the truth about Islam.

Thus, they accepted the universality of the message of the
Prophet based on the truthful similarity with the Scripture
which prophesied the advent of Muhammad as a Prophet. The
Quran describes their belief in these words:

"And when they listen to revelation received by the
Messenger, you will see their eyes overflowing with
tears, for they recognize the Truth. They pray: ‘Our
Lord! we believe; write us among the witnesses"
(Quran 5:83).

In the sixth year of the Hijra, the Prophet wrote letters to
different rulers of the world inviting them to Islam. Among the
first leaders to receive the letter was the King of Ethiopia
(Abyssinia). This second letter was sent with Amir ibn
Umayya and reads as follows:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, Most
Gracious. From Muhammad,t the Messenger of Allah,
to the Negus Al-Asham, king of Abyssinia, Peace is for
the one who follows the right guidance and believes in
Allah and His Messenger. I bear witness that there is no
god but Allah. He is one and has no partners. He has
neither wife nor child. And Muhammad is His servant
and His Messenger.

I call you to Islam for I am His Messenger. Accept Islam and
you will be safe. O people of the Book! Come to something
which is common between us and you, that we worship none
by Allah; nor associate anything with Him; nor make any other
our Lord besides Allah. If they turn away, then tell them we
are obedient to Allah. If you deny it, the burden of the
Christians, your people, will fall upon you." The seal of
Muhammad, the Messenger.

The king received the envoy of the Prophet with great respect
and showed him all the honor he deserved, and accepted
Islam despite the objection of his family and the Church.

The king wrote back saying"...I testify that you are the
Messenger of Allah, true and confirming those before you. I
have given my allegiance to you and to your nephew and I
have surrendered myself through him to the Lord of the
Worlds."

In recognition of his kindness and when it was revealed to the
Prophet that the Ethiopian king whom he had never met in
person passed away, the Prophet offered the first funeral
prayer in absentia in Islam (Salatul Ghaib) for the king who
was named Ahmed Al-Najashi after he reverted to Islam.

Even though the family of the Ethiopian king, joined by the
church, revolted against him because of his acceptance of
Islam, and tried to stop the spreading of Islam, Islam rapidly
and peacefully spread south of the Anunite kingdom.

By the fourteenth century, there were seven Islamic Sultanates
[kingdoms]. The Sultanate of Yifat, Dawaro, Arbabini,
Hadiya, Shakara, Bali, and Dara survived as Muslim enclaves
until the northern Christian, with the help of European colonial
powers, mainly from Portugal, expanded by force and by the
late 18th century, formed "Ethiopia" as we know it today.

Based on the Europe World Year Book 1991 and
UNICEF/ETHIOPIA the estimated number of Ethiopian
Muslims, which ranges between 23.9 million to 27.7 million
(45 percent-52 percent), ranks as the third largest Muslim
population in Africa after Nigeria and Egypt.

Overall, it is three times as large as Somalia, Guinea or Niger,
1.2 times as large as the Sudan’s Muslim population; twice as
large as Yemen or Saudi Arabia or Syria; six times as large as
Libya; 1.5 times as large as Iraq; 1.1 times as large as Algeria
or Morocco.

Yet, despite the scale of abuses and suffering of the Muslim
people of Ethiopia, their agony was largely ignored by the
world community, especially by the Muslim world.

According to Ethiopian Muslims’ estimate, their number is
between 65 and 70 percent of the total population.

Government after succeeding government made the effort to
portray Ethiopia as an island of Christianity by minimizing the
number of Ethiopian Muslims.

For centuries, the policy of fear and distrust forced the
monarchy, which was overthrown in 1974, and the church to
espouse an oppressive posture in relation to the Muslim
populace, a majority in Ethiopia, consisting of ethnically
diverse groups largely living in rural areas.

Moreover, their distrustful policy towards the surrounding
neighbors led to centuries of unwarranted isolation from the
rest of the world.

The monarchs, with the blessing of the Church, committed
unparalleled genocide against the Muslims of Ethiopia in order
to create a one-religion and, if possible, a one-ethnic empire.

In their effort to uproot Islam from the country, they have
employed the services of western missionary groups who
relentlessly devoted their time and financial resources for the
main purpose of converting Muslims, especially orphan
children of famine and drought victims, to Christianity.

By contrast, any religious, educational, cultural or trade access
to the Ethiopian Muslims from the surrounding neighbors used
to provoke the anxiety of the isolationists who dominated the
traditional political power structure over 700 years.

Very often when the Ethiopian Muslims performed Hajj or
Umra pilgrimages in large numbers, it is considered as a
sudden rise of "Islamic Fundamentalism" in spite of the fact
that the annual pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the sacred pillars
of Islam for those who can financially afford it.

To build Islamic schools was out of question. Yet Muslims
were forced to financially contribute for church buildings, and
in most cases their fertile lands were confiscated and handed
over to the church.

Prior to 1974, the church owned a third of the fertile lands in
the country.

To build their mosques, Muslims had to obtain building
permits from the church, and in most cases they are denied.
The injustices committed against the Muslims of Ethiopia are
so enormous that it is impossible to fully detail them here.

It is indeed Divine intervention from Allah that Islam not only
survived but also flourished in Ethiopia.

The struggle of Ethiopian Muslims to save their religion and
protect their basic God-given human rights went unnoticed by
the outside world.

A few among the most honored Muslim leaders in Ethiopia
who struggled hard to save Islam by traveling throughout the
country and teaching the religion are Sheikh Abadir of Harar,
Sheikh Nur Hussein of Bale, Sheich Aba Budelah who is
known as Aba Ramuz of Abret in Chancho, and Sheikh Tola
and Sheikh Muhammad Sani Habib of Wollo.

These Muslim legends, with the help and Mercy of Allah, left
behind a legacy of true dedication and struggle for us to
emulate. There are thousands of their students who are
following their footsteps.

Among the well-known Ulemas nowadays is Sheikh
Muhammad Wale of Darra. He has been incarcerated since
February 1995 for no reason other than trying to teach Islam
and advocate the human rights of the Muslims.

Of late, it has been observed that the Ethiopian government-in
conjunction with the Eritrean government and with the financial
support of the American and Israeli governments, has revived
a dormant Muslim phobia anchored in isolationist mentality
and historically engendered feuds with neighbors across the
Red Sea, and neighboring countries in East and Northeast
Africa such as Somalia and the Sudan.

This act is a source of threat to the political and economic
stability of the region.

The coordination of anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim policies of
the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments started with the
subjugation of their own Muslim communities.

The Ethiopian government has fallen into the trap of the false
beliefs of the New World Order. Espousing any policy that
undermines freedom and is injurious to the self-image of
Muslims is considered in the interest of the stability of the
region from the so-called invaders or what euphemistically is
known in the modern parlance of the political and religious
opposition as fundamentalists.

This fabricated paternalistic insult to the Muslim is certainly
detrimental to dialogue, peace and stability.

Since the peaceful December 1994 demonstration of
Ethiopian Muslims demanding justice and equality, the
government has taken drastic actions to suppress the
Muslims.

community leaders elected to run the day to day affairs of
the Muslim community are still languishing in the main
prison of Addis Ababa.

Quranic schools were closed and all governmental and
non-governmental Islamic humanitarian organizations were
ordered to close and leave the country. Tens of thousands of
imported written materials about Islam are sitting in the custom
warehouses and are ordered to be burned. Yet again, the
Ethiopian government has deliberately failed to refrain from
direct involvement in the internal affairs of the Muslim people
by conducting an election for the Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs and having its cronies control the Council.

Most of the so-called elected are not religiously qualified to
run the affairs of the Muslims. The Council’s first action taken
was to pass a ruling that any volunteer who teaches Quran in
mosques or any individual who wants to participate in Dawa
work must obtain a license. This procedure is used as a
control mechanism.

By contrast, there are over 100 church groups freely roaming
the country teaching their religion. There are 96 different
weekly and monthly Christian magazines and booklets
flooding the country by the millions. Their primary target, as
one official of the World Council of Churches stated, is to
Christianize the entire population of Ethiopia.

It is irrefutable and historically true that the Muslim majority in
Ethiopia have been the victims of horrific persecution for a
long time under Ethiopian Christian rulers who are sustained
by European powers.

The Ethiopian rulers, from the time right after Ahmed
Al-Najashi all the way down to the present regime, have
developed a deep-rooted hatred for Islam.

Religious persecution and cultural domination, characterized
by the destruction of mosques and Islamic schools, detention
and even execution of local Imams, religious leaders, Sheikhs,
and the burning of the copies of the Quran and other religious
books was rampant under the Christian rulers of Ethiopia.

It is time for Muslims around the world to open their eyes and
see what is happening to their brothers and sisters in Ethiopia.

The land of the first Hijra is being groomed once again by the
enemies of equality, justice and human rights to be the bastion
of Christianity in East Africa. This i the New World Order in
practice.

Insha Allah, they will fail miserably. Allah reminds us in the
Quran: "Remember how the unbelievers plotted against thee,
to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out of our
home. Thy plot and plan. And Allah too plans, but the best of
planners is Allah" (Quran 8:30).

Allah’s Apostle said: A Muslim is a brother of another
Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him
over to an oppressor. Whoever fulfilled the needs of his
brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought his Muslim
brother out of discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the
discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever
screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of
Resurrection (narrated by Abdullah bin Umar)

When this article was first published, Najib Mohammed was
the President of the Washington, D.C.-based Federation of
Ethiopian Muslims in North America (FEMNA).

This article was originally published in The Message
magazine’s June/July 1997 issue.