Islamic Culture

Lessons from Ja’far ibn Abi Talib’s address to the Negus

 ادْعُ إِلِى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ

أَحْسَنُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

 Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good teaching. Argue with them in the most courteous way, for your Lord knows best who has strayed from His way and who is rightly guided.”  [Surah an-Nahl: 125]

Shortly after the attacks of 9/11 US President George W. Bush gave a famous speech in which he said, Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.’ This address marked the beginning of a new war against the Muslim Ummah called the ‘war on terror.’ This war was not simply against the Muslim leaders or any particular group. This is a war that would enter the homes of every Muslim in the world whether they wanted it or not. The time for being a passive observer was over. Every Muslim would have to make a choice. Either they are part of the camp of Iman and Haqq or part of the camp of Kufr and Batil. There is no in-between.

This so-called ‘war on terror’ has therefore plunged Muslims in to the media spotlight whether they like it or not. Each day brings new events concerning Islam and Muslims, with the media looking for the opinion of Muslim politicians, scholars, community leaders, organisations and the ordinary man in the street. Although this is certainly a testing time for the Ummah it’s also a time of immense opportunity and reward for us to fulfil the role Allah سبحانه وتعالى created us for.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the Holy Qur’an:

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ

“You are the best ummah singled out for mankind: you enjoin what is right (ma’roof), forbid what is wrong (munkar), and believe in Allah.”  [Surah al-Imran: 110]

The Muslim Ummah faces increasing pressure to voice opinions that are in line with the policies of western governments, and to remain silent concerning the munkar being perpetrated against Muslims throughout the world. There is also a danger when under attack to become defensive about Islam and the shar’iah and begin to compromise on some of the fundamental aspects of the deen. Therefore, it’s of paramount importance that Muslims do not succumb to this pressure and twist the message of Islam to appease the kuffar and the western governments. Rather we must enjoin the highest ma’roof (i.e. the Islamic ‘Aqeeda) and convey the message of Islam with wisdom and good teaching without compromising any tenet of Islam.

Every Muslim, male or female, young or old, has his or her part to play in this work. Our role models are undoubtedly the Messenger of Allah (saw) and his sahaba. If we study the example of the sahaba when they migrated to Abyssinia we can take many lessons from them that apply to our situation today.

The early Muslims faced unbearable levels of persecution in the Arabian Peninsula instigated by the Quraysh in Mecca. When the Quraysh heard that some Muslims, being afraid of forced apostasy, had emigrated to Abyssinia they sent two determined envoys after them to discredit the Muslims in the hope that the Negus would expel them from his kingdom and have them sent back. The two envoys were ‘Amr ibn al-‘As ibn Wa’il and ‘Abdullah ibn Rabi’ah. They reached Abyssinia and offered presents to the generals of the Negus to help them convince the Negus to extradite the Muslim refugees.

They said to them, “Some foolish fellows from our people have taken refuge in the King’s country; they have forsaken our Deen (religion) and not accepted yours, but have brought into being an invented Deen which neither we nor you know anything about. Our nobles have sent us to you to return them. So surrender them to us, for their own people have the keenest insight and know most about their faults.”

They also stipulated that the King should not speak to the Muslims, fearing what they might say to him.

The generals met with the Negus and recommended that he surrender the Muslims to their own people. The Negus summoned the Muslims and demanded to hear what they had to say for themselves.

Ja’far ibn Abi Talib was the leader and spokesman of the Muslims who migrated to Abyssinia. When he and the companions entered the court of the Negus they refused to bow down to him as the two envoys and the rest of the King’s subjects had done. When questioned about this Ja’far said, “We do not bow down before anyone except Allah.”

Ja’far then gave a speech presenting Islam to the Negus. He said, “O King! We were ignorant people and we lived like wild animals. The strong among us lived by preying upon the weak. We obeyed no law and we acknowledged no authority save that of brute force. We worshipped idols made of stone or wood, and we knew nothing of human dignity. And then God, in His Mercy, sent to us His Messenger who was himself one of us. We knew about his truthfulness and his integrity. His character was exemplary, and he was the most well-born of the Arabs. He invited us toward the worship of One God, and he forbade us to worship idols. He exhorted us to tell the truth, and to protect the weak, the poor, the humble, the widows and the orphans. He ordered us to show respect to women, and never to slander them. We obeyed him and followed his teachings. Most of the people in our country are still polytheists, and they resented our conversion to the new faith which is called Islam. They began to persecute us and it was in order to escape from persecution by them that we sought and found sanctuary in your kingdom.”

When Ja’far concluded his speech, the Negus said to Ja’far, “Do you have with you anything from what your Messenger brought from Allah to read to me?”

Ja’far said, “Yes,” and recited Surah Maryam from the beginning until where Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

فَأَشَارَتْ إِلَيْهِ قَالُوا كَيْفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَن كَانَ فِي الْمَهْدِ صَبِيًّا
قَالَ إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ آتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيًّا
وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا
وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَتِي وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِي جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا
وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا

“She pointed at him. They said, ‘How can we converse with an infant?’ [But] he said: ‘I am a servant of Allah. He has granted me the Scripture; made me a prophet; made me blessed wherever I may be. He commanded me to pray, to give alms as long as I live, to cherish my mother. He did not make me domineering or graceless. Peace was on me the day I was born, and will be on me the day I die and the day I am raised to life again.” [Surah Maryam 19:29-33]

When the patriarchs heard this they said, “This and what our Lord ‘Isa (Jesus) the Messiah brought are from the same source.”

King Negus listened to the recitation of the Qur’an and cried so much that his beard was wet.

The Negus said, “Of a truth, this and what Musa brought, come from the same niche. You two may go, for by Allah, I will never give them up and they shall not be betrayed.”

The two envoys left the Royal Palace and began to think of another way to fulfil their task. The next day ‘Amr ibn al-‘As went back to the Negus and said to him, “The Muslims say dreadful things about ‘Isa, son of Maryam, send for them and ask them about it.”

He did so and Ja’far replied, “We say about him that which our Prophet brought, saying, he is the slave of Allah and

His Messenger, and His spirit, and His word, which He cast into Maryam the blessed virgin.”

The Negus took a stick from the ground, drew a line in the soil with it and said to Ja’far, “There is nothing more than this line between your Deen and ours”, and he discharged the two envoys empty-handed.

There are four main lessons we can learn from the example of Ja’far ibn Abi Talib to the Negus.

 

Lesson 1. Never compromise the shari’ah rules .

The Muslims were under enormous pressure before the Negus. Failure to present a strong case would have meant their deportation back to Mecca to face certain torture and possibly death. Despite this pressure they refused to compromise their deen and bow down before the Negus, even though this may have acted against them. Although the Muslims refused to bow down they explained their position in an intellectual manner that the Negus understood and being a religious man ultimately agreed with.

When presenting the message of Islam we must therefore adhere to the rules of Islam at all times. We must not lie, backbite, slander, insult or compromise any other rule of Islam. Principles such as necessity and ‘ends justify the means’ have no place in conveying the message of Islam.

 

Lesson 2. Never twist the message of Islam.

When Ja’far was questioned by the Negus over Islam’s view on Isa (as), he did not attempt to disguise or twist Islam’s view. Ja’far clearly articulated that Islam views Isa (as) as a messenger of God and not the son of God.

We must never twist or disguise parts of Islam in order to present an opinion that the government or media find more palatable. Muslims have nothing to be ashamed of regarding their Islamic values and must refuse to accept western claims that Islam is backward and an ‘evil ideology’ responsible for all the terrible things happening in the world.

 

Lesson 3. Understand your audience.

The Negus was a Christian King. Therefore out of all the verses of Qur’an revealed at that time, Ja’far chose a verse from Surah Maryam describing one of the miracles of Isa (as) that he knew the Negus could relate to. This verse had such an effect on the Negus that he wept till his beard was wet.

Understanding our audience and choosing the most relevant examples that will relate to them is vital. When addressing youth, professionals, academics, politicians or media the message will remain the same but the styles and means of language will change.

 

Lesson 4. Accounting the rulers.

The two Quraysh envoys tried to prevent the Negus from listening to the Muslims fearing what they would say about them. When Ja’far gave his speech he indeed exposed the persecution and injustice of Quraysh creating public opinion in the court against them. Ja’far refused to remain silent over the injustice of Quraysh even though if he and the companions were deported back to Mecca their persecution would have increased.

The west and their agents ruling our lands use all means at their disposable to try and silence any voice that speaks against them. Torture, propaganda, imprisonment and killings are perpetrated against those brave enough to stand up to the western occupation and the brutality of the Muslim rulers.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The master of martyrs is Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib and a man who stood to an oppressor ruler where he ordered him and forbade him so he (the ruler) killed him.” [Abu Dawud]

 

Conclusion

In whatever situation we find ourselves in there is always guidance to be found in the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of the Messenger (saw). We must also study the lives of the sahaba, the best generation (May Allah be pleased with them) who were human beings of different races and backgrounds with various strengths and weaknesses, and who managed to mould their personalities according to Islam. Indeed there are countless lessons we can learn from their lives to help us in ours.