Sirah
Embarking for Abyssinia
The first emigration: a Red Sea crossing to the land of the Negus, c. 615 CE
c. 615 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
The Red Sea coast at Shu'aybah, the old port of Makkah
20.7800, 39.5200 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
As the persecution of the early Muslims at Makkah intensified, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) directed a number of his Companions to seek refuge across the Red Sea in Abyssinia (al-Habasha), the Christian kingdom of Aksum, whose ruler, titled the Negus, in Arabic al-Najashi, the sources describe as a just king under whom none would be wronged. The first emigration, traditionally dated to about the fifth year of the mission, roughly 615 CE (the precise year varies in the sources), was a small party, the most common reports give about eleven men and a few women, among them, according to Ibn Ishaq, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan and his wife Ruqayya, the daughter of the Prophet (radiyallahu 'anhuma). They are said to have gone down to the coast and taken passage on trading vessels from the Hijazi shore. A second, larger wave followed, led by Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (RA). When the Quraysh sent envoys to the Negus to demand the emigrants' return, the king heard both sides; Ja'far (RA) recited to him the opening of Surat Maryam on 'Isa and his mother (peace be upon them), and the Negus refused to surrender the Muslims, an episode preserved in the Sira and echoed in the later report of the Prophet's funeral prayer in absentia for the Negus (Sahih al-Bukhari 1245, Sahih Muslim 951). This scene depicts the first embarkation itself: the small party boarding a coastal trading boat at the Red Sea shore to cross to Africa. It is the earliest hijra in Islam, years before the migration to Madinah. In keeping with the strictest visual ethics, no figure is identifiable and neither the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) nor any named Companion is depicted.
What you see
A shallow coastal inlet on a hot, low shore where bare desert hills meet a flat sea, the Red Sea coast of the Hijaz, not an inland valley. The water is the way out; the opposite shore lies across the sea to the west.
A small wooden coastal trading vessel, a sewn-plank Red Sea boat with a single mast and a lateen-set sail, is drawn up at the water's edge, being loaded for a crossing rather than a coastal haul.
A small party of travellers with light bundles is boarding the boat: a modest group, not a caravan or an army, carrying little. The scene is a quiet, almost furtive embarkation rather than a public departure.
Provisions and water-skins for a sea passage are being passed aboard; merchant goods of the kind that crossed the Red Sea, hides, simple wares, suggest the travellers are taking passage on an ordinary trading boat bound for the African coast.
The crossing points west and south toward the Horn of Africa, the kingdom of Aksum in Abyssinia, ruled by the Christian Negus (al-Najashi) to whom the emigrants were bound.
The subject is the first hijra in Islam: a small group of the early Makkan Muslims leaving by sea to seek refuge under a just Christian king, years before the great migration to Madinah.
The dating is the early Makkan persecution, traditionally about the fifth year of the mission, roughly 615 CE; the exact year is given variously in the sources.
Primary sources
Ibn Ishaq / Ibn Hisham, Sirat Rasul Allah (compiled 8th-9th c.): The narrative of the first and second emigrations to Abyssinia, the names of the emigrants, the embassy of the Quraysh, and Ja'far's address to the Negus. The principal source.
Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra (9th c.): Lists of the emigrants of both waves and the demographic detail; the standard prosopographical source for who went.
Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (3rd c. AH): The report of the Prophet's funeral prayer in absentia for the Negus (al-Bukhari 1245; Muslim 951), corroborating the relationship between the early community and the Abyssinian king.
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (early 10th c.): Compiles the accounts and discusses the dating of the first emigration in the early Makkan years.
Further reading & cross-references
Red Sea maritime history and the port of Shu'aybah: Topographical/material cross-reference: Shu'aybah served as the port of Makkah before the rise of Jeddah, and Red Sea crossings to the African coast used small sewn-plank lateen craft. Used for the coastal setting and the boat type.
Guess places like this in GeoSiyer
Drop into a 360° scene from Islamic history and pin where — and when — it happened.
Play GeoSiyer