Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 3: Surah Al ‘Imran
summon Allah’s curse upon the liar amongst them. They promised to come and see him in the evening.
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went and brought Fatimah, al-Hasan and
al-Husayn whose hands he held, then he sent for the two men. But they refused to come and see him and
agreed to pay a levied tax. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said then: ‘By Him Who has
sent me with the truth, had they agreed to summon Allah’s curse on the liar, fire would have rained on
the valley [where the delegation of Najran had camped]’. 16 Then the following verse was revealed about
them ((unto him): Come! We will summon our sons and your sons…)”. Al-Sha‘bi said: “our sons refer to
al-Hasan and al-Husayn and our women refers to Fatimah, while ourselves refers to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib,
may Allah be well pleased with one and all”.
(Lo! those of mankind who have the best claim to Abraham are those who followed him, and this
Prophet…) [3:68].
Said Ibn ‘Abbas: “The leaders of the Jews said: ‘By Allah, O Muhammad, you know that we have the better
claim to Abraham’s religion than you or anybody else; and you know that he was a Jew. You are only
resentfully envious!’ And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Al-Kalbi also related from Abu Salih that Ibn ‘Abbas said — and the same is reported by ‘Abd al-Rahman
ibn Ghanm from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and
this was also mentioned by Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar, such that the wordings of their narrations
are mixed up with each other — : “When Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib and his fellow companions migrated to
Abyssinia and settled there and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, migrated to
Medina which was followed by the Battle of Badr, the Quraysh called for a meeting in Dar al-Nadwah
and said: ‘We have to exact revenge for those of us who were killed at Badr from the Companions of
Muhammad who are with the Negus. Collect, therefore, some money and gift it to the Negus and he will
give you in exchange your people who are staying with him. For this mission, select two of your men who
are known for their good judgement’. And so they sent ‘Amr ibn al-‘As and ‘Umarah ibn Abi Mu‘ayt with
gifts, tanned skins and other things. They sailed across the sea to Abyssinia. When they entered in on the
Negus, they prostrated themselves and greeted him. They said: ‘Our people are grateful to you and want
to give you sincere advice for they wish you good. They have sent us to you to warn you about the people
who came to you because they represent a liar who has emerged amongst us, claiming he is Allah’s Messenger.
None of us, except fools, followed him. We had made it very hard on them and drove them away
to the canyons of our land. No one was allowed to go to them, and none of them was allowed to leave;
they were destroyed by hunger and thirst. When things got tough, he sent you his cousin to corrupt your
religion, kingdom and subjects. So beware of them and hand them over to us to suffice you their matter’.
They also said to him: ‘The proof for what we say is that they will not prostrate to you or greet you with
the greeting with which people greet you, out of repulsion from your religion and way of life’. The Negus
summoned them, and when they came, Ja‘far shouted at the door: ‘The party of Allah asks your permission
to enter’. Upon hearing them, the Negus said: ‘Order the crier to repeat what he said’. When Ja‘far
repeated what he said, the Negus said: ‘Indeed, let them enter with Allah’s assurance and safety’. ‘Amr ibn
al-‘As looked at his companion and said: ‘Do you not see how they refer unintelligently to the party of
Allah’ They did not like at all what they had heard. The Companions entered but did not prostrate
themselves to the Negus. ‘Amr ibn al-‘As said: ‘Do you not see how too proud they are to prostrate themselves
before you’ The Negus asked them: ‘What prevents you from prostrating yourselves before me
and greeting me with the greeting with which I am greeted by people from all over the world’ They said:
‘We only prostrate ourselves to Allah Who created and made you king. What you mentioned was our
salutation when we used to worship idols. Allah then sent among us a true Prophet who commanded us
to greet by means of a greeting which is pleasing to Allah, the greeting of peace, the greeting of the inhabitants
of Paradise’. The Negus knew that what he said was the truth and that it was mentioned in the
Torah and the Gospel. He said: ‘Who is the caller who was seeking permission for the party of Allah to
enter’ Ja‘far identified himself and then spoke. He said: ‘You are a king among the kings of the people of
this earth, as you are of the people of the Book. Abundant talk and injustice will not do with you, and I
16
Cf. Qurtubi, :103; Durr, :232-233.
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