Return of the Abyssinian emigrants with Ja'far ibn Abi Talib

A group of the first Muslims sailed to Abyssinia to escape harm in Mecca, and they lived there for years under the rule of the just king called the Negus. After the Treaty of Hudaybiyya, the Negus sent those who remained on two ships, and they reached the Prophet ﷺ while he was at Khaybar. Among them was his cousin Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, and the Prophet was very glad to see them.

When harm grew heavy on the first Muslims in Mecca, the Prophet ﷺ allowed them to emigrate to Abyssinia, where the Christian king called the Negus was a safe refuge, and they went in two waves around 615 and 616 CE. Many stayed there for years while some returned earlier. In the year 7 AH, after the Treaty of Hudaybiyya and the affair of Khaybar, the Negus sent the remaining emigrants on two ships, and they reached the Prophet at Khaybar. Among them was Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, who had been away about fifteen years, and the sira books relate that the Prophet said he did not know which made him happier: the victory at Khaybar or Ja'far's arrival.

The return of the Abyssinian emigrants is the journey that closed the first emigration in Islamic history. The vulnerable Muslims had emigrated to Aksum in two waves around 615 and 616 CE, and the Negus's protection was an early political and religious refuge. Ibn Ishaq's account in Ibn Hisham's recension relates that the Prophet ﷺ sent Amr ibn Umayya (may God be pleased with him) al-Damri (may God be pleased with him) to the Negus, who carried those who remained on two ships and brought them to the Prophet at Khaybar after al-Hudaybiyya, in the year 7 AH. The returnees included Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and his wife Asma bint Umays, and Ibn Ishaq then lists their names clan by clan. A saying transmitted in Sahih Muslim and elsewhere has the Prophet unsure which made him happier: the conquest of Khaybar or Ja'far's arrival. Some had returned earlier in stages, among them Uthman ibn Affan (may God be pleased with him). For the Medinan community the return restored a group of seasoned Companions, and historians treat the event as the end of a story that had lasted about fifteen years and proof that refuge abroad was a practical policy, not an episode.