The Global Significance of Al-Nejashi 

In the earliest days of Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) sermons spreading the message of the One-ness of God,  Allah, He and his small fledgling community of believers came under increasing persecution by the powerful  Qureshi in Mecca. The Qureshi merchants of Mecca became immensely wealthy and powerful by catering to the travelers from far and wide throughout Arabia who came to Mecca to visit shrines to the hundreds of idols  representing the gods of the various tribes of the region. They saw the message of one God inimical to their  thriving business and were therefore determined to stamp out this dangerous message from spreading.

Reside there until Allah comes to our aid, there is a Christian king in the land  of the Habesha who is righteous and just, he will protect you

As the  threat to the lives of the Messenger and his companions increased, Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is said to have  told his disciples to go to Abyssinia: “Reside there until Allah comes to our aid, there is a Christian king in the land  of the Habesha who is righteous and just, he will protect you”. With those prophetic words he sent first a group of  12 men and 4 women consisting of some of his close companions and family members, which included his  daughter Rukia, and her husband Usman ibn Affan (who later became the third Caliph) to seek refuge in the  Axumite kingdom. The Axumite king Ashama or king Armah in Ge’ez who is popularly known as Al-Najashi or Negashi (derived from the word Negus in Tigigna meaning King) allowed them to stay and worship freely under his  protection. A much larger group of refugees soon followed for a total of close to a hundred refugees. Some of  them went back to Mecca when it was safer for them to return and join the Prophet. 

The king was impressed and  refused to hand them over. They were now under his protection. The Qureshi emissaries left empty handed.  

The potentates of Mecca sent a delegation to the Axumite king carrying gifts to demand the return of the fugitives  whom they described as renegades abandoning the religion of their ancestors and inventing a new religion. The  Axumite king summoned the refugees to his court and asked them to explain their belief. Their leader, Jaafar Ibn  AbuTaleb, who was also the Prophet’s cousin, spoke eloquently, explaining the principles of their faith, reciting a  verse in the Quran about Mary and her immaculate conception among other things. The king was impressed and  refused to hand them over. They were now under his protection. The Qureshi emissaries left empty handed.  

This epochal event in world history occurred two years before the flight to Medina (Hijra) where the community of believers, the Ummah established itself and is considered the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Some historians  and Islamic scholars however consider the journey of the Prophet’s companions to Abyssinia seeking refuge there  as the First Hijra. This event was to have far greater significance for Ethiopia and Africa for it was here that Islam planted its roots in Africa long before Medina itself. From these modest beginnings, a religion was born with over 2  billion followers worldwide, according to Global Muslim Population.

The site where these early Muslims worshipped and were later buried is a village called Negash, about 10 km from  the nearest town Wukro and 58 km from Mekelle the capital of Tigray Regional State. The Axumite kingdom  therefore carries the distinction of being not only the first Christian state when King Ezana converted to  Christianity and declared it a state religion but also the first country where Islam was practiced freely under the  protection of the Axumite king Ashama, long before Medina. 

It took the dogged persistence of a Tigrayan Muslim family (Haji Abdu) to build a shrine in the  burial place of the companions thus saving it from total oblivion.

This historical event went into near oblivion under the emperors of the Solomonic dynasty who saw Islam as a  threat to their Christian identity rather than embracing it as a cultural and religious heritage that would make the  country proud. It took the dogged persistence of a Tigrayan Muslim family (Haji Abdu) to build a shrine in the  burial place of the companions thus saving it from total oblivion. It has been the site of an annual pilgrimage by  Muslims in Ethiopia.  

It was not until the revolution of 1974 that Negashi received an official recognition as a national heritage. The  EPRDF government that followed the fall of the military regime in 1991 had gone further and proposed that  UNESCO recognize the first mosque at Negashi as world heritage site. 

Mohammed ibn Ismael al Bukhari (Imam al Bukhari) is the most revered Hadith scholar who compiled the Prophet  Mohammed’s sayings in his Sahih al Bukhari, the most authoritative work on the Hadith. Upon the death of Al Nejashi, Imam Bukhari quotes the Prophet as saying “today a pious man from Abyssinia-Al-Nejashi has passed away, so arise to pray (the janazah prayer with four takhbirs) upon him”. This janazah prayer would be the first  ever performed in absentia. One can easily appreciate why such a uniquely high honor was bestowed by the  Prophet (PBUH) upon a dead Abyssinian king. 

It would be incumbent on the present generation of all Ethiopians in general, and Tigrayans in particular, and not only Muslims, to recognize the historical significance of Negashi rivalling that of Mecca and Medina. It will require  an investment not only in the reconstruction of the war damaged mosque but also expansion of the current  facilities to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims that are likely to descend on this holy site  once the regional and national government publicize this national treasure. It would play a pivotal role in the  reconstruction and development of war ravaged Tigray. One can also envision the site as a center of learning and  research on the history of Islam in Ethiopia. Its significance cannot be overestimated.