The People of the Two Hijrahs

While the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was at Khaybar, he received four delegations. The first was the delegation of the Ashʿariyyūn. The Ashʿariyyūn are people from Yemen, from the area of Zabīd, on the coast of the Red Sea. Here is what Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī says in this hadith from al-Bukhārī (4230). Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: we heard the news of the Prophet Muḥammad (peace be upon him) while we were in Yemen, so we set out to migrate to him — I and two brothers of mine, and I was the youngest of them — along with fifty-two or fifty-three men of my people. So this was quite a large group; they were all making hijrah when they heard the news of Muḥammad (peace be upon him). They took a boat, but this boat went off course, and they ended up not in Madīnah but in Abyssinia, the land of al-Najāshī. So we found Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib there. Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib told us that he had instructions to remain there — he was staying there according to the instructions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — and we stayed with him until we came together with Jaʿfar, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had opened Khaybar.

So the next delegation, or the next group, was Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib and the Muhājirūn of al-Ḥabashah. Why did the Muhājirūn of al-Ḥabashah return? Ibn Isḥāq says that the Messenger sent ʿAmr ibn Umayyah al-Ḍamrī to al-Najāshī, asking him to send the remaining Companions back to Madīnah. Al-Shaʿbī says that when Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib arrived at Khaybar, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) kissed him on his forehead and embraced him — and this is what our scholars use as evidence of the permissibility of embracing; it is this incident. This is mursal. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: I do not know which has brought me more joy, the opening of Khaybar or the arrival of Jaʿfar. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was extremely happy at the arrival of Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib; it had been a long time since he had last seen his cousin.

The hadith of al-Bukhārī, narrated by Abū Mūsā, continues: some people used to say to us — meaning to the people of the ship — we made hijrah before you. And Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays, who was one of those who came with us, visited Ḥafṣah, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays was one of the women who were Muhājirūn in Abyssinia; she visited Ḥafṣah, the daughter of ʿUmar, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb came in and saw this woman with his daughter Ḥafṣah. So when ʿUmar saw Asmāʾ, he said: who is this woman? Ḥafṣah said: Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays. ʿUmar said: is this the Abyssinian woman? Is this the seafaring woman? Asmāʾ said: yes. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: we made hijrah before you, so we have more right to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) than you — meaning, the Messenger of Allah is closer to us; we have more right to him than you.

Asmāʾ was quite angry at this. She said: no, by Allah. You were with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): he was feeding the hungry among you and advising the ignorant among you, while we were in a land that was disliked and far away, in Abyssinia — and all of that was for the sake of Allah and His Messenger. By Allah, I will not eat any food or drink anything until I mention what you said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). We were harmed, and we were in fear. I will mention that to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and ask him; and, by Allah, I will not lie, nor deviate, nor add anything to it. I am going to tell him the truth exactly; I am not going to add anything to, or subtract anything from, what you said.

So she went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and told him: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said so-and-so; he said this and that. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked her: and what did you say? And she told the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) what her response had been. What did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: no; he does not have more right to me than you. He and his companions have one hijrah, and you have two hijrahs — because the Muhājirūn of al-Ḥabashah made hijrah to al-Ḥabashah, and they made hijrah to Madīnah. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told her: they have the reward of one hijrah, and you have the reward of making hijrah twice.

Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays said: after that I would see groups upon groups of the Muhājirūn who had been in Abyssinia coming to me, asking me to narrate to them this hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). And she said: nothing in the world was more beloved to them than these words of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). They were so happy with this reward that came to them from the tongue of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — that everybody else has the reward of one hijrah, while they have the reward of two — that they would come in groups asking her to narrate the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to them. And she said: I remember Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī visiting me again and again, asking me to narrate the hadith to him. He was not satisfied with hearing it once; he wanted to hear it once, and twice, and thrice — to hear the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that gave them this great hijrah.

We should love the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and we should love to hear it again and again, just as Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him) did. He probably had to travel; he had to come a long way to hear this hadith from Asmāʾ. We have all of the books of hadith with us, right beside us, at our fingertips. We should listen to the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); we should bless our ears by listening to the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).