The Two Hijrahs to Abyssinia

There are two migrations that happened to al-Ḥabashah. The first one happened in the fifth year of the Biʿthah, following revelation, and it was composed of a small group — twelve men and four women. The second hijrah migration was a larger group, and it was composed of eighty-three men and eighteen or nineteen women, and this was more of a sporadic migration — maybe they didn't go in one group.

Now, how come there are two migrations to al-Ḥabashah? When the first group went to al-Ḥabashah, they heard a rumour that the people of Quraysh had become Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) received the āyāt of Sūrat al-Najm, and he recited those āyāt, and those āyāt were so powerful that they had so much effect on the people of Quraysh, that when they heard the last āyah — which is an āyah of sujūd — the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Muslims made sujūd, and the kuffār made sujūd with them. They were so in tune with the āyāt, they made sujūd with the Muslims. And this was the origin of that false rumour, that the people of Quraysh became Muslim. A group of those who had made hijrah came back to Makkah, to find out it was a false rumour. A second hijrah then followed, a larger group.