Did An-Najāshī Become Muslim?

Number three: because the Abyssinians were Christian, and the Muslims used to see the Christians as the closest to them, when compared with the idol worshippers of Quraysh or the Magians, al-Majūsiyyah, of Persia — the Christians were the closest.

What was the language of communication between Jaʿfar and An-Najāshī, the Negus? Probably it was Arabic. There are some narrations that state that the Negus lived for a few years in the Ḥijāz, and that he spoke Arabic. And even if he didn't live in Arabia, because of this established commercial ties between the Arabs and the Abyssinians, it is possible that the Abyssinians spoke Arabic, or knew Arabic. And this would make more sense, because we would find it difficult to, e.g., understand how the Negus would weep when he hears Qur'an if it was translated through an interpreter. The Negus wept, and we would suspect that he was understanding the meanings of the āyāt in the original language for it to have that effect on him.

Did the Negus become Muslim? He definitely did, even though, according to Ibn Taymiyyah, he was not capable of applying any of the laws of Islam. Ibn Taymiyyah says, for a fact, An-Najāshī didn't rule according to the Qur'an. Ibn Taymiyyah says that the authentic opinion is that he didn't even pray, he didn't make hijrah, which was mandatory at the time — so he didn't practise Islam, but he believed in the oneness of Allah, and he did what was possible for him to do for somebody in his position. Ibn Taymiyyah also brought in, here, the story of Sayyidunā Yūsuf (peace be upon him): Yūsuf (peace be upon him), even though he was a nabī of Allah, was not able to apply all of the laws of Allah Subḥānahu wa Taʿālā on a non-Muslim population. Ibn Taymiyyah has, in fact, a very interesting essay on this — not translated here, but well worth reading — on his views regarding this issue of a Muslim ruling over non-Muslims, or somebody in the situation of a najāshī: what are their excuses in not applying the laws of the Sharīʿah? That essay is not taken up here, but he definitely did become a Muslim, and he was being taught Islam by Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, and he might have had some secret meetings with Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib to study Islam, because the Islam of An-Najāshī was not made public.

So when An-Najāshī passed away — in al-Bukhārī, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says, qad tuwuffiya al-yawma rajulun ṣāliḥun min al-Ḥabashah, fa-halummū nuṣallī ʿalayh: on this day, a righteous man died in Abyssinia, so let's pray on him — let's make ṣalāt al-janāzah on him. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) knew the exact day when An-Najāshī died. He knew it on the same day, which means that Jibrīl (peace be upon him) came to Muhammad (peace be upon him) to inform him about that event. So it was an important event that Jibrīl had to come and convey to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah, al-Muṣṭafā, led the prayer for An-Najāshī. He prayed for him. And another hadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, istaghfirū li-akhīkum: ask Allah to forgive him. It was asking the Ṣaḥābah to make duʿāʾ for An-Najāshī.