Why did the holy prophet force Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia?

Answer 1

The early followers of Prophet Muhammad SAW were regularly abused, tormented and persecuted by the Meccans (led by Abu Jahal and Abu Lahab) who opposed the new Islamic teachings brought by the Holy Prophet.

When human endurance was reaching its limits and the persecution became more and more unbearable, the Prophet advised a group of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia where a friendly Christian king named Nijashi reigned. This was the first hijrah (migration) in Islam and fifteen people took part in it.

The event was aptly captured in the Holy Quran thus: "And those who become fugitives for Allah's sake after they are oppressed, verily We shall give them good abode in the world and surely the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew." (Qur'an, 16:41)

And what was all this tyranny and persecution for? Just for believing in the one true God or Allah SWT and for leading a chaste and pious life!

Further migration of more followers of the Prophet led to intensified persecution of those left behind. The Prophet then advised a second migration to Abyssinia, and this time about a hundred people, including Jaafar, the elder brother of Ali rw, went away. The Quraisy sent a deputation through Amr ibn al-As and Ammara ibn Rabiah to Nijashi, the king of Abyssinia, to demand the deportation of the emigrants back to Mecca to be punished by death.

Having won the favour of the clergy, the deputation tried to prejudice the king against the fugitives. Asked to explain the fugitives' position, Jaafar delivered a powerful speech, which was a brilliant summary of all the fundamentals of Islam and all that it stands for, as adopted by the fugitives, nothing more than that.

The king subsequently refused to oblige the Meccan deputation, and the latter had to return highly disappointed. Muslim traditions further indicated that the king later on secretly converted to Islam.