The female emigrants to Abyssinia were not one person but a collective of early Muslim women, many of them Sahabiyyat, who left Makkah for religious safety in the Christian kingdom ruled by al-Najashi, the Negus. Their migration was an act of faith under pressure. Quran 16:110 offers a broad promise to believers who migrated after persecution; it does not name each woman in this group.
Life and Setting
In the early Makkan years, some believers faced pressure, isolation, and abuse from Quraysh. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) permitted a group of Muslims to seek refuge across the Red Sea in Abyssinia, where a just ruler was known to live. This hijrah happened before the migration to Madinah and showed that faith sometimes requires leaving familiar streets, relatives, language, and livelihood.
The women were not marginal passengers in this story. Among those associated in the seerah and biographical works with the Abyssinian migration are figures such as Ruqayyah bint Rasul Allah, Umm Salamah, Asma bint Umays, Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan, Sahla bint Suhayl, and others. Lists vary between reports, and not every detail about every woman is equally strong, so this profile speaks collectively and cautiously.
Encounter with Islam
There is no single conversion story for “the female emigrants to Abyssinia.” Each woman had her own path into Islam. Some were from households that embraced Islam early; some migrated with husbands; some endured separation, poverty, or bereavement. For a collective profile, it would be inaccurate to invent one shared moment of conversion.
What is clear is that these women had already chosen Islam before they undertook exile for its sake. Their faith was not merely verbal. It became visible in departure: boarding ships, trusting Allah, and living as a minority community far from Makkah. Seerah reports also preserve painful individual trials, such as the hardship faced by Umm Habibah when her husband’s religious path changed in Abyssinia, while she remained Muslim.
Quranic Connection
Quran 16:110 is often read as a broad promise for believers who suffered, migrated, strove, and remained patient:
“Then indeed your Lord, to those who emigrated after they had been put to trial, then struggled and were patient — indeed your Lord, after that, is Forgiving and Merciful.” Quran 16:110
This verse does not list the women of Abyssinia by name. Some tafsir discussions connect its meaning with believers who were persecuted and then migrated. Its relationship to these women is therefore general and illustrative: they are among the kinds of believers whose sacrifice the verse helps later readers understand, but the verse should not be presented as an individual revelation about each of them.
Hadith and Historical Reports
A sound hadith preserves the honor of the Abyssinian emigrants. In the report of Asma bint Umays and the “people of the ship,” the Prophet (PBUH) assured those who had returned from Abyssinia that they had the merit of two migrations: their migration to al-Najashi and their migration to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). This is recorded in Sahih Bukhari 4230.
The famous account of Ja’far ibn Abi Talib speaking before al-Najashi, describing Islam’s call to worship Allah, truthfulness, family ties, and moral reform, is known mainly through seerah works such as Ibn Hisham’s recension of Ibn Ishaq. It is a central historical report, but it should be distinguished from rigorously authenticated hadith wording. The women’s presence in Abyssinia forms part of that broader refugee community.
What This Life Teaches Us
The women of the Abyssinian hijrah teach that patience is not passive. Sometimes patience means moving, starting again, and preserving faith in a place where one has little worldly power.
- Religious safety is a serious concern, especially for families and vulnerable believers.
- Women were active participants in the earliest sacrifices of Islam.
- Exile for Allah’s sake is not wasted, even when recognition comes years later.
- Collective memory should be honest: name what is known and admit what is uncertain.
Sources and Method
This profile uses Quran 16:110 as an illustrative verse about migration after persecution, not as a direct naming of the Abyssinian women. Hadith evidence includes Sahih Bukhari 4230 on the merit of the emigrants to Abyssinia. Historical setting and names are drawn from seerah and biography families such as Ibn Hisham, Ibn Sa’d, Ibn Hajar, and al-Dhahabi. Because the profile is collective, and because early migration lists differ, individual details have been kept cautious and no shared conversion story has been invented.