Moment 1 of 1
Two migrations, not one
Madinah, after Asma and the other Abyssinian emigrants had returned, when a remark seemed to rank their migration below the migration to Madinah.
MadinahAfter the return from Abyssinia1 min read
Asma bint Umays came to visit, and Umar was present. He is reported to have said something to the effect that the Madinan emigrants had reached the Prophet ﷺ before the Abyssinian group had, and so had the greater claim on him.
Asma did not let the comparison stand. She answered that the Madinan emigrants had had the Prophet ﷺ with them the whole time — feeding whoever among them went hungry, and teaching whoever among them was ignorant — while the Abyssinian group had been in a foreign land, cut off, for the sake of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ alone. She said she would not eat or drink until she had put the matter to the Prophet ﷺ herself.
She went and asked him. His answer was clear: the Abyssinian emigrants had two migrations to their credit, the Madinan emigrants only one.
The report describes her happiness at the answer, and says that afterward, other Abyssinian emigrants would come to her simply to hear her tell it again.
In this moment: Umar ibn al-Khattab, The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Quick recall
What did the Prophet ﷺ tell Asma bint Umays about the Abyssinian emigrants' migration?
Sources & review
Draft content — undergoing reviewThis content was written for SahabaMate and has not yet been checked by a reviewer against the works below. Treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
Sahih al-Bukhariصحيح البخاري
Hadith collection · Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari
As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyahالسيرة النبوية
Classical biography · Ibn Hisham, from the recension of Ibn Ishaq
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