An Islamic Treasury of Virtues
15. Divine Succour
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fought with them until the sun was high in the sky.
When the combatants became too exhausted to fight
any longer, Umar said to them, ‘Do as you will. If
we Muslims could be as many as just three
hundred, as God is my witness, we would either
leave this land to you, or you should have to leave it
to us.”
(AL-BIDAYAH WA AL-NIHA
YAH)
THEIR GREATEST STRENGTH WAS ISLAM
In the face of unrelenting oppression by the
Quraysh, a group of some eighty Muslims
emigrated, under the leadership of Jaafar ibn abi-
Talib, from Makkah to Abyssinia in the fifth year of
the Prophet’s mission. The Quraysh sent their
envoys to the Christian king of Abyssinia to seek
the Muslims’ return, but the King had been so
impressed by the Muslims’ way of speaking and
behaving that he refused the Quraysh’s request, and
promised the Muslims a safe refuge in his land. “If
anyone insults you, he shall be punished,” he
assured them. “I will not wrong anyone of you,
even in return for a mountain of gold. “You can
remain here as long as you please.” He gave orders
