When the number of muslims increased and the disbelievers began to fear them, the oppression towards the muslims increased greatly, so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم permitted the muslims to migrate to Abyssinia and said: “Indeed there is a king there under whom no one is oppressed.”
The first migration
Twelve men and four women migrated to Abyssinia, from them was ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affān ,he was the first to leave with his wife Ruqayyah daughter of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .They settled within Abyssinia in the best vicinage (living as good neighbours). Soon after false news came to them that the people of Quraish had embraced Islam, so they returned to Makkah. However, when they saw that the situation was much worse than before, some of them had returned to Abyssinia whilst another group had entered Makkah and received severe harm from the Quraish, from among them was ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud.
The second migration
This time there were eighty-three men and eighteen women, they settled with An-Najāshi the king of Abyssinia in the best of circumstances. When this reached the Quraish, they sent ‘Amr ibn ‘Aas and ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Rabee’a with a squad to plot against them with An-Najāshi, however Allah threw their plots back against them (they were unsuccessful).