ʼIntishār al-Islām fī al-Ḥabsha ʼathāruh wa-ʼabaʻaduh

Abstract

This research comprises a section on preliminary issues, an introduction, four chapters with sub-divisions and a conclusion. Preliminary issues focus on the research proposal. The introduction reviews factors contributing to the concealment of Muslims’ roles in Abyssinia through negligence, selective reportage and duplicitous political dealings. Chapter One tackles the varying definitions of Abyssinia diachronically and then provides valuable social, economic, political, religious and climatic information about the country and its peoples. Chapter Two analyses the varying levels of relations between Abyssinia and the Arabian Peninsula including the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious and political ties down the ages. Chapter Three discusses the migration of some of Prophet Muhammad’s companions to Abyssinia and possible reasons for selecting that land for settlement. It details identities of these people, their areas of arrival and domicile; together with a probe into the Christian ruler, Negus’s warm relations with them. Chapter Four overviews Muslim dynasties in Abyssinia: the causes for their formation, prosperity and decline. The bitter conflicts with Christians and followers of traditional religions are also explored; together with outcomes of these for Muslims up to the present. The Conclusion provides a resume of my most important findings.