(Lo! those of mankind who have the best claim to Abraham are those who followed him, and this Prophet…) [3:68]. Said Ibn 'Abbas: “The leaders of the Jews said: 'By Allah, O Muhammad, you know that we have the better claim to Abraham's religion than you or anybody else; and you know that he was a Jew. You are only resentfully envious!' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Al-Kalbi also related from Abu Salih that Ibn 'Abbas said - and the same is reported by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanm from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and this was also mentioned by Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar, such that the wordings of their narrations are mixed up with each other -: “When Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and his fellow companions migrated to Abyssinia and settled there and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, migrated to Medina which was followed by the Battle of Badr, the Quraysh called for a meeting in Dar al-Nadwah and said: 'We have to exact revenge for those of us who were killed at Badr from the Companions of Muhammad who are with the Negus. Collect, therefore, some money and gift it to the Negus and he will give you in exchange your people who are staying with him. For this mission, select two of your men who are known for their good judgement'. And so they sent 'Amr ibn al-'As and 'Umarah ibn Abi Mu'ayt with gifts, tanned skins and other things. They sailed across the sea to Abyssinia. When they entered in on the Negus, they prostrated themselves and greeted him. They said: 'Our people are grateful to you and want to give you sincere advice for they wish you good. They have sent us to you to warn you about the people who came to you because they represent a liar who has emerged amongst us, claiming he is Allah's Messenger. None of us, except fools, followed him. We had made it very hard on them and drove them away to the canyons of our land. No one was allowed to go to them, and none of them was allowed to leave; they were destroyed by hunger and thirst.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
