Statistical analysis of immigrants to Abyssinia

immigration to Abyssinia, which took place at the beginning of the official invitation of the Prophet (PBUH) in the fifth year of the Besat, is of the most important events in the history of Islam. There are few historical documents of this immigration. Lack of information has prevented proper historical research about this immigration. Hence, the causes, manner and consequences of immigrating to Abyssinia are still unclear. The main issue of the article is what was the number, tribal affiliation and gender of the immigrants to Abyssinia? The answer to this question can explain the causes and consequences of immigration to Abyssinia. This article by considering the primary sources and organizing the historical data in the form of tables and graphs has shown that most of the immigrants to Abyssinia from the group of Ḥilf al-Aḥlāf were political rivals of Bani Hashem. The conversion to Islam of a large number of young people from Ḥilf al-Aḥlāf, who in the fifth year included about half of the new Muslims in Mecca, had caused the tribal chiefs to become much severe about them. Therefore, the Prophet (PBUH), who was unable to support those people due to tribal mechanisms, had ordered a group of new Muslims of this group to immigrate to Abyssinia. Statistical consideration of Abyssinia immigrants and their analysis based on the pre-Islamic Arab tribal structure indicates that the main purpose of this immigration was to stay away from oppression and torture and to preserve the new Muslim population of Mecca.