Can there be a parallel to the Migration to Abyssinia too?

DJIBOUTI. It is impossible to come to Ethiopia and Djibouti and not be swept back to the early years of Islam, to the era of the Migration to Abyssinia. The Muslims who migrated to Abyssinia did not stay there for a short time and then leave. They also established a distinct Muslim presence there. The second "mosque of the two qiblas" of the Muslims, for example, is in Djibouti. The Abyssinian emigrants, who like the Muslims in Medina had been praying toward Jerusalem, changed the qibla of the mosque there at once when they learned that the qibla had been turned toward Mecca.

The kinsmen of Hazrat Bilal, who carries a deep nobility beneath his dark skin, have lived out the example he displayed in the case of the Negus on various occasions throughout history. Although Ethiopia has at times suffered from various ethnic and religious tensions, it is generally a society that has embraced religious plurality as a culture.

In the early period of Islam, the Muslims who lived their faith were forced to look for a place to migrate because of the heavy oppression they suffered from the polytheists of Mecca. Our Prophet pointed to the destination of the first migration, saying especially to the weak Muslims, "Go to Abyssinia; there is a just king there who wrongs no one."

Indeed, they were received very well in Abyssinia and found security under the just rule of the Negus. But the Meccan polytheists, who had pursued them, came to the Negus and tried to incite him. Saying "These are people who cause corruption in our land," they tried to persuade him to hand them back. Yet the Negus did not heed the one-sided accusations of the polytheists; he summoned the Muslims and learned the truth of the matter from them. His questions were questions that would bring out every dimension of the event. In the cause of tawhid, which Hazrat Jafar expressed in pithy words, he saw not corruption but, on the contrary, the call of a religion that was a mercy to people, a religion that also served the cause of Hazrat Jesus.

One of the agendas of President Erdoğan's Africa trips is to withdraw the reference he has given so far regarding the parallelists. This is only one item on the agenda of the trip; the Africa tour is otherwise packed with other agenda items. Erdoğan says that Turkey's Africa policy, which until now has been described as the "Africa opening," has now reached the stage of a "partnership with Africa," and steps toward new cooperation are indeed being taken in a wide variety of fields. With Djibouti alone, no fewer than 9 agreements were signed in the fields of military affairs, security, energy, education, trade and others.

On the other hand, on this occasion it is being recalled that the successful openings the parallel structure boasts of so much in Africa and in many countries were made possible largely thanks to Erdoğan's reference.

The parallelists do not shrink from exploiting all of Islam's values, its history and its symbols. Now, referring to the President's contacts, they are supposedly being clever and comparing their own situation to that of the emigrants who had to leave Mecca. They are trying to rewrite the President's talks with the Ethiopian prime minister about the parallel structure, through this story, in a way that suits them.

Those who see no harm in standing by the publishers of cartoons insulting the Prophet, merely because they consider the enemies of the Prophet stronger, so as to be able to "tolerate" them a little more, are carving out for themselves a hero's title from this epic scene. They are hastily ascribing to themselves the position of the Abyssinian emigrants.

Yet however much you ascribe it to yourself, you have nothing, near or far, to do with the cause of that monotheist Companion who bowed to no authority. You set out by recognizing the "authority" of Zionism, bowing to it, and caring about looking good in its eyes. Moreover, you did not come having fled your homeland; you came with the reference, the support and the mediation of the Tall Man, who is now complaining about you and who has a problem with the "authorities" you hold so great.

LET US SUPPOSE FOR A MOMENT THAT THE ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER, LIKE THE NEGUS, SUMMONED YOU AND ASKED:

"What did you do in your country that you are being criticized in this way?"

Will you be able to say, "We had no purpose other than engaging in educational activity and serving people"? Or will you be in a hurry to cover up the reality that "with many people raised through educational activities, you tried to seize the state apparatus, you infiltrated the judiciary, the police, the army and all the bureaucratic levels and listened in on people's private and public lives, and that is why the educational activities too lost their meaning"?

Besides, the Ethiopian Prime Minister said exactly this: "Until now, the reference of the parallel structure was the Turkish government. The government told us we could work with them, and we worked with them. Now our reference is again the Turkish government. If they have turned against the government and against the Turkish government and its laws, of course we are not going to work with them."

So your presence in Ethiopia, or anywhere else, is not a case of migration peculiar to those fleeing oppression in their own country. The power and miracle there are not self-generated either; they amount to nothing more than an investment made possible by the mediation and support of the Turkish government. And the Turkish government made this reference and mediation relying on the commitment and impression of "service" you gave. Today you are one who has betrayed that trust. "Service" evidently still exists, but who it is for is unclear; that it is not for the truth, the people and the right is certain.

Therefore, do not strive in vain; no role as emigrant will come out of this scene for you; at most, what will come out is, again, the exploitation of religion, the Prophet and history. As for which role in that scene of history you suit better, let us not say it anymore.