The Negash or Al-Nejashi Mosque is as old as the faith of Islam.
Negash, Ethiopia’s first Islamic settlement, was established in the 7th century AD by Muslim refugees who escaped persecution in Mecca, including close relatives of Prophet Mohammed, during his lifetime. The tombs of 15 of the original settlers are protected in a new mosque.
Al-Nejashi is considered by many as one of the most sacred places of Islamic worship and rightly dubbed by some as “The 2nd Mecca”.
The Ethiopian Christian king’s generosity, his refusal to betray the first small community of Muslims to their Meccan persecutors, his befriending of and correspondence with the Prophet, and his contribution to the latter’s victory, left a special message of gratitude for Islam and presented Ethiopia as a model of universal humanity and grace.
Al-Nejashi is currently undergoing restoration.
