It is found in Tigray regional state located in the northern part of the country, which is 829km away from the capital city Addis Ababa. After reaching Mekeklle capital city of the regional state of Tigray you need to drive about 60 km via Wekro. Negash, 10km after Wukro, lies on a plateau commanding a magnificent view of the surrounding area.

Negash got its name from the Tigrinya word (the local language) “Negash or Negasi” meaning king. “Nejashi” is an Arabicized variant of the word.

The history of Negash has its origins in the 7th century AD, if not before. Although Negash is as old as the faith of Islam itself, it is this country’s best-unknown place of Islamic worship. History has it that the early followers of the Prophet Mohammed were denied the fundamental right to pursue the religion they preferred and were harshly persecuted by the Quraysh tribe, the mercantile rulers of Mecca. In order to maintain the very survival of his religion, the prophet had to seek a safe hideout for his followers. ” Yonder lieth a country wherein no one is wronged: a land of righteousness. Depart thither, and remain until it pleased the Lord to open your way before you” said the Prophet, pointing to the kingdom of Abyssinia. The ruler of Ethiopia, or Najashi, granted asylum to the first refugees, eleven men and four wives. They arrived in his territory “in the 7th month of the year of Mohammed’s mission (615).” The second “hijira” (flight) consisted of one hundred and one Muslims.

Now, Negash is dominated by the “derih” (tomb) of the king and the recently built mosque. Just past the gate of the derih compound, one can see the stone graves of the Muslims who in the early days of Mohammed’s mission had fled their country in pursuit of freedom of worship.

Negash is, therefore, not only the burial place of the world’s first Muslim king but also the Allah-Chosen resting place of the bodies of the early Muslims of the world who were denied a home to be buried in because of their beliefs. For these reasons, Negash is considered by many as the second most sacred place of Islamic worship and rightly dubbed by Ethiopian Muslims as “the second Mekkah”.