Ibn Ishaq states that the name of the Negus was "Mashamah", whose meaning in Arabic is "Atiyyah" (gift), and Negus (al-Najashi) is actually the title of the king, just as the titles Kisra and Heraclius are used. Ibn Ishaq says that this is the letter written by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the Negus: "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This is from Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the Messenger of Allah, to the Negus Ashama, the great king of Abyssinia. Peace be upon whoever follows guidance, believes in Allah and His Messenger, and bears witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner; He has taken neither a consort (wife) nor a son; and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and Messenger. I call you to Allah, for I am the Messenger of Allah; so accept Islam and you will be safe: 'Say: O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you: that we worship none but Allah, associate nothing with Him, and that none of us take one another as lords besides Allah' [Surah Al Imran: 64] . Then if you turn away (refuse), upon you will be the sin of the Christians (who go astray)." Imam al-Hakim says: Muhammad bin Ishaq is alone in giving the name of the Negus as "Mashamah", and no one has corroborated him in it, because in the sahih reports recorded by Bukhari and Muslim his name is mentioned with an alif (Ashamah), and that is also the name written in the letter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent us to the Negus while we numbered about eighty (80) men. Then he narrated the whole long hadith, as I have recorded it in my book "al-Tafsir". The chain of this hadith is sahih (authentic), but the two Shaykhs did not record it. The student of knowledge should know that the Negus was a polytheist before the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reached him with his letter. The proof of this is the report which the two Shaykhs recorded in the two Sahihs from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): that Sayyidah Umm Salamah and Sayyidah Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with them both) mentioned a church in Abyssinia in which there were images, as mentioned in the hadith.