Overview
Ubayd Allah ibn Jahsh al-Asadi was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later apostated from Islam by converting to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity following his migration to Abyssinia in around 615 CE. He is one of the four hanifs (a type of monotheists) mentioned by Ibn Ishaq, the others being Waraka ibn Nawfal, Uthman ibn Huwairith and Zayd ibn Amr.
Biography
He was the son of Jahsh ibn Riyab and Umayma bint Abd al-Muttalib, hence a brother of Abd Allah ibn Jahsh, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Abu Ahmad ibn Jahsh, Habiba bint Jahsh and Hammanah bint Jahsh, a first cousin of Islamic prophet Muhammad and Ali, and a nephew of Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib. He married Ramla bint Abi Sufyan (who was also known as Umm Habiba), and they had one daughter, Habibah bint Ubayd Allah.
He and his wife became Muslims and, in order to escape from the Meccan persecution, they emigrated to Abyssinia. At Axum, part of the Aksumite Empire, the Christian king Aṣḥama ibn Abjar (also known as Najashi) gave sanctuary to the Muslims. There Ubayd Allah eventually converted to Christianity and testified his new faith to the other Muslim refugees. Ibn Ishaq relates:
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).