Islamica

Abd al-Muttalib

Summary

Shaybah ibn Hashim ibn Qusay ibn Kilab was the grandfather of the Holy Prophet. Because people thought that he was the slave of Muttalib (the brother of Hashim), they named him Abd al-Muttalib (slave of Muttalib). He was the chieftain of the Quraysh and he dug the Zamzam well. Apparently, the event in which Abrahah attacked Makkah took place during the time he was the chieftain of this city. All the Shiite Imams and Abbasid caliphs are from his lineage.

Lineage

Abd al-Muttalib was from the tribe of Quraysh and is the son of Hashim, to whom the tribe of Bani Hashim are attributed. His lineage goes back to Prophet Ibrahim. His mother was Salmah, daughter of Amr, from Bani Najjar, a clan of the Khazraj tribe. After the migration of the Holy Prophet to Madinah, this tribe became his helpers. [1]

Birth and titles

His name was ‘Shaybah’ and his nickname was ‘Abu al-Harith’. [2] Some of his titles include: ‘Amir’, ‘Sayyid al-Batha’, ‘Saqi al-Hajij’ (Saqi al-Hujaj), ‘Saqi al-Ghayth’, ‘Ghayth al-Wara fi al-Am al-Jadb’, ‘Abu al-Sadah al-Ashrah’, ‘Abd al-Muttalib’, ‘Hafir Zamzam’ [3], ‘Ibrahim Thani’ [4] and ‘Fayyad’. Many of these names, especially ‘Ibrahim Thani’ (which is a remembrance of the position of the Prophet of Allah, Ibrahim), are expressive of the greatness of his position. In regards to him being famously known as ‘Abd al-Muttalib’, it has been narrated: “A few years after the passing of Hashim, Muttalib (the uncle of Abd al-Muttalib) brought him from Yathrib to Makkah. When the people of Makkah and Quraysh saw Abd al-Muttalib alongside Muttalib entering the city, they asked him: “Who is this?” Muttalib replied: “A slave I bought from Yathrib!” At nightfall, he organised a gathering and introduced him to the people and clothed his nephew in extravagant clothing. He used to come and go from Makkah in similar clothing and people used to call him Abd al-Muttalib [even though they knew who he really was]. In this manner, ‘Shaybah’, which was his real name, was forgotten.” [5]

The position of Abd al-Muttalib

After the death of his uncle, Abd al-Muttalib inherited all of the posts that were heritable in their family. Due to the good management and dignity he showed, he was accepted by the public in Makkah and Quraysh accepted him as their chief. [6]

Yaqubi says:

“Abd al-Muttalib was the chief of Quraysh in those days and he had no rival because Allah had not given his greatness to anyone and had quenched him with the Zamzam well (in Makkah) and Dhu al-Haram (in Ta’if). The Quraysh gave their property to him to arbitrate and during famine and hunger, he gave food to the people, to the point that the birds and the mountains also ate from him. Abu Talib has said in this regard: “When the generous people are parsimonious, we feed the people so much that the birds eat the excess of our food.” Abd al-Muttalib was above the worship of idols and recognised Allah as One and was loyal to his vows and followed the traditions, of which some have been revealed in the Holy Quran.” [7]

Abd al-Muttalib’s faith

According to reports, Abd al-Muttalib was of the religion ‘Hanif’ and he never used to worship idols. Masudi, a historian from the 3rd century A.H., has spoken about the existence of difference regarding the religion of Abd al-Muttalib and that Abd al-Muttalib and other ancestors of the Holy Prophet never worshipped any idols is only only one view regarding this matter. [8] It has been narrated from Imam Sadiq (the 6th Shiite Imam) that the Holy Prophet said to Imam Ali:

“Abd al-Muttalib never gambled and never worshipped idols etc. and he used to say: “I am of my father Ibrahim’s religion.”” [9]

The events of Ashab al-Fil (the People of the Elephant)

According to historical narrations, the event in which Abrahah attacked Makkah, famously known as the attack of Ashab al-Fil, took place at the time of Abd al-Muttalib. Abrahah, along with an army from Yemen, attacked Makkah with the intention of destroying the Kabah. Abrahah’s soldiers plundered the camels of Quraysh. A meeting took place between Abd al-Muttalib and Abrahah. Abd al-Muttalib only requested the freedom of his camels. Abrahah said:

“I thought you came to talk about the Kabah.”

Abd al-Muttalib replied:

“I am the lord of my camels and this house too has a Lord that will protect it.” [10]

He then returned to Makkah and ordered the people of Makkah to go to the mountains and take their belongings with them too. [11] The following day, a great flock of birds attacked the army of Abrahah. In this attack, only a small number of soldiers remained alive and fled. [12]

The digging of Zamzam

According to the sources of Meccan history, before the ascension of Qusay ibn Kilab (the grandfather of Abd al-Muttalib), the tribe of ‘Jurhum’ ruled over Makkah. This tribe’s oppression of people resulted in other tribes rising against them. In the end, the tribe of Jurhum were defeated in war by a tribe named ‘Khuzaah’. In order to protect the wealth of the Kabah, Amr ibn Harith, the last Jurhumite ruler, went inside the Kabah and poured the jewels and precious gifts (that people used to bring for the Kabah) into the Zamzam well and hid the well by covering it with earth. Years after, Abd al-Muttalib strive to find this well. They have said that he found the location of the well in one go and was ordered to dig it. Abd al-Muttalib dug the Zamzam well, found the jewels and spent them for the Kabah and the Zamzam well was, once again, full of water. [13] [14]

Abd al-Muttalib’s vow

According to some reports, he was faced with some objections and protests from Quraysh. He made a vow with himself that if Allah gave him ten sons, he would sacrifice one in the way of Allah by the Kabah and Allah accepted this request. [15] After he had had ten sons, he drew lots in front of the Quraysh and the name Abdullah (the father of the Holy Prophet) was drawn. In the end, he sacrificed one hundred camels in place of Abdullah. Ali Dawwani, considers the occurrence of Abd al-Muttalib’s vow to be fiction created by the Umayyads, supported by Abd al-Muttalib being a monotheist and that vowing to kill children was from the religion of the idol worshippers and also that in the chain of narrators that have narrated this event, there are unrecognised and weak individuals. In his belief, the Umayyads wanted to use this to lower their position by reducing the virtues of the Holy Prophet and Imam Ali’s ancestors. [16] However, there are narrations in the Ahl al-Bayt school of thought that indicate to the occurrence of this event. Among them is the saying from Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (the 8th Shiite Imam) in regards to the narration from the Holy Prophet, who said: “I am the son of the two sacrifices” the Imam explains that the two people intended are Prophet Ismail and Abdullah, the father of the Holy Prophet. [17] [18] Disregarding the analysis of the transmitters of these narrations, the occurrence of the original story is still possible and it doesn’t leave a blemish on the position of Abd al-Muttalib because he was a follower of the Abrahamic religion (Hanafiyyah) and the sacrifice of the child was also based on the story of the slaughter of Ismail by Ibrahim. The explanation being that in the story of Ibrahim, sacrificing his child was a command from Allah in order to test his servant. [19] Abd al-Muttalib was also in a special situation. The life of the Kabah and the People were very dependent upon the Zamzam well. Only when Abd al-Muttalib found himself alone and helpless in this task he made such a vow. Although, it is not unbeknownst to the reader that in neither of these two stories, the story ended with the sacrifice and killing of the child and the presentation of it to Allah; contrarily, it led to the sacrificial tradition of animals, which now, by following this tradition, Muslims feed many hungry people around the world. Likewise, it must be said that the sacrifice of the child is an event takes place for people with the position of Ibrahim, Abd al-Muttalib and a small number of the great Awsiya (executors of Allah’s will) and Awliya (those close to Allah) and it is not a divine law.

The traditions of Abd al-Muttalib

It has been narrated from Imam Sadiq: “The Holy Prophet said to Ali:

“Abd al-Muttalib executed five traditions in the era of ignorance which Allah has prescribed in Islam: he made the wife of a father haram upon the child and Allah also said: “Do not marry any of the women whom your fathers had married, excluding what is already past. That is indeed an indecency, an outrage and an evil course.” (Al-Nisa, 22) [20]

He found treasure (it is possible that the what is intended is those same presents of the Kabah that Jurhum poured into the Zamzam well) and gave the khums of it as sadaqah, and Allah has also said: “Know that whatever thing you may come by, a fifth of it is for Allah and the Apostle...” (Al-Anfal, 41) [20] When he dug the Zamzam well, he named it ‘Siqayah al-Haji’ (providing of water to the Hajj pilgrims) and Allah has also said: “Do you regard the providing of water to Hajj pilgrims and the maintenance of the Holy Mosque as similar [in worth] to someone who has faith in Allah and [believes in] the Last Day and wages jihad in the way of Allah? They are not equal with Allah, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing lot.” (Tawbah, 19) [21] Abd al-Muttalib set the blood money for the killing of one person as one hundred camels, which Allah made the same in Islam. The number of circumambulations around the Kabah was unspecified amongst the Quraysh, which Abd al-Muttalib came and specified it as seven circumambulations and Allah made those same seven circumambulations of tawaf the same in Islam.”” [22]

Death

Based on the most well-known view, eight years of the Holy Prophet’s life had passed when Abd al-Muttalib left this world. [23] At the time of his death, there is a difference in opinion amongst the historians as to whether he was 82, 108 or, according to some, 140 years old.

They say that among the actions of Abd al-Muttalib at the time of his death was that he gathered his daughters and said to them:

“Before I die, cry and recite eulogies for me, so that whatever you want to tell me after my death, I can hear it before I die.”

Each daughter read a eulogy about their father and cried.

It has been narrated from Umm Ayman who said that the Holy Prophet went to the funeral of Abd al-Muttalib and constantly cried until they took his body to an area named Hujun and buried him next to the grave of his grandfather Qusay ibn Kilab. [24]

Children and descendants

He had ten sons named: Harith, Abdullah (the father of the Holy Prophet), Zubayr, Abu Talib (the father of Imam Ali), Hamzah (the Master of the Martyrs), Muqawwim, Abbas (the ancestor of the Abbasid caliphs), Darar, Qatham, Abd al-Uzzay (famously known as Abu Lahab, amongst the enemies of Islam and the Holy Prophet) and Ghaydaq. He had six daughters named: Atikah, Safiyyah, Umaymah, Barah, Urwa and Umm Hakim (Bayda). The ancestry of the the Shiite Imams, the children of Abu Talib (descendants of Ali, descendants of Jafar and the descendants of Aqil) and the children of Abbas go back to Abd al-Muttalib. Likewise, the ancestries of the descendants of Harith and Abu Lahab go back to him. [25]


References

  1. ↑ ‘Usd ‘al-Ghābah, vol. 6, p. 151
  2. ↑ ‘Al-‘Istī’āb, vol. 1, p. 27
  3. ↑ Biḥār al-‘Anwār, vol. 15, p. 128
  4. ↑ Tārīkh Ya’qūbī, vol. 2, p. 11
  5. ↑ Tārīkh Ya’qūbī, vol. 1, p. 245
  6. ↑ ‘Al-Ṭabaqāt, vol. 1, p. 77
  7. ↑ Tārīkh Ya’qūbī, vol. 1, p. 250
  8. ↑ Murūj ‘al-Dhahab, vol. 2, p. 109
  9. ↑ Khiṣāl, vol. 1, p. 455
  10. ↑ Tārīkh Ya’qūbī, vol. 1, p. 252
  11. ↑ Tārīkh Ṭabarī, vol. 2, p. 134
  12. ↑ ‘Al-Sīrah ‘al-Nabawīyyah, vol. 1, p. 47
  13. ↑ ‘Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 244
  14. ↑ Tārīkh Ya’qūbī, vol. 1, p. 246-247
  15. ↑ Tārīkh Ya’qūbī, vol. 1, p. 246 and 251
  16. ↑ Tārīkhe ‘Islām ‘az ‘Āghāz tā Hijrat, p. 54
  17. ↑ Khiṣāl, vol. 1, p. 55
  18. ↑ ‘Uyūn ‘Akhbār ‘al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 210
  19. ↑ Surah Sāffāt, verses 102-107
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Translation by Ali Quli Qarai
  21. ↑ Translation By Ali Quli Qarai
  22. ↑ Khiṣāl, vol. 1, p. 312 and 313
  23. ↑ ‘Al-Muntaẓam, vol. 2, p. 282
  24. ↑ ‘Usd ‘al-Ghābah, vol. 1, p. 23
  25. ↑ Tārīkhe Payāmbare ‘Islām, p. 46
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