The Biography of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم's Ancestors

Lineage being an important consideration in Arab society, the
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم 's family tree was well-documented.
He was born into a family that traced its ancestry back to the
Prophet Ibrahim عليه وسلم through Prophet Ismail عليه وسلم.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم 's lineage is as follows : Muhammad
bin Abdullah bin Abdul Muttalib bin Hashim bin Abdul Munaf bin
Qusayy bin Kilab bin Murrah bin Ka'b bin Luayy bin Ghalib bin
Fihr bin Malik bin Nadir bin Kinana bin Khuzaymah bin Mudrika
bin Ilyas bin Mudhr bin Nizar bin Ma'd bin Adnan.

Adnan was  the descendant of Ismail  عليه وسلم.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم 's mother was Amina, the daughter
of Wahb bin Abdul Munaf bin Zuhra bin Kilab.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم 's tribe  

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم belonged to the tribe known as
Quraysh, the most respected tribe in Arabia. ''Quraysh'' was,
in fact, the surname of  Fihr bin Malik or Nadir bin Kinana.
Later, his progeny came to be known by the name Quraysh.

The Quraysh  enjoyed a position of honour in the peninsula.
One member of this tribe, Qusayy, played an especially vital
role in establishing the greatness of this tribe. During his youth,
he assumed the trusteeship of Ka'bah. He established the
system of playing host to the pilgrims who journeyed to
Makkah, preparing large quantities of food for them, and
serving beverages made from honey, dates or raisins.

Qusayy also built a house north of the Ka'bah, which he named
Dar Al-Nadwah, and in it were held many of the tribe's official
activities. Dar Al- Nadwah housed the tribal parliament, and
marriages were also performed on its premises.

Lineage

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم 's lineage is called Hashmi after his
great grandfather, Hashim. Hashim assumed the position of host
to the pilgrims, a privilege which, after him, was transferred to his
brother, Muttalib. After Muttalib's death, the progeny of Hashim
reclaimed this privilege and retained it until the advent of Islam.

The Quraysh were merchants by profession, and Hashim arranged
trade journeys for them to Yemen each winter and to Syria each
summer. In Surah Quraysh, Allah reminds the Quraysh of their
debt to Him for these important trade expeditions.

Hashim once passed by Yathrib (later known as Madinah) en
route to Syria, and there he married Salma bint Amr, a lady from
the tribe Banu Adiy bin Najjar. He halted there for a few days
and then left for Syria. He passed away in Gaza, Palestine. At the
time of his departure, Salma was pregnant. She gave birth to a son
whose hair had white streaks. She therefore named him Shayba,
which means ''one with gray hair.'' None of Hashim's relatives in
Makkah knew about the birth of Shayba. Eight years later, however,
Muttalib found out about his dead brother's son and decided to
bring Shayba to Makkah. When he entered Makkah with Shayba,
the people thought the young boy was Muttalib's slave and referred
to Shayba as Abdul Muttalib, -''Muttalib's slave''. Thus, Shayba
became known as Abdul Muttalib.

Abdul Muttalib grew up to a very handsome man and became a
leading figure of the Quraysh tribe. Famous for his generosity, he
was called ''the Generous.'' He gave his leftovers to the needy,
and even to animals and birds. for this reason, he was described
as the ''feeder of the men on earth and of  beasts and birds on the
mountaintops.

Abdul Muttalib also had the honor of rediscovering the sacred well
of Zamzam. This well had gushed forth when the infant Ismail
(عليه سلام) kicked at the dry sand while his mother, Hajar, searched
for water. One night Abdul Muttalib had a dream in which he was
shown where to dig the well.When he started digging next to the
Ka'bah, the water of Zamzam began to flow again.

It was also during Abdul Muttalib's time that the Ka'bah was
attacked by the Abyssinian conqueror Abraha and his men, whom
the Qur'an refers to as the ''Companions of the Elephant.'' Abraha
advanced with an army of sixty thousand men, intent on destroying
the Ka'bah. By destroying the Ka'bah, he hoped to divert Arab
pilgrims to his church in Yemen.

As he advanced with his elephant, the beast that had terrified all
of Makkah suddenly refused to move. As for the sixty thousand
soldiers, Allah, in defense of His Sacred House of worship, sent
flocks of birds to pelt the invaders with stones. Apart from the
miraculous intervention of Allah in defense of the Ka'bah, this 
episode in Makkan history showed the strength of Abdul Muttalib's
character. He stood up to Abraha's might in defense of his own
property, unshakable in his faith that Allah would protect His sacred
house, the Ka'bah.

Abdul Muttalib's son Abdullah, the father of the Prophet  صلى الله عليه وسلم,
was a handsome youth. He was called  ''Dhabih'' (the sacrificed) in
reference to the rediscovery of Zamzam. When Abdul Muttalib was
digging beside the Ka'bah in search of the old well, the Quraysh  watched
him idly. Once he began to reach wet soil, they insisted on sharing in his
discovery, and they raised a great clamor. Abdul Muttilib vowed to Allah
that he would sacrifice one of his ten sons if  he were allowed to uncover
the well. In the end, Abdul Muttalib continued excavating and discovered
the old well.


Afterwards, he drew lots to determine which son he would sacrifice, and
Abdullah was chosen. Abdul Muttilab took Abdullah to the Ka'bah and
was prepared to sacrifice him, but the Quraysh, particularly Abdullah's
brothers and maternal uncles, were opposed to  the sacrifice. Finally, it
was decided that one hundred camels should be sacrificed in his place.
Hence the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is called the decendant of the ''Two
sacrificed ones'' (Ismail عليه وسلم and his own father Abdullah).

Abdullah was married to Amina, the daughter of  Wahb. Wahb was a
chieftan of Banu Zahra. Shortly after the marriage, Amina became
pregnant, but before she could give birth to their child, Abdullah was
sent by his father to Yathrib or Syria on business. Tragically, he passed
away in Yathrib on the return journey and was buried in the house of
Nabgha Dhabyani.

Extracts from the book When The Moon Split 
by Safiur-Rahman Mubarakpuri


   

Comments