The lineage of Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, (may Allaah exalt his mention) has three versions: The first was authenticated by biographers and genealogists and states that Prophet Muhammad's, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, genealogy has been traced to Adnaan. The second is subject to controversies and doubt. It traces his lineage beyond Adnaan back to prophet Ibraaheem (Abraham), may Allaah exalt his mention. The third version, which definitely has some inaccuracies, traces his lineage beyond Ibraaheem back to Aadam (Adam), may Allaah exalt his mention.
The first part: Muhammad Ibn 'Abdullaah Ibn 'Abdul-Muttalib (who was called Shaybah) Ibn Haashim, (named 'Amr) Ibn 'Abd Munaf (called Al-Mugheera) Ibn Qusayy (also called Zayd) Ibn Kilaab Ibn Murrah Ibn Ka'b Ibn Lu'ayy Ibn Ghaalib Ibn Fahr (who was called Quraysh and whose tribe was called after him) Ibn Maalik Ibn An-Nadr (so called Qays) Ibn Kinaanah Ibn Khuzaymah Ibn Mudrikah (who was called 'Amir) Ibn Elias Ibn Mudar Ibn Nizar Ibn Ma'ad Ibn Adnaan.
The second part: Adnaan Ibn Add Ibn Humaisi' Ibn Salaman Ibn ‘Aws Ibn Buz Ibn Qamwal Ibn Obai Ibn 'Awwam Ibn Nashid Ibn Haza Ibn Bildas Ibn Yadlaf Ibn Tabikh Ibn Jahim Ibn Nahish Ibn Makhi Ibn Aid Ibn 'Abqar Ibn 'Ubaid Ibn Ad-Da'a Ibn Hamdan Ibn Sanbir Ibn Yathrabi Ibn Yahzin Ibn Yalhan Ibn Ar'awi Ibn Aid Ibn Deshan Ibn Aisar Ibn Afnad Ibn Aiham Ibn Muksar Ibn Nahith Ibn Zarih Ibn Sami Ibn Mazzi Ibn 'Awda Ibn Aram Ibn Qaidar Ibn Ismaa’eel (Ishmael) son of Ibraaheem (Abraham), may Allaah exalt their mention.
The third part: beyond Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention, Ibn Tarih (Azar) Ibn Nahur Ibn Saru' Ibn Ra'u Ibn Falikh Ibn Abir Ibn Shalikh Ibn Arfakhshad Ibn Sam Ibn Nooh (Noah), may Allaah exalt his mention, Ibn Lamik Ibn Mutwashlack Ibn Akhnukh [Prophet Idrees (Enoch)], may Allaah exalt his mention, Ibn Yarid Ibn Mahla'il Ibn QaIbn Anusha Ibn Shith Ibn Aadam, may Allaah exalt his mention.
The prophetic family:
The family of Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is called the Hashimite family after his grandfather Haashim Ibn 'Abd Munaf. Let us now speak a little about Haashim and his descendants:
1- Haashim: He was the one responsible for giving food and water to the pilgrims. This had been his charge when the sons of 'Abd Munaf and those of 'Abd Ad-Dar compromised on dividing the charges between them. Haashim was wealthy and honest. He was the first to offer the pilgrims sopped bread in broth. His first name was 'Amr but he was called Haashim because he had been in the practice of crumbling bread (for the pilgrims).
He was also the first man who started Quraysh's two journeys of summer and winter. It was reported that he went to Syria as a merchant. In Al-Madeenah, he married Salmah, the daughter of 'Amr from Bani 'Adi Ibn An-Najjaar. He spent some time with her in Al-Madeenah then he left for Syria again while she was pregnant. He died in Ghazza in Palestine in 497 CE. Later, his wife gave birth to 'Abdul-Muttalib and named him Shaybah because of the white hair on his head, and brought him up in her father's house in Al-Madeenah. None of his family in Makkah learned of his birth. Haashim had four sons: Asad, Abu Saifi, Nadla and 'Abdul-Muttalib, and five daughters Ash-Shifa, Khalida, Da'ifa, Ruqyah and Jannah.
2- 'Abdul-Muttalib: After the death of Haashim, the charge of the pilgrims' food and water went to his brother, Al-Muttalib Ibn 'Abd Munaf (who was honest, generous and trustworthy). When 'Abdul-Muttalib reached the age of boyhood, his uncle Al-Muttalib heard of him and went to Al-Madeenah to fetch him. When he saw him, tears filled his eyes and rolled down his cheeks, he embraced him and took him on his camel. The boy, however, abstained from going with him to Makkah until he took his mother's consent. Al-Muttalib asked her to send the boy with him to Makkah, but she refused. He managed to convince her saying: "Your son is going to Makkah to restore his father's authority, and to live in the vicinity of the Sacred House."
There in Makkah, people wondered at seeing ‘Abdul-Muttalib, and they considered him the slave of Al-Muttalib. Al-Muttalib said: "He is my nephew, the son of my brother Haashim." The boy was brought up in Al-Muttalib's house, but later on Al-Muttalib died in Bardman in Yemen, so 'Abdul-Muttalib took over and managed to maintain his people's prestige and exceeded his grandfather in his honorable behavior, which earned him deep love and high esteem from the people of Makkah.
3- When Al-Muttalib died, Nawfal usurped 'Abdul-Muttalib’s charges, so the latter asked for help from the Quraysh, but they abstained from extending any sort of support to either of them. Consequently, he wrote to his uncles of Bani An-Najjaar (his mother's brothers) to come to his aid. His uncle, Abu Sa’d Ibn 'Adyy (his mother's brother) marched to Makkah at the head of eighty horsemen and camped in Abtah in Makkah. 'Abdul-Muttalib received the men and invited them to go to his house but Abu Sa’d said: "Not before I meet Nawfal." He found Nawfal sitting with some old men of Quraysh in the shade of Al-Ka'bah. Abu Sa’d drew his sword and said: "I swear by Allaah that if you don't restore to my nephew what you have taken, I will kill you with this sword." Nawfal was thus forced to give up what he had usurped, and the notables of Quraysh were made to witness to his words.
Abu Sa’d then went to 'Abdul-Muttalib's house where he stayed for three nights, made 'Umrah (minor pilgrimage) and left back for Al-Madeenah. Later on, Nawfal entered into alliance with Bani 'Abd Shams Ibn 'Abd Munaf against Bani Haashim. When Khuza'a, a tribe, saw Bani An-Najjaar's support to 'Abdul-Muttalib they said: "He is our son as he is yours. We have more reasons to support him than you." 'Abd Munaf's mother was one of them. They went into An-Nadwa House (a place they used to gather in to discuss serious matters) and entered into alliance with Bani Haashim against Bani 'Abd Shams and Nawfal. It was an alliance that was later to constitute the main reason for the conquest of Makkah. 'Abdul-Muttalib witnessed two important events in his lifetime, namely digging the Zamzam well and the Elephant raid.
Digging the Well of Zamzam
The well of Zamzam originated for the sake of Ismaa’eel, may Allaah exalt his mention, when he and his mother Haajar (Hagar) were overtaken by thirst, Allaah the Almighty caused a stream of water to flow in the empty desert. Haajar contained the flowing water by building a mound around it and it turned into a well. At the time of leaving Makkah, the Jurhum tribe covered it with dust and so, for a long time it could not be traced. When the task of giving water to the pilgrims was entrusted to ‘Abdul-Muttalib, he started searching for it along with his elder son Haarith, but their efforts proved fruitless.
One day, ‘Abdul-Muttalib saw the location of the well of Zamzam in his dream and started digging for it. There were two idols, ‘Isaf and Naa’ilah kept at that spot. The Quraysh resented this disturbance and became hostile and ready to fight. Although they were only two, father and son, they prevailed over them and continued digging the well. Realizing his isolation, ‘Abdul-Muttalib invoked Allaah the Almighty that in case He gave him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of his sons in the name of God. After a short period, the well appeared and he was also blessed with ten sons.
The Elephant Raid
The King of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) had captured Yemen for a very short period. During the lifetime of ‘Abdul-Muttalib, Yemen was under the rule of the King of Abyssinia. In those days Abrahah Ashram was the governor of Yemen on behalf of the king. He built a temple in Yemen and persuaded the Arabs to perform Hajj at the temple of Yemen instead of the Ka'bah. However, he was not successful in his endeavor. In order to put him to disgrace, an Arab defecated in the temple to desecrate it. Abrahah grew so furious that he invaded Makkah with the intention of destroying the House of Allaah -- the Ka'bah. He used elephants in his attack, so the people of Makkah called them the People of the Elephant and the year came to be known as the Year of the Elephant.
When the Quraysh came to know of the attack, they were filled with fear, as they were no match for such a large and strong army. They jointly requested their chief, ‘Abdul-Muttalib to go to Abrahah and explore a way to avert the battle. When ‘Abdul-Muttalib presented himself to Abrahah, he was greatly impressed and held him in high esteem. ‘Abdul-Muttalib stated that Abrahah's army had captured 200 camels, which belonged to him. Thereupon Abrahah remarked that he took him to be a wise person but he obviously was mistaken. He (‘Abdul-Muttalib) was aware that Abrahah had come with the sole purpose of demolishing the House of Allaah — the Ka'bah. However, intentionally ignoring the topic, he only spoke of his camels instead of saving the Ka'bah.
‘Abdul-Muttalib said: " I am merely the owner of the camels, but this House also has an Owner and He will save it."
The answer enraged Abrahah and he burst out in anger saying he would see if the Lord of the House would save it. His army was destroyed and left like an empty field from which all the corn has been eaten up, and only the straw with stalks and stubble was left. The complete rout of Abrahah's forces after ‘Abdul Muttalib’s daring reply was a very significant event for Arabia, which put great fear of Allaah in their hearts.
After that fateful event, the rule of Yemen went out of the hands of the Abyssinian king and Sayf Ibn Dhi Yazin captured the country. ‘Abdul-Muttalib took some nobles of Quraysh and went to congratulate Sayf on his victory. Sayf Ibn Dhi Yazin gave ‘Abdul-Muttalib glad tidings that the last Prophet would be raised from his (‘Abdul-Muttalib's) offspring. This prophecy found wide currency and fame. All the members of the delegation thought that the last Prophet would be raised from their progeny. Each of them contacted the soothsayers and monks hoping for good news but returned disappointed.
We have mentioned that ‘Abdul-Muttalib invoked Allaah the Almighty that in case he was granted ten sons, he would sacrifice one of them in the name of God. ‘Abdul-Muttalib had ten sons, Al-Haarith, Az-Zubayr, Abu Talib, 'Abdullaah, Hamzah, Abu Lahab, Ghidaq, Maqwam, Safar and Al-'Abbaas. He also had six daughters, who were Umm Al-Hakim, Barrah, 'Atikah, Safiya, Arwa and Omayma.
'Abdullaah was the father of Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, (may Allaah exalt his mention). His mother was Fatimah, daughter of 'Amr Ibn 'A'idh Ibn 'Imran Ibn Makhzum Ibn Yaqdha Ibn Murrah. 'Abdullaah was the most handsome of ‘Abdul-Muttalib's sons, the chastest and the most loved. He was also the son whom the divination arrows pointed at, to be slaughtered as a sacrifice to Al-Ka'bah. When ‘Abdul-Muttalib had ten sons and they reached maturity, he revealed to them his secret vow which they silently and obediently accepted. Their names were written on divination arrows and given to the guardian of their most beloved goddess, Hubal.
The arrows were shuffled and drawn. An arrow showed that it was 'Abdullaah to be sacrificed. ‘Abdul-Muttalib then took the boy to Al-Ka'bah with a razor to slaughter the boy. Quraysh, his uncles from Makhzoom tribe and his brother Abu Talib, however, tried to dissuade him from consummating his purpose. After much discussion they turned to Saja', a famous soothsayer. She pointed out that blood money for their (‘Abdul-Muttalib's) clan was ten camels. Thus, they should put ‘Abdullaah on one side and ten camels on the other and then draw the lots.
In case the camels were chosen they would be slaughtered, but if ‘Abdullaah was chosen they should add ten more camels and draw again. They should keep adding to the number of the camels until the camels were drawn. This exercise went on until the number of camels reached one hundred. ‘Abdul-Muttalib drew the lots twice more for his personal satisfaction, but each time it fill upon the camels. Hence, 100 camels were slaughtered and ‘Abdullaah was saved. Since that time, the blood money of a person who was killed was fixed at one hundred camels.
‘Abdul-Muttalib chose Aaminah, daughter of Wahab Ibn 'Abd Munaaf Ibn Zahrah Ibn Kilaab, as a wife for his son, 'Abdullaah. In the light of this ancestral lineage, she stood eminent in respect of nobility of position and descent. Her father was the chief of Bani Zahrah, to whom great honor was attributed. They were married in Makkah, and soon after 'Abdullaah was sent by his father to buy dates in Madeenah where he died. According to another version, 'Abdullaah went to Syria on a trade journey and died in Al-Madeenah on his way back. He was buried in the house of An-Nabigha Al-Ju'di. He was twenty-five years old when he died. Most historians state that his death was two months before the birth of Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Some others said that his death was two months after the Prophet's birth. When Aaminah was informed of her husband's death, she composed a heart-rending elegy in his memory.
'Abdullaah left very little wealth -- five camels, a small number of goats, a woman servant called Barakah Umm Ayman, who would later serve as the Prophet's nursemaid.
