Abd Allah b. Abd al-Muttalib
| Father of the Prophet (s) | |
|---|---|
| Teknonym | Abu Qasham, Abu Muhammad, and Abu Ahmad |
| Epithet | al-Dhabih (the sacrifice) |
| Religious Affiliation | Monotheist |
| Lineage | Banu Hashim |
| Well-known Relatives | the Prophet (s) (son) • Abd al-Muttalib (father) • Abu Talib (brother) • Amina (wife) |
| Place of Birth | Mecca |
| Place of Residence | Mecca |
| Death/Martyrdom | Few months after the Prophet's birthday |
| Cause of Death/Martyrdom | Illness |
| Burial Place | Dar al-Nabigha |
| Era | Before Islam |
| Known for | chosen as the sacrifice of Abd al-Muttalib |
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (Arabic: عبداللّه بن عبدالمُطَّلِب), is the father of the Prophet Muhammad (s), as the historians had said, in the vow of Abd al-Muttalib to sacrifice one of his sons for Allah, his name was drawn, but at last one hundred camels slaughtered in his place. He passed away, before —or according to some narrations, a little after- the birth of his son, the Prophet Muhammad (s). Unlike Sunni scholars, most of the Shi'a scholars believe that he was a monotheist.
Lineage, Title, and Teknonym
Abd Allah b. Abd al-Muttalib b. Hashim was the last son of Abd al-Muttalib. Abd Allah, Abu Talib (the father of Imam Ali (a)), al-Zubayr, and five of the daughters of Abd al-Muttalib were from one mother; their mother was Fatima bt. 'Amr b. 'A'idh al-Makhzumi; is one of the five women named Fatima in the Prophet's lineage (s).[1]
His teknonym is "Abu Qasham", "Abu Muhammad", and "Abu Ahmad"; and his title was "al-Dhabih" (the sacrificed).
Sacrifice
When Abd al-Muttalib was digging for the Zamzam well, he had only one son; after he discovered the Zamzam well, Quraysh opposed his ownership of the well and stated that they must have a share of the well. When he saw that he had only one son to defend himself, he made a vow that if Allah will give him ten sons, he will sacrifice one of them in the way of Allah, by Ka'ba. When his son's count reached ten, he cast lots to choose one of his sons to be sacrificed, and the name of Abd Allah was drawn. But people opposed the slaughter. So they decided to draw between ten camels and Abd Allah. If the ten camels became drawn, they would be slaughtered in place of him, if Abd Allah became drawn, ten more camels are added, and the draw is repeated. At last, when the count of camels reached a hundred, the camels were drawn, Abd al-Muttalib repeated the lots three times, and in all of them, the camels were drawn; after Abd al-Muttalib became sure that Allah had accepted the camels in place of Abd Allah, one hundred camels slaughtered in place of Abd Allah and given to the needy.[2]
The Prophet (s) mentioned the story in a hadith: "I am the son of the two sacrifices". Imam al-Rida (a) says about the hadith: "The two sacrifices are Isma'il (a) and Abd Allah".[3]
Marriage
On the day of sacrifice, after the camels' sacrifice, Abd al-Muttalib went straight to Wahb b. Abd Manaf, who was the head of the Banu Zuhra tribe, married his daughter, Amina bt. Wahb, to Abd Allah. She was one of the greatest women of Quraysh.[4]
According to some, the marriage took place after a year from the sacrifice.[5]
Belief
Some of the Sunni scholars recognized him as a pagan, but most of the Shi'a scholars believe that he and all of the ancestors of the Prophet (s) to Adam (a), were believers in God and were monotheists.[6]
Imam al-Sadiq (a) says "Jibra'il (Gabriel) came to Muhammad and said: O Muhammad, God sends his regards to you and says: "I have withheld the fire of hell from the loin begot you, and the womb bore you, and the skirt raised you; the loin is the loin of Abd Allah b. Abd al-Muttalib and the womb bore you is Amina bt. Wahb and the skirt raised you is the skirt of Abu Talib -and according to Ibn Faddal- and Fatima bt. Asad".[7]
Demise
A little after his marriage, Abd Allah went to Syria with the trade caravan of Quraysh; on the way back, he became ill and stayed in the Banu 'Adi b. al-Najjar tribe in Yathrib, when the caravan of Quraysh reached Mecca and Abd al-Muttalib asked them about Abd Allah, sent his eldest son, al-Harith, to Yathrib, but when he reached Yathrib, Abd Allah had passed away.[8]
Abd Allah demised in his twenty-five, between the uncles of his father, in the tribe of Banu l-Najjar, in a house named "Dar al-Nabigha".[9]
Most of the historians believe that he demised before the birth of the Prophet (s);[10] but al-Ya'qubi referring to a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a), considered his demise two months after the birth of the Prophet (s),[11] also Al-Kulayni chose this opinion,[12]
Heritage of Abd Allah was a maid named Umm Ayman, five camels, a herd of sheep, a sword, and some money.[13]
Tomb
According to historical sources, the burial place of Abd Allah and some other graves were located in a place in Medina known as "Dar al-Nabigha", which is today part of al-Masjid al-Nabawi after its westward expansion. Photos of this location have survived. Today, it is located inside al-Masjid al-Nabawi.[citation needed] Na'ib al-Sadr al-Shirazi visited the place in 1305/1887-8 and cited Turkish poems inscribed on it.[citation needed] According to these poems, the grave had a dome and a building constructed in 1245/1829-30.[14] According to ancient sources, the burial place of Abd Allah turned into a mosque.[citation needed] The Egyptian Ibrahim Pasha Raf'at said in his book that the grave had a darih.[15]
In addition to Na'ib al-Sadr al-Shirazi, Persian authors, Farhad Mirza and Sayyid Isma'il Marandi[16] and some travel writers, introduced the mausoleum of Abd Allah as one of the ziyara places of Medina. Although Wahhabis destroyed all mausoleums inside and outside al-Baqi' after they took over Medina, the building of Abd Allah's mausoleum survived until 1976-7.[citation needed]
To visit the grave of Abd Allah b. Abd al-Muttalib is considered as a recommended action.[17]
Notes
- ↑ Ibn Athīr, al-Kāmil, vol. 2, p. 33
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra, vol. 1, p. 103
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār, vol. 12, p. 122
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra, vol. 1, p. 156
- ↑ Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar, p. 42
- ↑ ʿĀmilī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ, vol. 2, p. 75
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 446.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār, vol. 12, p. 122. Ibn Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, vol. 1, p. 14.
- ↑ Ibn Athīr, al-Kāmil, vol. 2, p. 10
- ↑ Dhahabī, Sīyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, vol. 1, p. 165.
- ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 10.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 439
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār, vol. 15, p. 125. Ibn Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, vol. 1, p. 14.
- ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 352
- ↑ Ṣabrī Pāshā, Mirʾāt al-Ḥaramayn, vol. 4, p. 708.
- ↑ Marandī, "Guzārish-i az Madīna wa Baqīʿ dar sāl-i 1255", p. 117
- ↑ Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, Qalāʾid al-durar fī manāsik man ḥajj wa iʿtamar, p. 114.
References
- ʿĀmilī, Sayyid Jaʿfar Murtaḍā al-. Al-Ṣaḥīḥ min sīrat al-Nabī al-aʿẓam. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi ʿIlmī Farhangī-yi Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1426 AH.
- Āyatī, Muḥammad Ibrāhīm. Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām. Tehran, Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1378 Sh.
- Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-. Sīyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ. Cairo, Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1427/2006.
- Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir-Dār Beirut. 1385/1965.
- Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Usd al-ghāba fī maʿrifat al-Ṣaḥāba. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1409 AH.
- Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-Nabawīyya. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, nd.
- Jaʿfarīyān, Rasūl. Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina. Qom, Nashr-i Mashʿar, 1384 Sh.
- Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, Aḥmad. Qalāʾid al-durar fī manāsik man ḥajj wa iʿtamar. Najaf, Maʾassisat Kāshif al-Ghitaʾ, nd.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. Al-Kāfī. Ed. ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1403/1983.
- Marandī, Sayyid Ismāʿīl. "Guzārish-i az Madīna wa Baqīʿ dar sāl-i 1255", Journal of Miqāt-i Ḥajj, no. 5, Autumn 1372 Sh.
- Ṣabrī Pāshā, Ayyūb. Mawsūʾat mirʾāt al-Ḥaramayn al-sharīfayn wa Jazīrat al-ʿArab. Cairo, Dār al-Āfāq al-ʿArabīyya, 1424 AH.
- Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Isḥāq. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, nd.