Al-Amin (Title): Difference between revisions

Al-Amin is a title of the Prophet Muhammad (s), with which he was known years before his [[bi'tha]]. "Al-Amin" is someone who can be trusted and who is certainly not going to cheat or betray.<ref>Dihkhuda, ''Lughatnāma'', vol. 3, p. 3408</ref> In his book, ''al-Tabaqat al-kubra'', [[Ibn Sa'd]] says: "as perfect as his good characteristics were, the Prophet (s) was not called in [[Mecca]] except as al-Amin." This goes back to the time when the Prophet (s) was 25 years old, which shows that he was known as "al-Amin" years before his rise to prophethood.<ref>Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol. 1, p. 156</ref> Moreover, according to a report quoted by [[al-Tabari]], before the Prophet (s) received the revelation, he was known as "al-Amin" (trustee). [[Ibn 'Abbas]] is quoted as saying that polytheists of the Quraysh knew the Messenger of God as "al-Amin" and knew that he would never lie. Notwithstanding this, they denied his claim to prophethood. Enemies of the Prophet (s) admitted that he was "al-Amin" as it is reported that [[Abu Jahl]] admitted this. According to these reports, the reason why they denied the Prophet (s) was not that they did not trust his words. Instead, their denial was grounded in family and tribal rivalries.