Abd al-Muttalib: Difference between revisions

'''ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib b. Hāshim b. ʿAbd Manāf''', (Arabic: {{ia|عبدالمطّلب بن هاشم بن عبد مناف}} ) (b. 127 before Hijra/500 - d. 45 BH/578) is the paternal grandfather of [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]], and the chief of the [[Quraysh]] tribe. He was also one of the nobles of [[Mecca]]. Born in [[Yathrib]], he migrated to Mecca when he was seven and became a nobility. The astonishing event of the [[Army of the elephant]] (the attack of Abraha) occurred during his rule in Mecca.

Abd al-Muttalib is from the Quraysh tribe and is the offspring of [[Hashim]], thus related to the [[Banu Hashim]]. He descends from Prophet [[Ibrahim (a)]]. His mother, Salma daughter of Amr, is from the Banu Najjar of [[Khazraj]] clan. This family became the [[companions]] of the Prophet (s) after he migrated to [[Medina]].<ref>Ibn Athīr, ''Usd al-ghāba'', vol. 6, p. 151.</ref>  

Abd al-Muttalib's name was Shayba and his epithet was Abu l-Harith.<ref>Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, ''al-Istīʿāb'', vol. 1, p. 27.</ref> It is said that he was addressed with other names and epithets as well, such as: Amir, Sayyid al-Batha', Saqi l-Hajij, Saqi l-Ghayth, Ghayth al-Wara fi l-'Am al-Judub, Abu l-Sadat al-'Ashara, 'Abd al-Muttalib, Hafir [[Zamzam]],<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 15, p. 128.</ref> Ibrahim Thani,<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ''Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī'', vol. 2, p. 11.</ref> and Fayyad.

In regards to the epithet Abd al-Muttalib which is most popular, it is said that a couple of years after the death of Hashim, Muttalib (paternal uncle of Abd al-Muttalib) took him from [[Yathrib]] to [[Mecca]].<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 3, p. 2-8.</ref> When people saw Muttalib entering the city with 'Abd al-Muttalib they thought he was Muttalib's slave, bought from Yathrib. He, therefore, became known as Abd al-Muttalib and this name stuck.<ref>Rasūlī Maḥallātī, ''Zindigānī-yi Muḥammad (s)'', vol. 1, p. 91.</ref>

Abd al-Muttalib's father, Hashim, married Salma daughter of Amr b. Zayd from the Banu Najjar clan, in one of his trips to Yathrib.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 65.</ref> Before the birth of his son, he travelled to [[Gaza]] in what is nowadays [[Palestine]], died and was buried there.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 65.</ref> Based on various historians, Abd al-Muttalib lived with his mother in Medina for seven years or more,<ref>Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 1, p. 137.</ref> before he went to Mecca with his uncle, Muttalib.<ref>Rasūlī Maḥallātī, ''Zindigānī-yi Muḥammad (s)'', vol. 1, p. 91.</ref>

:::When the hands of gamblers start to tremble (i.e. when the generous start to become stingy) we shall give people so much food that even the birds will eat from what is left.

According to historical documents of Mecca, before [[Qusay b. Kilab]]'s conquest, who was Abd al-Muttalib's grandfather, the Jurhum tribe ruled over Mecca. The oppressiveness of their tribesmen evoked a rise against them by other tribes. In the end, the Khuza'a tribe defeated them. 'Umar b. Harith, the final Jurhum ruler went inside the Ka'ba and hid all the jewellery, and valuable presents that had been gifted to the Ka'ba, in the [[Zamzam Well]] and filled the well with soil to hide it.

Years later, Abd al-Muttalib attempted to find the well. As it is said, he found the place of the well in a dream and was given the mission to excavate it. Abd al-Muttalib excavated Zamzam, found the jewellery, and spent it for the Ka'ba. Zamzam once again sprang with water.<ref>Ibn Kathīr, ''al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya'', vol. 2, p. 244.</ref>

According to reports, Abd al-Muttalib faced disagreement and obstruction by the Quraysh when he decided to excavate the well. He made a pledge that if God gives him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of them next to the Ka'ba. God Almighty blessed him with ten sons. He randomly selected one of his sons, and [[Abd Allah b. Abd al-Muttalib|Abd Allah]]'s name came out, but he sacrificed a hundred camels instead.

[['Ali Dawani]] believes this story is not true and was composed by the [[Umayyad]]s, arguing based on the weak chain of narrators that includes unknown or weak persons, and the fact that child sacrificing was a pagan tradition while Abd al-Muttalib was a [[monotheism|monotheist]]. He believes that the Umayyads fabricated this story in order to decrease Imam Ali's (a) position by damaging his ancestral nobility.<ref>See: Dawānī, ''Tārīkh-i islām'', p. 54.</ref>

According to some reports Abd al-Muttalib adhered to the religion of [[Hanif]] and was not an idol worshiper. [[Al-Mas'udi]], 3rd/9th-10th century historian, talks of disputes about the religion Abd al-Muttalib professed and explains that one belief is that neither he nor any of the Prophet's (s) ancestors were idol worshipers.<ref>Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 2, p. 109.</ref> [[Al-Shaykh al-Saduq]] narrates from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] that the Prophet (s) said to [[Imam Ali (a)]], "Abd al-Muttalib never gambled and never worshipped idols and... and he always said, 'I adhere to the religion of my father, Ibrahim.'"<ref>Ṣadūq, ''al-Khiṣāl'', vol. 1, p. 455.</ref>

centered pull quote|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.

When he excavated Zamzam he named it Siqayat al-hajj (Station for Hajis to drink), and God has said:

According to some sources, Abd al-Muttalib passed away on [[Rabi' I 10]].<ref>Ṭūsī, ''Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid'', vol. 2, p. 791; Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 97, p. 222.</ref> It is mostly believed that the Prophet (s) was eight years old when Abd al-Muttalib passed away (45 BH/578 CE)<ref>Ibn al-Jawzī, ''al-Muntaẓam'', vol. 2, p. 282.</ref> at the age of eighty-two, or one hundred and eight, or one hundred and forty.

It is said that before his demise Abd al-Muttalib summoned his daughters, "Cry for me and read the elegies you want to read about me, so I can hear what you want to read for me after death before I die." His daughters did so, they mourned and each read their elegies.

  | major edits =