About This Lesson
The tribe of Quraysh
Sayed Saleh Qazwini introduces Quraysh, one of the most powerful tribes in Arabia and one the Qur’an mentions by name. Quraysh were secure. They held the Ka’bah, built by Abraham (p) as a centre of monotheism and later filled with idols, and they gave food and water to the pilgrims. Their winter and summer trade journeys to Yemen and the Levant made them the middlemen of the trade routes while the Roman and Persian empires were at war. This security made some of them humble before God and others arrogant. He explains that Quraysh was made up of several clans and goes through them. Abd Manaf had two sons, Hashim and Abd Shams, and their descendants became Banu Hashim and Banu Umayya.
Hashim and the rivalry with Abd Shams
Some reports say that Hashim and Abd Shams were born joined together and were separated with a sword. The blood that was drawn was taken as a sign of the bloodshed that would later come between Banu Hashim and Banu Umayya, a line that leads to Abu Sufyan, Muawiya and Yazid. Hashim was known for his generosity, and his name comes from his practice of breaking bread into broth to feed the pilgrims. According to reports, he died on a journey and is buried in Gaza. Sayed Qazwini stresses that being a descendant of Hashim, a sayyid, is no guarantee of paradise: Abu Lahab was also a grandson of Hashim, and the Qur’an condemns him.
Abd al-Muttalib: Zamzam and the Year of the Elephant
Hashim’s son Abd al-Muttalib became the chief of Mecca and the caretaker of the Sanctuary. He was known for his dignity and for keeping away from the vices of his time, and he raised the Prophet (pbuh&hf) until the Prophet was eight years old. Together with his son al-Harith, he rediscovered and dug out the well of Zamzam, which had been buried and lost. The story of the elephant follows. Abraha, a commander of the Christian kingdom of Axum, had overthrown the ruler who burned the Christians of Najran. He then built a great church in Yemen to draw the Arabs away from Mecca and marched on the Ka’bah with elephants. When his army seized Abd al-Muttalib’s 200 camels, Abd al-Muttalib went to Abraha and asked only for his camels, saying:
I am the owner of the camels. The House of Allah has a Lord who will take care of it.
The elephant refused to advance toward Mecca, and God sent birds carrying small pebbles of clay that destroyed the army. That is why the year became known as the Year of the Elephant.
The vow and the marriage of Abdullah and Amina
While he still had only one son, Abd al-Muttalib vowed that if God gave him ten sons he would sacrifice the tenth. That son was Abdullah. Lots were drawn between Abdullah and ten camels at a time, and Abdullah’s name kept coming up until the number reached one hundred camels. The camels were then sacrificed and their meat fed to the needy. Sayed Qazwini relates the Prophet’s saying that he is the son of the two who were offered as sacrifices, Ishmael (p) and Abdullah. Abd al-Muttalib then arranged Abdullah’s marriage to Amina bint Wahb, and at the same time married her cousin Hala, who became the mother of Hamza. Sayed Qazwini adds that Hamza and the Prophet (pbuh&hf) were close in age.
The blessed birth and its signs
According to narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt (p), the Prophet (pbuh&hf) was born on Friday, the 17th of Rabi al-Awwal, in the Year of the Elephant (570 CE). The more common report gives Monday the 12th. Sayed Qazwini cites a narration from one of the Imams (p) that the Prophet died on a Monday and was born on a Friday, and notes that Monday is not among the recommended fasting days listed in Shia legal works. He then lists signs reported at the birth. The sacred fire of Persia went out, the palace of Kisra shook, Lake Sawa dried up, and Amina saw a light. The jinn were barred from listening at the heavens, which he connects to verses of Surah al-Jinn, and the earth was made a place of prostration and purification. The next lesson continues with the Prophet’s birth as an orphan and his time with his wet nurse.
- 00:00 Recap: why the sirah was shaped by politics
- 03:10 The tribe of Quraysh and the Ka’bah
- 07:17 The clans of Quraysh
- 09:19 Hashim and Abd Shams
- 16:29 Abd al-Muttalib and the well of Zamzam
- 21:35 Abraha and the Year of the Elephant
- 33:56 Abd al-Muttalib’s vow and Abdullah
- 39:04 The marriage of Abdullah and Amina
- 41:09 The date of the Prophet’s birth
- 45:16 Signs at the Prophet’s birth
This lesson is part of The Life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hf), a weekly course with Sayed Saleh Qazwini.