How
Abdul-Muttalib was named:
Hâshim married the daughter of the
chieftain of Al-Madinah (Yathrib at that time). She gave birth to a son who was
named Shaibah. While the boy was still a child, Hâshim died. His brother
Muttalib became the ruler of Makkah. Hâshim's son, Shaibah was raised in
Al-Madinah. When Muttalib came to know that Hâshim's son had grown up, he
himself went to Al-Madinah to bring his nephew back to Makkah. When Muttalib
came to Makkah along with his nephew Shaibah, the Makkans mistook him as the
slave of Muttalib. Although Muttalib tried his level best to remove the
misunderstanding, it proved an exercise in futility and the name stayed with
him and he was thereafter called 'Abdul-Muttalib. Abdul-Muttalib resembled his
father in regard to character, honor and renown. The power and influence of
Abdul-Muttalib aroused competition until it became unbearable for Umayyah's son
Harb. He challenged Abdul-Muttalib to combat. In accordance with the practices
of the time, a judge was appointed who gave his judgment in favor of
Abdul-Muttalib. This decision aggravated enmity between Banu Umayyah and Banu
Hâshim.
During the time of Abdul-Muttalib,
an army from Abyssinia headed by a chieftain called Abrahah, launched an attack
on Makkah; but the army, known as the people of the Fil (Elephant), was
completely destroyed by a natural calamity and heavenly intervention. The
genealogical relations of the Quraish tribes are given in the table on the
facing page.
Family
of Abd Manâf:
Of all the tribes, Abd Manâf was
considered, in the whole of Arabia, as the most noble and respectable. After
them their sons also excelled all the nobles of Arabia. The real name of Abd
Manâf was Mughirah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ),
who was also called Qamar and Syed. Since his brothers were named Abdud-Dâr and
Abdul-Uzza, he came to be called Abd Manât and finally Abd Manâf.
Moral
Condition of Arabia
Arabia was, as mentioned in previous
pages, the cradle of the Sâm (Shem, son of Noah - عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ) dynasty from the days old. Since very little is known of the
Arab Bâ'idah, it cannot be definitely said what was the moral condition of the
Arab Bâ'idah as compared to contemporary nations of the world. However, it may
be conjectured that in the earlier times when human population was very sparse
in the inhabited quarter of the world, by and large, there would be many
similarities concerning their moral standing. Before the progress and
development made by Banu Ismail, and after the Arab Bâ'idah, traces are found
of many realms and kingdoms from the time of the Qahtân Arab's power throughout
Arabia. But in no period of their history did any one kingdom enjoy undivided
power over the entirety of Arabia. There were provinces with separate rulers,
some of them more renowned than others. However, inside the country,
independent homeless bands wandered aimlessly with their tents loaded on their
camels. Lack of pasture, water and the necessities of life always kept the
Arabs wandering and passing their days in hardship and monotony. The lack of
the necessities of life caused them to neglect building a society. Their way of
life showed no distinct mark or sign of change and reform.
Life consisted of few activities and
it had a uniformity of events that gave them a great deal of leisure time. A
large number of vast deserts, the absence of production and indigenous things
of value and the dearth of populated lands and cities never interested any
foreign power to turn towards Arabia with expansionist ideas, nor were there
any means or reasons to attract tourists and traders to the peninsula. Thus the
people of Arabia were generally unaware of the progress and development of
other nations of the world and their society, character and way of living. No
foreign nation even exercised its influence on the Arabs.
Assertions
of Dignity
Under these circumstances and in
such an environment only two traits of character easily developed in the people
of Arabia. One, the development of the art of poetry for which they had a great
deal of leisure time at their disposal, passing nights in the open desert and
they were free of any disciplined stream of thought. Both of these states
served as great stimuli. Second, the tremendous effort to survive and the
subjection to a life of hardship made them extremely fond of fighting and tests
of strength. Constant mutual combat led them naturally to self-praise and a
growing discretion for exhibiting a sense of dignity.
Pride and boasting, two typical
qualities of man, led to bravery and generosity defining distinct roles which
they followed with great interest. Idleness and deep indulgence in poetic
composition turned them to lovemaking and drinking. But bravery and boldness
had made them hospitable to a high degree and firm in fulfilling their promise
as a matter of honor. Gambling, archery, assemblies for the recital of poetic
verses, assertions of dignity, and competitions were some of the means of
passing their time. In short, Arabia and its climate conditioned the Arab
character.
Hud (عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ) and Saleh (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ)
and several other Prophets were sent to the Arab Bâ'idah. But the disrespect
and disobedience shown to these Prophets resulted in their utter and total
destruction. Some Prophets were also sent to another sections of the Arabs, the
Qahtân Arabs, but they paid very little attention to their call with the result
that they met their doom time and again. Moreover, they could not profit
substantially from the teachings of their Prophets on account of their rebellious
attitude and undisciplined thinking. Some of the people of Arabia believed in
Ibrahim (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ) and Ismail (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ). In the sphere of
faith and religion, their genealogical pride and egotism and the glorification
of their ancestors led them to hero worship which ultimately paved the way to
carving idols in their names to be worshipped. Idol worship led them to
superstitions and many other irrational ideas.
When the Qahtân tribes were on the
decline and Banu Ismail (the Adnân tribes) had gained ground, the invasion of
Makkah by the Khuza'ah tribe resulted in the defeat of the Jurhum tribe. The
integrity of the Adnân tribes was violated by this defeat and it injured the
power and dignity of the emerging Banu Ismail in the Hijâz. It resulted in a
fierce rivalry between the Adnân and Qahtân tribes, which gave birth to small
clans which were unable to transform themselves into a united rule of
significant importance.
The larger domains were not much
better than anarchy, no Arabian king and his system of rule over his subjects
was as remarkable for law and order as that of the ordinary feudal system used
in Persia. This anarchy and unbridled freedom gave rise to untold immorality,
misbehavior and disrespectful rudeness which permeated the whole social life of
the Arabs and this human depravity continued until the light of Islam rose from
the dark horizon of this country.
Most of the Arabs were nomads, and
very few had settled permanently in townships and populated areas. The Arabs
were very fond of keeping an exact genealogy of their ancestors preserved by
memory. They would mention the names and deeds of their forefathers with pride
and thus animate zeal and the valor of their people during fighting.
Perhaps it was the impact of the
climatic conditions of the country or their fondness for genealogy that caused
the Arabs to have a very strong memory. It was something simple for them to
keep in memory accurately odes of tribute that were several hundred verses
long, after hearing them only once. Their art of poetry and command of language
led them to such a state of development that they named all the non-Arabs as
'Ajam (literally: mute). If an individual of one clan was killed by that of
another, the clan belonging to the dead person would not rest until they took
revenge. To be at rest without an act of retaliation was a matter of utter
shame and disgrace for them. Reverence for the Ka'bah and performing Hajj was a
sign of power for all the Arabs through all their generations. Helping the
helpless and the oppressed and keeping firm against the oppressors were
qualities appreciated by one and all. Timidity and miserliness were taken as
the greatest defects and the worst flaw of character.
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