Arab
Musta'ribah:
This category of the Arabs refers to
Banu Adnân or the progeny of Ismail (Ishmael) ( عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ ). They came to Arabia from the outside, therefore they are
called Arab Musta'ribah or the mixed Arabs. Ibrahim's mother tongue was 'Ajami
or Persian. When Ibrahim (Abraham) ( عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ ) left Ismail (Ishmael) ( عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ ) in Makkah along with his mother Hâjira (Hagar), they learned
Arabic from the Qahtâni tribe Jurhum, which was already settled in Makkah, and
later Arabic became the mother tongue of the progeny of Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ). Ismail's mother
passed away when he was only 15 years old. After the demise of his mother,
Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) made up his mind to
leave Makkah and to settle somewhere in Syria. But the people of the Jurhum
tribe in unison requested him to change his mind.
He was then married to Amârah bint
Saeed bin Usâmah belonging to Amâliqah family. After a short time, Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) came and Ismail
divorced his wife according to the instructions of his father, and then married
Syedah bint Mudâd bin Amr of the Jurhum tribe. Following these events, both
Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) and Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) started building
the Ka'bah on the old foundations made by Adam ( عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ ). Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
) would lay the bricks while Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ ) would hand him the kneaded clay and the stones while both of
them were supplicating:
"Our
Lord! Accept this from us. Verily, you are the All-Hearer, the
All-Knower." (2:127)
When the wall of the Ka'bah was
raised to such an extent that the work of construction was impeded, Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) stood up on a piece
of stone to resume his work. This place is called the 'Station of Ibrahim'.
When the Ka'bah was near completion, Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ ) asked Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
) to bring a special stone to be put at the base as a cornerstone so that place
could be distinguished. Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
) led by Jibril ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
) brought Hajar Aswad (the Black Stone) from Boqabis mountain and Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) put it in the
selected spot. This is the same stone that is kissed during the
circumambulation (Tawâf) of the Ka'bah. After rebuilding the Ka'bah, Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) and Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) took their
followers to Mina and Arafat, sacrificed their animals and circumambulated the
Ka'bah. Ibrahim ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
) later departed to Syria and continued to visit the Ka'bah every year,
performing Hajj until the end of his life.
Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ
السَّلَامُ ) settled in Makkah for the rest of his life. The tribe Banu
Jurhum (Jurhum the second) had already settled in Makkah and the Amâliqah tribe
settled in the suburbs of Makkah. (This was not the Amâliqah tribe of Arab
Bâ'idah.) Some people from these tribes believed in Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) while others kept to their old faith.
Ismail died, according to the Torah, at the age of 137 years. He was survived
by twelve sons whose descendants multiplied so much that the land of Makkah
could not contain them, and so they spread all over the Hijâz. The trusteeship
of Ka'bah and the leadership of Makkah remained continuously with the
descendants of Ismail ( عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
). Among his children was Adnân, the son of Kedar. The progeny of Adnân
includes all the renowned tribes of Banu Ismail, and so the Arab Musta'ribah of
Banu Ismail are called the people of Adnân.
The son of Adnân was called Ma'd and
his grandson was called Nizâr. Nizâr had four sons from whom all the Adnân
tribes branched out. As a result of this all the Adnân tribes are called Ma'di
or Nizâri. The genealogical table of the Adnân tribes is given on the facing
page.
Adnân
Tribes:
Among the Adnân tribes Iyyâd,
Rabi'ah and Mudar achieved fame. To the well-known tribe of Mudar, belonged the
Kinânah tribe which had an eminent person named Fihr bin Mâlik who was also
called Quraish. The progeny of Quraish gave birth to many tribes, among them
Banu Sahm, Banu Makhzum, Banu Jumh, Banu Taim, Banu Adi, Banu Abdud-Dâr, Banu
Zuhrah, and Banu Abd Manâf gained much fame. Abd Manâf had four sons namely Abd
Shams, Naufal, Abdul-Muttalib and Hâshim. Among the children of Hâshim was born
Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) bin Abdullâh bin
Abdul-Muttalib bin Hâshim who is the last Prophet and to whom belongs the
entire Muslim Ummah (community). The aim of this book is to clarify the state
and condition of his Ummah (community) alone.
Abd Shams' son was Umayyah whose
offspring are called Banu Umayyah. When the Adnân tribes, defeated by Khuza'ah
left Makkah, they spread over different parts of Arabia. Banu Bakr settled in
Bahrain, Banu Hanifah in Yamâmah, Banu Taghlib on the banks of Euphrates, Banu Tamim
in Algiers, Banu Sulaim in the suburbs of Al-Madinah, Banu Thaqif in Tâ'if,
Banu Asad in the west of Kufah and Banu Kinânah in Tihâmah. Only the Quraish
tribes from among the Adnân remained living in Makkah and its suburbs and they
were in disarray. Qusai bin Kilâb (who was in 5th century Christian Era) united
them. By uniting various Quraish tribes, he brought not only Makkah but also
the entire Hijâz under his control. Thus, the trusteeship of the House of
Ka'bah once again came to the Adnân tribe. Qusai did some repair work on the
Ka'bah and constructed for himself a big palace of which a spacious hall was
set aside for the people to assemble for consultations and serious discussions.
It was named Dâr-un-Nadwah. It also served as the seat of power from where
Qusai performed official business. Qusai had also advanced a proposal that
during the Hajj days the pilgrims should be served food for three days and all
the Quraish should make contributions for that. In short, Qusai had achieved
both religious and temporal power in Makkah and the Hijâz. Qusai died in 480 CE
and his son Abdud-Dâr became his successor.
After the death of Abdud-Dâr, his
grandsons and the sons of his brother Abd Manâf fell out with one another.
Mediation by the influential people of Makkah brought the situation back to
normal by defining each group's responsibilities such as providing water,
collection of contributions and taxes, and acting as host to the pilgrims.
Abdud-Dâr's grandsons were entrusted with the task of military arrangements
providing security for the Ka'bah and looking after Dâr-un-Nadwah. After a
short time Abd Manâf's son Abd Shams handed over his right to rule to his
younger brother Hâshim. Hâshim was very popular among the Makkans for his
trading ability, wealth and generosity. He benefited the Quraish immensely, he
persuaded the Quraish to widen the scope of their trading activities, which was
very profitable for them.
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