The Descendants of Ibrahim (AS): Pre-Prophethood [Seerah Ep 1]
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah, Dear GTAF Family,
Alhamdulillah, we are going to start a new series of blog posts on the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. This will highlight the events of the life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the Prophetic Timeline by MRDF.
In this series, we will classify the life journey of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ into three broad categories such as-
- Pre-Prophethood
- Makki
- Madani
Through this Seerah series, you can easily know the biography of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with the timeline.
Today is our first episode, and it’s about ‘The Descendants of Ibrahim (AS).’ This discussion will give you a clear idea of How Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is linked with Prophet Ibrahim (AS). So, let’s get started in the name of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’Ala.
The Descendants of Ibrahim
The Prophet Ibrahim (AS), also known as the friend of Allah, is considered to have been the great-grandfather of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who followed his great-grandfather’s zeal in believing in and calling to, the purest form of monotheism. His date of birth is unknown though many opinions exist with considerable variations.
His son, Isma’il, and his wife, Haajar, after being provided with heavenly sustenance, settled in the valleys around Makkah along with a Yemeni tribe, Jurhum. It was in Makkah that father and son built the Ka’bah, raising its pillars in compliance with Allah’s decree and then calling the people to make a pilgrimage to it. Isma’il himself had twelve sons from the daughter of Mudad (chief of the tribe of Jurhum), whose names were Nabet, Qidar, Edbael, Mebsham, Mishma’, Duma, Micha, Hudud, Yetma, Yetour, Nafis and Qidman, and who ultimately formed twelve tribes inhabiting Makkah and trading between Yemen, Shaam, and Egypt.
Later on, these tribes spread all over the peninsula, sometimes even outside of its boundaries. Of the twelve tribes, all died out except the descendants of two: Nabet and Qidar.
The Nabeteans (or sons of Nabet) established a flourishing civilization in the north of Hijaz, making Petra (in current-day Jordan) their capital until the Romans came and defeated their kingdom. The descendants of Qidar lived long in Makkah, increasing in number, specifically by way of ‘Adnan and his son Ma’ad to whom ‘Adnanian Arabs traced back their ancestry. ‘Adnan was the twenty-first grandfather in the series of Prophetic ancestry. Nizar, Ma’ad’s only son, had four sons who branched out into four great tribes; Eyad, Anmar, Rabi’a, and Mudar.
The Mudar tribes branched out into two great divisions: Qais ‘Ailan bin Mudar and the branch of Elias bin Mudar. Of Elias bin Mudar were Tamim bin Murra, Hudhail bin Mudrika, Banu Asad bin Khuzaimah and the division of Kinana bin Khuzaimah, of whom came.
Quraysh, the descendants of Fahr bin Malik bin An-Nadr bin Kinana.
Quraysh branched out into various tribes, the most famous of whom were Jumah, Sahm, ‘Adi, Makhzum, Tayim, Zahra, and the three branches of Qusai ibn Kilab: ‘Abd Al Dar bin Qusai, Asad bin ‘Abdul ‘Uzza bin Qusai and ‘Abd Manaf bin Qusai.
‘Abd Manaf branched out into four tribes: ‘Abd Shams, Nawfal, Muttalib, and Hashim. It is, however, from the family of Hashim that Allah selected the final Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ, the son of ‘Abdullah, the son of ‘Abdul Muttalib, the son of Hashim. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.
End of 2000 BC
Lessons and Wisdom
Based on the different descendants of today’s Arabs, historians have grouped early Arabs into three categories:
- The al-Baaidah Arabs. They are from the tribes of ‘Ad, Thamud, al-‘Amaaliqah, Tasm, Jadis, Umaim, Jurhum, Hadramoot, and those that are closely linked with them. Prior to the advent of Islam, the al-Baaidah Arabs, though once laid claim to an empire stretching from as-Sham and Egypt, were wiped off the face of the earth.
- The al-‘Aaribah Arabs. These are the Arabs who descended from the line of Ya’rob and are also known as the Southern Arabs and as the al-Qahtaaniyya Arabs. The kings of Yemen were al-‘Aaribah Arabs, as were the people of Saba.
- The ‘Adnaaniyyah Arabs. They are called the ‘Adnaaniyyah because they descend from ‘Adnaan, the son of Ismail. They are the Arabs of the North, and their original homeland was Makkah. After Ibrahim (AS) left Haajar and Ismail in Makkah, the Jurhum tribe settled with them, and so Ismail was raised amongst them and married into their tribe, thus having Arab offspring. The most notable of his offspring was ‘Adnaan, who was a direct forebear of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Other genealogists classify Arabs into two categories: Qahtaaniyyah and ‘Adnaaniyyah; further still, there are some scholars who maintain that all Arabs are, in fact ‘Adnaaniyyah, and as for the Qahtaaniyyah, they explain that they too are from the descendants of Ismail.
The great scholar al-Bukharee titled a chapter of his Saheeh based on this latter opinion: “Chapter: the relation of the people of Yemen (i.e. The Qahtaaniyyah) to Ismail”, and in this chapter, he narrated that the prophet once said, whilst addressing a group of Arabs archers of Yemeni descent “Fire your arrows, O children of Ismail, for your father was an archer!”
Polemical rebuttals particular to this year
This part of the timeline seeks to address some of the most commonly held criticisms and attacks leveled at the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
A series of short articles critically analyzing these polemics begins in 595 CE and continues later in the following two eras: Makkan and Madinan Eras
Edicts and Rulings
Not one but two great nations were to look back to Ibrahim (AS) as their father – two great nations, that is, two guided powers, and so Ibrahim (AS), through his lineage, was thus the fountain-head of two prophetic descendants. His praise is made by Allah in the Qur’an in various places:
*Who could have a better deen than someone who submits himself completely to Allah and is a good-doer and follows the religion of Ibrahim (AS), a man of pure natural belief? Allah took Ibrahim (AS) as an intimate friend.
They say, ‘Be Jews or Christians, and you will be guided.’ Say, ‘Rather adopt the religion of Ibrahim (AS), a man of natural pure belief. He was not one of the idolaters.’
Ibrahim (AS) was neither a Jew nor a Christian but a man of pure natural belief Haneef – a Muslim. He was not one of the idolaters.*
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