Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib
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Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib (/æbˈdʊlə/; Arabic: عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبْد ٱلْمُطَّلِب, romanized: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; c. 548–570) was the father of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the son of Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim and Fatima bint Amr of the Makhzum Clan.[1]
Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبْد ٱلْمُطَّلِب | |
|---|---|
Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib's name in Islamic calligraphy | |
| Born | c. 548 CE |
| Died | c. 570 (aged 21–22) Medina, Hejaz |
| Resting place | Jannat al-Baqi, Medina |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant and clay-worker |
| Spouse | Āminah bint Wahb |
| Children | Muhammad (son) |
| Parent(s) | Abd al-Muttalib (father) Fatima bint Amr (mother) |
| Relatives | |
| Family | Banu Hashim from Quraysh |
He was married to Āminah bint Wahb.[2] Muhammad was their only offspring.
Name
ʿAbd Allāh means "servant of God" or "slave of God". His full name was ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ('Amr) ibn Abd Manāf (al-Mughīra) ibn Qusayy (Zayd) ibn Kilāb ibn Murra ibn Ka`b ibn Lu'ayy ibn Ghālib ibn Fahr (Quraysh) ibn Mālik ibn an-Naḑr (Qays) ibn Kinānah ibn Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah ('Āmir) ibn Ilyās ibn Muḍar ibn Nizār ibn Ma'ād ibn 'Adnān.[3]
Marriage
His father chose for him Āminah daughter of Wahb ibn 'Abd Munāf who was the grandson of Zuhrah ibn Kilab, the brother of his great-great-grandfather Qusayy ibn Kilāb. Wahb had been the chief of Banu Zuhrah as well as its eldest and noblest member but had died some time previously and Āminah became a ward of his brother Wuhaib, who had succeeded him as chief of the clan.
His father went with him to the quarter of Banū Zuhrah. There, he sought the residence of Wuhayb and went in to ask for the hand of Wahb's daughter for his son. 'Abdullāh's father fixed his marriage with Aminah.[4] It was said that a light shone out of his forehead and that this light was the promise of a Prophet as offspring. Many women approached 'Abdullāh, who is reported to have been a handsome man, so that they might gain the honor of producing his offspring. However it is believed that, as decided by God, the light was destined to be transferred to Āminah through 'Abdullāh after consummating the marriage.[5] 'Abdullāh's father was the custodian of the Kaaba in Mecca. 'Abdullāh lived with Āminah among her relatives the first three days of the marriage. Afterwards, they moved together to the quarter of 'Abdul-Muttalib.
Death
Soon after their marriage 'Abdullāh was called to Palestine and Syria (in what is Ash-Shām or the Levant) on a trading caravan trip. When he left, Āminah was pregnant. 'Abdullāh was absent for several months in Gaza. On his way back he stopped for a longer rest with the family of his paternal grandmother, Salma bint Amr, who belonged to the Najjar clan of the Khazraj tribe in Medina. He was preparing to join a caravan to Mecca when he felt ill. The caravan went on without him to Mecca with news of his absence and disease. 'Abdul-Muttalib immediately sent his eldest son Al-Harith to Medina. However by the time Harith arrived, his brother Abdullah who was in his early twenties, was already dead and was buried shortly after he became unwell, Harith returned to Mecca to announce the death of 'Abdullāh to his aged father and his pregnant wife Āminah.[6][7]
He was buried in Dar-ul-Nabeghah in Medina (today Saudi Arabia), and his mausoleum was demolished on the 20th or 21st January, 1978. Reportedly he was reburied in Al-Baqee' Graveyard, next to Muhammad's son Ibrahim.[citation needed]
Estate
'Abdullāh left five camels, a herd of sheep and goats, and an Abyssinian slave nurse, called Umm Ayman, who was to take care of his son Muhammad.[8] This patrimony does not prove that 'Abdullāh was wealthy, but at the same time it does not prove that he was poor. Rather, it shows that Muhammad was his heir. Furthermore, 'Abdullāh was still a young man capable of working and of amassing a fortune. His father was still alive and none of his wealth had as yet been transferred to his sons.[9]
Fate in the afterlife
Islamic scholars have long been divided over the religious beliefs of Muhammad's mother and her fate in the afterlife.[10] One transmission by Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah states that Allah (God) refused to forgive Aminah for her kufr (disbelief). Another transmission in Musnad al-Bazzar states that the Muhammad's mother was brought back to life and accepted Islam, then returned to the Barzakh.[11]: 11 Some Ash'ari and Shafi'i scholars argued that neither would be punished in the afterlife, as they were Ahl al-fatrah, or "People of the interval" between the prophetic messages of 'Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad.[12] The concept of Ahl al-fatrah is not universally accepted among Islamic scholars, and there is debate concerning the extent of salvation available for active practitioners of Shirk (Polytheism),[13] though the majority of scholars have come to agree with it, and disregard the ahadith (narrations) stating that Muhammad's parents were condemned to hell.[10]
While a work attributed to Abu Hanifah, an early Sunni scholar, stated that both Aminah and Abdullah died upon their innate nature (Mata 'ala al-fitrah),[14] some later authors of mawlid texts related a tradition in which Aminah and Abdullah were temporarily revived and embraced Islam. Scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah stated that this was a lie, though Al-Qurtubi stated that the concept did not disagree with Islamic theology.[12] According to Ali al-Qari, the preferred view is that both the parents of Muhammad were Muslims.[11]: 28 According to Al-Suyuti, Isma'il Haqqi, and other Islamic scholars, all of the narrations indicating that the parents of Muhammad were not forgiven were later abrogated when they were brought to life and accepted Islam.[11]: 24 Shia Muslims believe that all of Muhammad's ancestors, Aminah included, were monotheists who practiced the shariah of Abraham, and were therefore entitled to Paradise. A Shia tradition states that Allah forbade the fires of Hell from touching either of Muhammad's parents.[15]
See also
- Abdullah (name)
- Adnan
- Bayt al-Mawlid, the house where Muhammad is believed to have been born
- Family tree of Muhammad
References
- ^ Muhammad ibn Sa'ad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir. Translated by Haq, S. M. (1967). Ibn Sa'd's Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir Volume I Parts I & II, pp. 99-100. Delhi: Kitab-Bhavan.
- ^ Al-A'zami, Muhammad Mustafa (2003). The History of The Qur'anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments. UK Islamic Academy. pp. 22–24. ISBN 978-1-8725-3165-6.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2006-02-23. Retrieved 2006-01-08.
- ^ Cook, Michael. Muhammad. Oxford University Press: New York, 1983. ISBN 0-19-287605-8.
- ^ Ibn Kathīr The Life of the Prophet Muḥammad : Volume 1. Trans. Prof. Trevor Le Gassick. Garnet Publishing: Lebanon, 1998. ISBN 1-85964-142-3.
- ^ Ibn Sa'd/Haq pp. 107-108.
- ^ Armstrong, Karen (1993). Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet. San Francisco, the U.S.A.: Harper SanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0062508867.
- ^ Ibn Sa'd/Haq p. 109.
- ^ Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, Martin Lings, George Allen & Unwin, 1983, p24
- ^ a b Brown, Jonathan A.C. (2015). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications. pp. 188-189.
- ^ a b c Mufti Muhammad Khan Qadri, The Parents of the Prophet Muhammad were Muslims, Suffah Foundation, pp. 11–28
- ^ a b Holmes Katz, Marion (2007). The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam. Routledge. p. 126-128. ISBN 978-1-1359-8394-9.
- ^ Rida, Rashid. "2:62". . pp. 278–281. Archived from the original on 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
- ^ Dr. `Inayatullah Iblagh al-Afghanistani, Refuting the Claim that Imam Abu Hanifa was of the opinion that the Prophet's Parents were Kafirs, Masud
- ^ Rubin, Uri (1975). "Pre-Existence and Light—Aspects of the Concept of Nur Muhammad". Israel Oriental Studies. 5: 75–88.