The Descendants of Abraham

The Prophet Abraham, also known as the friend of God, is considered to have been the great grandfather of Prophet Muhammad, 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 a 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 God’s decree and then calling the people to make 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 civilisation 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 the 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 God selected the final Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad the son of ‘Abdullah the son of ‘Abdul Muttalib the son of Hashim, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him.

A closer look at the events; in search of deeper meanings and drawing lessonsBased on the different descendants of today’s Arabs, historians have grouped early

Arabs into three categories:

1) 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.

2) 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.

3) 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. For after Abraham 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.

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!”

Revelation and Rulings particular to this period.

Not one but two great nations were to look back to Abraham as their father – two great nations, that is, two guided powers and so Abraham through his lineage was thus the fountain-head of two prophetic descendants. His praise is made by God in the Qur’an in various places:

Who could have a better deen than someone who submits himself completely to God and is a good-doer, and follows the religion of Abraham, a man of pure natural belief? God took Abraham as an intimate friend.

They say, ‘Be Jews or Christians and you will be guided.’ Say, ‘Rather adopt the religion of Abraham, a man of natural pure belief. He was not one of the idolaters.’

Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian but a man of pure natural belief Haneef – a Muslim. He was not one of the idolaters.