The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-ʿAbdullah

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Hāshim

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-ʿAbd Manāf

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Quṣayy

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Murrah & Kilāb

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Ka’b

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Lu’ayy & Ghālib

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Mālik & Fihr

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-An-Naḍr

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Kinānah

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Khuzaymah

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Mudrikah

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Ilyas

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Muḍar

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Nizār

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-Ma’add

The Blessed Tree: The Prophet’s Lineage-‘Adnān

‘Adnān

His name means ‘to reside/establish/set up’ (iqāmah) out of hope that he would be protected because the leaders of mankind and jinn gathered around him awaiting a suitable time to kill him because they knew the last prophet would come from his progeny. The people would say: “If we let this young boy live he will attain the station of men and the one shall come from his loins who will rule over all mankind.” However, God sent guardians to protect him. He followed the pure religion of Abraham, peace be upon him, and was the first to clothe the Ka’bah and it is said that he was the first to place down the markings for perimeters of the Holy Precinct. It is said that he lived in the time of Moses, peace be upon him, and some said Jesus, peace be upon him.

This ends the blessed family tree.  May Allah shower abundant blessings of peace on the Prophet Muhammad and his family. Amin!

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Ma’add

His name means strength, weapon of war or generosity. He was called so because he fought many battles against the Jews of his time and did not return except that he was victorious. He followed the pure religion of Abraham, peace be upon him.

“I heard the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessing be upon him, say: ‘When the progeny of Ma’add b. ‘Adnān reached forty men, they stood against the army camps of Moses, peace be upon him, and plundered them, and so Moses, peace be upon him. cursed them. Then Allāh revealed to him, instructing him not to curse them because from among them the Unlettered Prophet bearing glad tidings, and from among them will be a nation upon whom there will be mercy. They will be pleased with Allāh for even the smallest of what they receive, and He will be pleased with them for the minimal acts that they do, and they will be entered into Paradise by their saying: ‘There is no deity worthy of worship but Allāh.’”[1]

[1] A tradition related by Ṭabarānī

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Nizār[1]

His name means ‘little or rare’. His real name was Khaldān. He was called so because when he was born his father could see the light of the Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, between his eyes. On seeing it, he became overjoyed and held a feast for the poor. When the people came to thank him for the feast, he replied’ “This is little in comparison to the rank of this child.” It was said that he was held highly by the kings and he was very slim. It was said that the word Nizār in Persian means slim. He was called so because the Persian king remarked how slim he was. It is said that he is buried just outside Madīnah in a place called Dhāt al-Jaysh.

[1] Dhāl is an error in pronunciation made by some.

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Muḍar

His name was ‘Amr. He loved to drink sour buttermilk (Māḍir). He was known for his wisdom and was the first to practice the art of singing to the camels on their journeys.[1] One day he fell from his camel and broke his hand and he screamed out: “My hand! My hand!” And the camels all came to him from the grazing ground. It is also related that it was one of his servants that fell and broke his hand. He was well known for his beautiful voice. No one saw him except they loved him.

It is related that the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

لا تسبوا مضر فإنه كان قد أسلم
“Do not insult Muḍar for he accepted Islam.”[2]

[1] This art is encouraged. It is said that if one sings to one’s camel, one can cover a three day journey in one.
[2] A tradition related by Ibn Sa’d

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Ilyas

It was said his name was Ḥabīb. He was called Ilyās because his father had him when he was of a very old age. He was the first to dedicate a sacrifice to the Ka’bah. It was said that the Prophet’s, peace and blessings upon him, answering to the call of Hajj could be heard in his loins. He was also the first to re-erect the station of Abraham after a flood and the Ka’bah was destroyed. He used to speak out against the things his people had changed from the rites of Ishmael and he brought them back to the practice of Ishmael. He passed away on a Thursday and his wife Khandaf was so grief stricken that she refused to remain in the same land where he passed away. She wandered the land until she died. Every Thursday she would sob from sunrise to sunset.

It is related that the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings upon him, said:

لا تسبوا إلياس فإنه كان مؤمنا
“Do not insult Ilyās for he was a believer.”[1]

[1] A tradition mentioned by as-Suhaylī in Rawḍ al-Unuf

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Mudrikah

His name was ‘Amr. He was nicknamed ‘Mudrikah’ because he achieved every honour and pride that his ancestors had been known for. It is related that a rabbit ran in front of his camel and his camel ran off, and so he pursued it and caught up with it.  Thus he was nicknamed Mudrikhah, which means to catch up with something.  His brother ‘Āmir ran in pursuit of the rabbit and killed it and cooked it for him and his brothers, whilst their other brother ‘Umayr  ran in their tent!

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Khuzaymah

The meaning of his name comes from the plant Khazamah or Khazmah which means strength and to rectify something. Others said it comes from Khizām which is the rope in the nose of the animal. He was known as Abū Asad. He lived his life according to the pure religion of Abraham, peace be upon him, according to Ibn ʿAbbās which is related by Ibn Ḥabīb with a reliable chain of narration.

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Kinānah

Means an arrow sheath. He was called so because he was protected and honoured by his people or maybe in hope that he would be one who protects his tribe or because he used to conceal the secrets his people confided in him. He was known as Abū an-Naḍr. He refused to eat alone.  If he found no one to eat with, he would place a rock in front of him and throw food to it, out of his distaste to eat alone. The Arabs would travel far and wide to take from his knowledge and generosity.

إن الله اصطفى كنانة من ولد إسماعيل و اصطفى قريشا من كنانة و اصطفى من قريش بني هاشم و اصطفاني من بني هاشم
“Verily Allāh chose Kinānah from the children of Ishmael, and He chose Quraysh from the children of Kinānah and He chose the children of Hāshim from Quraysh and He chose me from the children of Hashim.”[1]

He used to inform his people that soon would come a time when a prophet by the name of Aḥmad would come and call them to Allah and piety, generosity and good character and so they should follow him and they will increase in honour and glory and that they should not reject him and thus reject the truth.

[1] A tradition of Wāthilah b. al-Asqa’ related by Muslim and at-Tirmidhī

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An-Naḍr

His name was Qays. He was nicknamed Naḍr because of his light complexion and beauty. The word means red gold. He was coined Abū Yakhalud. Imām Shāfi’ī – may Allah have mercy upon him – said that the first to be called Quraysh was Naḍr. It is related that he married his father’s wife after he passed away. However, we can not ascertain that this happened or we can say that it might have not been forbidden in the laws of the Prophets’ before. He had three sons: Mālik, Yakhlud, and aṣ-Ṣalt but only Mālik had children. His mother was Barrah who was not the wife of Kinānah. Some said that Kinānah married her after his father Khuzaymah and she produced an-Naḍr. They explain that this was not seen as something reprehensible because it may have been permissible in their religion as Allāh says:

و لا تنكحوا ما نكح آباؤكم من النساء إلا ما قد سلف(…)
“Do not marry those women who your fathers married except for what has passed…”

The reason for this exception here is so that one would not find fault in the lineage of the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings be upon him. However, this position is weak. In truth, he married her brother’s daughter Barrah who was the mother of Naḍr. Many scholars made the mistake because they bore the same name.

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