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«MAHDI IS FROM BANI-HASHIM»


The author of «Uqdud-Durar» in the first chapter of his book, narrates from Imam Abul-Hussein Ahmad-ibn-Jafar Manawi and Imam Abu Abdulla Na'eem-ibn-Hamad and these two from Qatada who said:

I asked Sa'eed-ibn-Maseeb: 'Is Mahdi the truth?'
He replied: 'Yes.'

I asked: 'To which tribe does he belong?'
He replied: 'To the Quraish.'

I asked: 'To which clan does he belong?'
He replied: 'To the clan of Bani-Hashim.'

I asked: 'From which of its families?'
He replied: 'From the offspring of Abdul-Muttalib.'

I asked: 'From which one of them?'
He replied: 'From the offspring of Fatemah.'

I asked: 'From which one of her offspring?'
He replied: 'That is enough now.'

The author says: Hashim was the same son of Abd-Munaf who was the son of Qusi, son of Kalab, son of Marra, son of Ka'ab, son of Lui, son of Ghalib, son of Fehr, son of Malik, son of Nazr, son of Kanane.

In Ja'ame-ul-Latif it has come as such: Hashim's name was Amrol Ala and the reason he was called by this name was that during the period of famine he used to provide food and water for his tribe.

In generosity and beneficence he had reached to such high level that he used to provide food to the beasts and birds and slaughter camels for them on top of mountains. Whenever a famine would occur in Mecca, he would feed its people by his own doing and persuaded the rich men of Mecca to donate their wealth to the poor and indigent up to the time when God caused rain to descend. Thereafter, he travelled to Syria, went to Caesar (king) and took from him an order vouching the freedom of Quraish. He also sent Abdul-Muttalib towards Yemen and in this way took a letter of trust from the king of that place. Thereafter he ordained the traders and merchants of Quraish to move out in the winter and summer seasons for the purpose of trading. Thus, they would move towards Syria in summer and proceed for Yemen in winter. As such, from then on their subsistence and means of livelihood got extended through such tradings and by blessings of Hashim, God delivered them from fear of (loss of) life and hunger. ABD-MUNAF was the father of Hashim who was named as the 'moon of the fourteenth night' because of his good-looking face and beneficence. After him, Qusi succeeded him and the post of ruling and giving water to the pilgrims was transfered to him. He was called by the name of Mughaira and his agnomen was Abu Abd-Shams the name of Qusi (father of Abd-Munaf) was Zaid and also Yazid. The reason he was called as (Qusi) was that he along with his mother Fatemah daughter of Sa'ad, left the tribe of Bani-Uzra and started living with his uncles and distanced himself from Mecca. Thus, for this reason he was named as and this word is derived from which means «distant». It also carried the meaning of «gathering» because, when he grew up and returned back to Mecca he gathered the Quraish who had been scattered in the deserts and got them back to Mecca and then expelled the tribe of Khaza'e. Fazl-ibn-Abbass-ibn-Abu Lahab says:

Your father was named as (gathering) because God gathered the tribe of «Fehr» through him.


«MAHDI IS FROM THE PROGENY OF ABDUL-MUT TALIB»

The author of «Eqdud-Durar», in the seventh chapter narrates from the books of a group of traditionists such as Imam Abu Abdulla-ibn-Maaja in his Sunan, Hafez Abul-Qasum Tabarani in his Mu'ajam and Hafez Abu Na'eem Esfahani and others like Anas-ibn-Malik who said: The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.A.) said:-

«We seven, (i.e. Ali, my brother, Hamza, my uncle, Jafar, Hassan, Hussein, Mahdi and myself) the sons of Abdul-Muttalib are the leaders of Paradise.»

The author says: This denotes the subject which had previously been mentioned in the tradition of Qatada narrated from Saad-ibn-Maseeb. In Ja'ame-ul-Latifit is written as such:-

Abdul-Muttalib's name was «Shaibat-ul-Hamd' and sometimes he was also called by the name of Aamer. He was called 'Shaibat-ul-Hamd' because of the appearance of signs of whiteness on his hair. Abul-Haaris was his agnomen since he had a son by the name of Haaris and he was called as Abdul-Muttalib because, when his father Hashim who was living in Mecca was about to die, he told Muttalib, his brother as such: 'Take care of your (servant) in Yathrib.' So from then on he was called as Abdul-Muttalib. Some say that when his uncle Muttalib was taking him to Mecca he had an undeserving appearance. For this reason when Muttalib was asked about his nephew's condition he felt ashamed to say that he was his nephew and instead said: He is my (slave or servant). Later on when they entered Mecca itself and he had put on a decent look Muttalib revealed that he was his nephew. In this way he became famous by the name of Abdul-Muttalib. It is said that he had a pale face and so when he left for Mecca with Muttalib, people were under impression that he was his (slave) and were saying: Muttalib has brought one (slave). As such he became famous by the name of Abdul-Muttalib.

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