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Abd al-Muttalib

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Abd al-Muttalib
Full Name Shayba b. Hāshim b. ʿAbd Manāf
Teknonym Abu l-Harith
Epithet Saqi l-Hajij
Well-known As The grandfather of Prophet Muhammad (s)
Religious Affiliation Monotheist
Lineage Quraysh
Well-known Relatives Prophet Muhammad (s), 'Abd Allah, Abu Talib, 'Abbas, Hamza
Birth 127 before Hijra/500
Place of Birth Yathrib
Place of Residence Yathrib, Mecca
Burial Place Al-Ma'at Cemetery
Era Jahiliyya
Notable roles Head of Quraysh, one of the elites of Mecca




Abd al-Muttalib is from the Quraysh tribe and is the offspring of Hashim, thus related to the Banu Hashim. He descends from Prophet Ibrahim (a). His mother, Salma daughter of Amr, is from the Banu Najjar of Khazraj clan. This family became the companions of the Prophet (s) after he migrated to Medina.[1]

Family tree of the Prophet (s)
400 CE
'Abd al-'Uzza
'Abd Manaf
430 CE
'Abd al-Dar
464 CE
'Abd Shams
'Abd al-Muttalib
497 CE
Khadija (a)
'Abd Allah
b. 545 CE
Abu Talib
Muhammad (s)
b. 571 CE
'Ali (a)
b. 599 CE
Fatima (a)
'Abd Allah
Al-Hasan (a)
b. 625 CE
Al-Husayn (a)
b. 626 CE

Name and Epithet

Abd al-Muttalib's name was Shayba and his epithet was Abu l-Harith.[2] It is said that he was addressed with other names and epithets as well, such as: Amir, Sayyid al-Batha', Saqi l-Hajij, Saqi l-Ghayth, Ghayth al-Wara fi l-'Am al-Judub, Abu l-Sadat al-'Ashara, 'Abd al-Muttalib, Hafir Zamzam,[3] Ibrahim Thani,[4] and Fayyad.

In regards to the epithet Abd al-Muttalib which is most popular, it is said that a couple of years after the death of Hashim, Muttalib (paternal uncle of Abd al-Muttalib) took him from Yathrib to Mecca.[5] When people saw Muttalib entering the city with 'Abd al-Muttalib they thought he was Muttalib's slave, bought from Yathrib. He therefore became known as Abd al-Muttalib and this name stuck.[6]


Abd al-Muttalib's father, Hashim, married with Salma daughter of Amr b. Zayd from the Banu Najjar clan, in one of his trips to Yathrib.[7] Before the birth of his son, he traveled to Gaza in what is nowadays Palestine, died and was buried there.[8] Based on various historians, 'Abd al-Muttalib lived with his mother in Medina for seven years or more,[9] before he went to Mecca with his uncle, Muttalib.[10]

Personality of Abd al-Muttalib

Muttalib inherited his brother's positions and was appointed as chieftain. Sometime later, he died in Yemen, in a land called Radman and the positions he had inherited from his father passed down to 'Abd al-Muttalib, who was his nephew. Abd al-Muttalib became a noble in Mecca as a result of his magnanimity, good management and strategies. He became famous and his superiority became clear. Quraysh acknowledged his nobility as well.[11]


When the hands of gamblers start to tremble (i.e. when the generous start to become stingy) we shall give people so much food that even the birds will eat from what is left.


Al-Ya'qubi cites himself in a narration that quotes the Prophet (s), "God will resurrect my grandfather, 'Abd al-Muttalib, with the looks of the prophets and the awe of the kings."[13]

Army of the Elephant

Main article: Army of the Elephant

According to religious and regional narrations, Abraha's offensive against Mecca, famously known as the Army of the Elephant, was contemporary to 'Abd al-Muttalib. Abraha marched from Yemen to Mecca with an army of elephants to destroy the Ka'ba.[14] Abraha's army pillaged the camels of Quraysh, for which a meeting between 'Abd al-Muttalib and Abraha was organized, where 'Abd al-Muttalib only requested his camels be freed. Abraha said, "I thought you have come to negotiate about the Ka'ba." 'Abd al-Muttalib replied, "I am the master of the camels, and that house (Ka'ba) has a master for itself." He went back to Mecca and told the people to go to the mountains and take their belongings with them.[15] Only a couple of Abraha's men survived and fled the following day, when a giant flock of birds attacked his army.[16]

Digging the Zamzam Well

Main article: Zamzam

According to historical documents of Mecca, prior to Qusay b. Kilab's conquest, who was 'Abd al-Muttalib's grandfather, the Jurhum tribe ruled over Mecca. The oppressiveness of their tribesmen evoked a rise against them by other tribes. In the end, the Khuza'a tribe defeated them. 'Umar b. Harith, the final Jurhum ruler went inside the Ka'ba and hid all the jewelry and valuable presents that had been gifted to the Ka'ba, in the Zamzam Well and filled the well with soil to hide it.

Years later, 'Abd al-Muttalib attempted to find the well. It is said that he found the place of the well in a dream and was given the mission to excavate it. 'Abd al-Muttalib excavated Zamzam, found the jewelry, and spent it for the Ka'ba. Zamzam once again sprang with water.[17]


According to reports Abd al-Muttalib faced disagreement and obstruction by the Quraysh when he decided to excavate the well. He made a pledge that if God gives him ten sons he would sacrifice one of them next to the Ka'ba. God Almighty blessed him with ten sons. He randomly selected one of his sons, and Abd Allah's name came out, but he sacrificed a hundred camels instead.

'Ali Dawani believes this story is not true and was composed by the Umayyads, arguing based on the weak chain of narrators that includes unknown or weak persons, and the fact that child sacrificing was a pagan tradition while 'Abd al-Muttalib was a monotheist. He believes that the Umayyads fabricated this story in order to decrease Imam 'Ali's (a) position through damaging his ancestral nobility.[18]


According to some reports 'Abd al-Muttalib adhered to the religion of Hanif and was not an idol worshiper. Al-Mas'udi, 3rd/9th-10th century historian, talks of disputes about the religion 'Abd al-Muttalib professed and explains that one belief is that neither he nor any of the Prophet's (s) ancestors were idol worshipers.[19] Al-Shaykh al-Saduq narrates from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that the Prophet (s) said to Imam 'Ali (a), "'Abd al-Muttalib never gambled and never worshiped idols and... and he always said, 'I adhere to the religion of my father, Ibrahim.'"[20]

Traditions Established by Abd al-Muttalib


He found a treasure (this could be the treasure he excavated from the Zamzam well) and gave a fifth of it as charity, God says in the Qur'an:

When he excavated Zamzam he named it Siqayat al-hajj (Station for Hajis to drink) and God has said:

Abd al-Muttalib set the blood money for killing a man at one hundred camels, and God also applied this in Islam. The Quraysh did not know how many times they must circumambulate the Ka'ba (do tawaf), 'Abd al-Muttalib set this to seven and God applied these seven circumambulations to Islam as well.[21]


Loyalty to pledges, a hundred camels for blood money, illegalized marriage with maharim, refraining from entering a house from its roof, amputation of a thief's hand, disapproved of killing daughters, Mubahala, prohibition of wine, prohibition of adultery and appointing a punishment for it, lottery, prohibition of circumambulating the Ka'ba naked, respect for guests, supplying Hajj expenses with legitimate money, respect for Haram months, avoid ostentation and hypocrisy.[22]


According to some sources Abd al-Muttalib passed away on Rabi' I 10.[23] It is mostly believed that the Prophet (s) was eight years old when Abd al-Muttalib passed away (45 BH/578 CE)[24] at the age of eighty two, or one hundred and eight, or one hundred and forty.

It is said that before his demise 'Abd al-Muttalib summoned his daughters, "Cry for me and read the elegies you want to read about me, so I can hear what you want to read for me after death before I die." His daughters did so, they mourned and each read their elegies.

Umm Ayman has been quoted saying that the Prophet (s) followed the corpse of 'Abd al-Muttalib in his funeral and cried, until they buried him next to his grandfather, Qusay b. Kilab, in al-Hajun neighborhood.[25]





See Also



