Islam

Ali (A.S.)’s genealogy reads thus: Ali son of Abu Talib (A.S.), son of Abdul Mutallib, son of Hashim, son of Abde Munaf, son of Kasa, son of Kalab, son of Murrah, son of Kaab, son of Lavy, son of Galib, son of Fehr, son of Malik, son of Mazr, son of Maad, son of Adnan who was the descendant of Ismail son of Ibrahim the builder of Kaaba. Ismail’s mother was Hajira daughter of Raqueen the king of Egypt . All these souls were reformers, trustees of Kaaba (the house of God) and the rulers and administrators of Mecca . They commanded great respect from their people and were honoured with great titles by their people. Their lives were of sufferings, sacrifices and struggle. It was they who changed the face of mankind. And Ali (A.S.) as their descendent, like Mohammad (S.A.W) (the Prophet) inherited all these qualities and responsibilities from them both. Both Mohammad (S.A.W) and Ali (A.S.) had learned the history of their ancestors from Abu Talib (A.S.), father of Ali (A.S.) and uncle and the only guardian of the Prophet (S.A.W) for about fifty years. They learned from Abu Talib (A.S.) how Kasa had collected all the descendants of Ibrahim and Ismail and made them unite to take the possession of Kaaba and administration of Mecca from Banu Khaza and Banu Bakr who had captured these places by force. Abu Talib (A.S.) must have also told them how the descendants of Ibrahim and Ismail stood under one flag and one leader ‘Kasa’ and vowed to take back the house of God which belonged to them and that they were the only people in the whole of Arabia who were known as Ahle Bayt (a.s.) (members of the household) because they were considered the only guardians of Kaaba. The title Ahle Bayt (a.s.) was very famous in Arabia . It was used only for those people who managed the affairs of Kaaba and looked after the welfare of the pilgrims. The descendants of Ibrahim and Ismail had gained so much confidence in this unity that they began to call themselves Quraish (united) and are proud of that title till today. Kasa then made laws to govern Mecca and manage the affairs of Kaaba. He was the first person to rule Mecca like a ruler and was known as the Sheriff of Mecca. He established Darun Nadwa near Kaaba where the Quraish brought all their problems for solution. They considered this house so lucky that they got married here and took their brides from this place. Even the clothes of brides were cut and stitched here. People of other tribes too respected this place. They assembled here for making war preparations and got their flags decorated here by Kasa himself. Kasa was considered as the supreme head of this house and nobody dared to disobey him. His words were religion for all. Even the slaves were permitted to put their grievances here. All the caravans that passed through Mecca rested here. Kasa had taken upon himself the responsibility of giving food water and shelter to the pilgrims. He had considered this duty so scared that addressing the Quraish he said "You have the honour of being nearer to God as you are the people of His household. The pilgrims are the guest of Allah and are sacred visitors to His house. They deserve more respect and honour than what you give to yourselves. Therefore serve them till they do not part your company and leave your city". The Quraish took his words as command and pledged to abide by his orders. From then on every Quraish took out a portion of his earning and deposited it with Kasa for spending it on pilgrims. From this money Kasa made big leather tanks for storing water as the few wells of Mecca were not sufficient to supply water during the period of Haj. The Haj rites that are performed by all the Muslims today have been framed by Kasa and have been practised by his descendants [Tabaqate Ibne Saad, Vol 1 page 41).Kasa died in 480 A.D.
After the death of Kasa the leadership of Quraish went to his second son Abde Munaf along with the trusteeship of Kaaba and the governorship of Mecca . Abde Munaf continued to manage the affairs of Kaaba like his father Kasa and continued to provide food water and shelter to the pilgrims, and also looked after the administration of Mecca .
After the death of Abde Munaf, Hashim, whose real name was Umar, took the governorship of Mecca as well as the trusteeship of Kaaba. He was one of the six sons of Abde Munaf and was most loved and respected by the Quraish. When famine struck the whole of Arabia it was Hashim who brought camel loads of bread from Syria and distributed them to the hungry people. Because of this unique service he was called Hashim by the Arabs. He reformed and improved the rules and laws framed by Kasa and managed the affairs of Kaaba and Mecca so perfectly that Arabs became prosperous and happy and out of love called him Sayyedul Batha (leader of Mecca) [Ibne Hisham]. It was Hashim who encouraged the Quraish to adopt business as their profession. He organized the poor Hashmis and made them travel to Yemen and Ethiopia and Syria by giving them money and material. Because of this act he was called "Sahabe Ilafe Quraish" (the mover of the caravans of Quraish). Kasa in order to serve the pilgrims in a better way had distributed the work to different tribes and sections of Quraish. Since the work entrusted to the family of Banu Abdud Dar the elder brother of Abde Munaf was not satisfactory Hashim put the matter before his six brothers who suggested the takeover of those jobs from Banu Abdud Dar. But the sons of Banu Abdud Dar refused to part with those services and a dispute arose between them but a settlement was soon arrived at, and some of the duties were exchanged between them, but the bitterness that was created did not wane out from the hearts of Banu Abdud Dar. In Tabaqate Saad the reason for the enmity and jealousy of Banu Abdus Shams with Banu Hashim is given as follows:-
Umayya son of Abdus Shams son of Ibne Munaf, son of Kasa was jealous of Hashim because of his wealth, prosperity and popularity. The selection of Hashim as the leader of Quraish had further added fuel to the fire. Though Umayya himself was equally rich and tried to live in the same styles as of Hashim, but somehow could not receive that respect from the Quraish and challenged him to have a `Munafira’ (comparison of deeds) with him. Hashim in the beginning did not agree, but when the Quraish too insisted, Hashim agreed with a condition that the loser will have to give as penalty 50 black-eyed camels to the winner and will also leave Mecca for ten years. Umayya agreed and the services of a Christian priest from Banu Khaza was taken for arbitration. Umayya lost the Munafira to Hashim and had to give 50 black-eyed camels to Hashim which Hashim sacrificed in the name of Allah and Umayya also had to leave Mecca for ten years. He went away to Syria where he lived for ten years. It was this humiliation and insult which created such hatred in the hearts of Banu Ummayeds that it travelled from Umayya to his son Harb and from Harb to Abu Sufian and from Abu Sufian to his son Muawiyah and Muawiyah to Yazeed who in the year 60 A.H. slaughtered all the family members of the Prophet (S.A.W) at Kerbala keeping them hungry and thirsty for three days. Their hatred had gone so deep that after the assassination of Ali (A.S.), Abu Sufian holding the hand of Husain (A.S.) (Ali (A.S.)’s second son) took him to Jannatul Baqi (the cemetery at Madina) and addressing the deads of Banu Hashim said "If you would have been alive today you would have seen that the caliphate (of the Prophet) and the government (of the Muslim world) have both come to us".
Hashim in his lifetime appointed his elder brother Mutallib as his heir to run the administration of Mecca and Kaaba. After the death of Mutallib, Hashim’s son Abdul Mutallib became the Amir of Mecca and the trustee of Kaaba. It was he who dug Zam Zam (the spring which Allah had created for Ismail when he was dying of thirst on the prayers of his mother Hajira wife of Ibrahim). This spring was closed by Banu Jirham before fleeing Mecca . (Banu Jirham finding the descendants of Ismail weak had captured the whole of Mecca and taken the ownership of Zam Zam and the possession of Kaaba by force and managed its administration [Rauzatul Ahbab]. Though the descendants of Ismail after uniting and gathering strength drove Banu Jirham out of Mecca and took the possession of Mecca and Kaaba they never thought of digging the spring of Zam Zam. As a result nobody knew the exact location of it. When Abdul Mutallib saw that the water collected from all the wells of Mecca was not sufficient for the pilgrims he began to search the site of Zam Zam, but could not locate the exact place. He then prayed to Allah to help him find the exact place. Allah obliged Abdul Mutallib and the exact place was shown to him in his dream. Next day Abdul Mutallib with his son Haaris went to dig the site but was stopped by the Quraish. They said that their gods Asaf and Nahela are stalled there before whom they sacrifice their animals. When Abdul Mutallib showed his readiness to fight with them the Quraish withdrew and Abdul Mutallib and his son Haaris dug out the Zam Zam. (This is the first confrontation between Abdul Mutallib and the Quraish) [Ibne Hasham page 5].
After the death of Umayya his son Herb too behaved the same way with Abdul Mutallib. Abdul Mutallib had ten sons from different wives. They were Haaris, Zubair, Abu Talib, Abdulla, Hamza, Abu Lahab, Gaidaq, Almaqoon, Zarrar and Abbas. Abu Talib and Abdulla were real brothers from the same mother Fatema daughter of Amr of the Makhzoom clan. Abdul Mutallib had taken a vow that if he gets ten sons, and if none dies he will sacrifice one of them as a token of gratification towards the Almighty. When all his sons survived he collected them and told them about his vow. Every son offered himself for the sacrifice and it became difficult for Abdul Mutallib to select one [Tabaqat Vol 1 page 53]. He then drew a lot and the name of Abdulla father of Mohammad (S.A.W) (the Prophet (S.A.W)) appeared. Abdul Mutallib took Abdulla to the sacrificing site and with him the ladies of Banu Hashim went weeping. One of the sisters of Abdulla then suggested to draw another lot between Abdulla and the sacrifice of some camels (as they were not prepared to lose their brother Abdulla). Abdul Mutallib agreed to this proposal. He drew another lot in which the sacrifice of the camels appeared. Abdulla was saved and the camels were sacrificed.