Critical Lives: Muhammad

Introduction

Michael Hart, in The One Hundred Most Influential People, a look at the lives and achievements of the greatest men and women who ever lived, considers their historical contributions, the value of their work, and the lasting effects their actions had on succeeding generations. For the top position in his book, he passed over such religious luminaries as Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Lao Tzu. Distinguished people such as Albert Einstein, Alexander the Great, Christopher Columbus, Caesar, and Madame Curie were also left out of the top slot. Instead, Hart chose an illiterate man from a desert town as the most influential person who ever lived: a man named Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah, the principle architect of a religion known as Islam. Why did he choose him and how has this one man made such an indelible mark on the history of our world?

Much more than a religious figure, Muhammad was the catalyst for a revolution in politics, economics, law, and civilization. From this one man’s effort arose dynasties, empires, legal traditions, liturgical rituals, art forms, and an enduring civilization that now claims over a billion adherents. Moreover, the religion of Islam, taught by Muhammad in the seventh century, is currently the fastest-growing religion in the world and in the West. But what do we really know about the man whose life work has so influenced our world? Beyond the myths, legends, and popular notions, what can we discover about the man who claimed to get messages from God?

This question has taken on a more serious dimension in recent times, given the need for East and West to understand each other’s values, cultures, and histories. The interdependence of our world demands it. Indeed, recent efforts to accommodate diversity have sometimes brought strain and conflict, often due more to misperceptions and misunderstandings than to true, irreconcilable differences. One need look no further than at how Muhammad has been traditionally viewed and maligned in Western popular culture. As the West discovers or rediscovers the world of Islam, how to correctly assess the founder of Islamic civilization becomes central.

Muhammad was born in seventh-century Arabia. It was a lawless land of warring tribes, exotic oases, and scurrilous merchant towns that depended on the steady traffic of the caravans that crisscrossed the landscape pursuing trade opportunities. The Island of the Arabs, as this peninsula was known, was largely untouched and ungoverned by any of the great powers surrounding it. While the influences of Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism permeated religious life in a few locales, by and large the people were animists and idolaters. Literacy and schools were unheard of. People lived and died as members of tribes and tried their best to eke out a living through trade, herding, raiding, or handiwork. Slaves were considered less than human and women were the property of their husbands or male relatives.

Although Muhammad was born of a noble family in the city of Mecca, his upbringing was atypical of most children of the time. Orphaned while still a baby, he was sent to live with a nomadic desert tribe and did not return to city life until he was five. He never fit in with local urban society, and was often asked to tend sheep in the rocky hills above the city. This gave him time to develop a mental acuity that would serve him well in the challenges and opportunities he faced in his young adult life. He also became something of a budding social critic, decrying the excesses and cruelty of everyday life in a place bereft of laws, let alone law enforcement. Although he eventually settled into marriage and became a family man, his frequent thoughts on the problems in his society led him to withdraw from it.

When he turned forty years old, he had a religious experience in which he felt the message of God had been delivered to him. Ironically, his humble nature, embedded through many years of emotional loss and solitary work, served him well as his new beliefs led him to take on the role of missionary. His people, their ancient customs threatened, began a period of intense persecution of Muhammad and his few followers, leading to their great migration to another, more secure city. Although intense struggles characterized the rest of his life, he drew upon a well of inner strength and conviction that carried him through to final victory: the conversion of all Arabia to Islam.

His teachings, as contained in the Qur’an (Koran) and the Sunnah (oral traditions) form the basis of all aspects of Islam. It is impossible to understand this great religion or its adherents without taking a good look at how Muhammad’s life unfolded both before and after his mission. Regardless of whether one agrees with the applicability of Islam in politics or society, Muhammad did transform the warring Arab tribes into a new kind of civilization, one based on faith in God and the essential brotherhood of all people. This is the message that Muslims carry with them to this very day, and it drives the core of their conception of the just and perfect society.

In this book you will see both sides of this man. You will see him in his daily life as a husband, father, and a friend as well as in his more public capacity as a guide, teacher, prophet, lawgiver, and judge. For a man whose footsteps have long ago been covered by the sand, Muhammad and his message are still influencing geopolitics and the spiritual sensibilities of millions around the world. His importance will be made clearer as you come to know what he stood for and how he achieved his goals. You may find that your previous assumptions about his life, work, and teachings are challenged.

Part One

Muhammad’s Early Life and Roots

Chapter 1

Arabia Before Islam

My Lord, I have brought some of my descendants to live in a valley where no farming is possible so they may dwell near Your sacred shrine. Let them establish prayer. Fill the hearts of nearby communities with love towards them and provide them with fruits so they may be thankful.

—Abraham commenting on the founding of Mecca (Qur’an 14:37)

Jutting out from southwestern Asia like a rough-hewn leftover from the great tectonic migrations of the past, the Arabian Peninsula sits astride many different worlds—although, as we shall see, it belongs to none but its own. The only land route out of the territory lies in Palestine and Syria to the north, which the Arabs considered the gateway to the Mediterranean and Europe beyond. To the east, a short passage by ship opens up the fabled Indian subcontinent and China. Across the Red Sea to the west the fabulous realms of Africa beckon the would-be explorer to come hither and prosper. Arabia is at the center of it all, so it’s no surprise that it was long considered the crossroads of the world.

Arabia is also a land of many contrasts. It is a peninsula surrounded by water to the east, west, and south; yet its climate is completely dry, resulting in one continuous zone of desert from north to south. Its major landforms are plateaus, valleys, and plains full of baked rock and shifting dunes. The flora and fauna that can survive are limited to a few hardy species typical of nearly all deserts: scorpions, gnarled desert bushes and trees, small mammals, ants, lizards, snakes, hawks, vultures, and thorny plants, which provide endless annoyance to the humans who pass through.

Though Arabia’s climate and lack of rainfall have little to offer human inhabitants, the economies of many surrounding civilizations, both ancient and modern, have depended on the endless resources that seem to spring forth from its dusty coffers. In ancient times, vast caravans crossed this land, bringing the wares of the East to the West: spices, silk, rare jewels, precious metals, medicines, and other goods that were essential to any cultured civilization. Persistent, small-scale cultivation in the south and west of Arabia also provided frankincense and dates for markets near and abroad. In modern times, oil (the gold that Muhammad predicted would be found under the earth) is shipped all over the world, fueling the industries of many nations. With the blessings of prosperity in a place where you would least expect it, is it any wonder the Romans named this land Arabia Felix, or Fortunate Arabia?

Arabia is a land with much historical significance. Successive waves of invaders, settlers, and would-be nation builders have thrown themselves against its harsh climate and thrived for a time before being inevitably swallowed up by the sands they came to tame. In the southwest, the fabled land of Yemen with its oases and fine ports attracted the attentions of such notable conquerors as Solomon, the Abyssinians, and the Persians. The legendary Queen of Sheba ruled from this country, and the abundance of natural resources here has always provided the rest of Arabia with the raw materials for civilization. The southeast, by contrast, is home to the Rub al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, where harsh sand dunes characterize the utter lack of life.

The Arabian Peninsula is shaped like an irregular rectangle. Its northern border runs from the Sinai Peninsula to the Tigris River and on into the Persian Gulf, which runs along its eastern edge southward to the tip of Oman. The Indian Ocean lies directly south, while the Gulf of Aden marks the entry to the western Red Sea, which completes the circuit back up to the Sinai. There is no river in the whole landmass nor is there a dependable rainy season. Only Yemen in the south is blessed with seasonal streams and measurable rainfall.

Map of Arabia.

Northern Arabia, whose border with Palestine and Syria has always been ill defined, is just as dry as the other quarters of this vast land. It also has had the dubious honor of being fought over from the time of the world’s first empires to the present day. This region seems to change hands at least once every century. The Egyptians, Hittites, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Israelites, Babylonians, Romans, Persians, Turks, and even Europeans have all made their mark on the land and its inhabitants. The ruins of several ancient civilizations dot the landscape, and a few are even mentioned in Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an. No matter who the foreign occupiers have been, however, local chieftains with absolute authority over their semi-nomadic tribes have contributed to the mix of wars, alliances, and rebellions that characterize the region’s history.

The eastern coast of the peninsula, from the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers down through the Persian Gulf region into Oman, has always been a natural port of entry for ships sailing in from India and Southeast Asia. The main trade route on this side of Arabia took merchants into Syria via the Tigris and Euphrates region. Due to the political climate of those fertile river deltas, caravan traffic was often taxed excessively by the powers that existed. A second, more economical route that brought shipping traffic around the tip of Oman and into Yemen became the preferred choice of many international traders in ancient days. Ships offloaded their goods in the Yemeni capital of Sana and had their wares strapped onto the backs of camels (the ships of the desert), which could travel for weeks without water.

From there caravans entered the Arabian desert, following well-marked trails through the territories of tribal chieftains who charged lower tribute and offered some semblance of protection. The typical caravan of twenty to over one thousand animals and dozens of merchants would wend its way northward and either take the more dangerous coastal road, which hugged the edge of the Red Sea, or make its way toward the friendly merchant-ruled cities of the central Hijaz. Cities such as Mecca, Yathrib, and Ta’if provided welcome safety in a dangerous land, as well as the chance to mix and trade with merchants from all over the world.

The Hijaz Region, as it is called, is a slim band of territory hugging the western edge of Arabia. It runs from the south to the north where there is just enough annual rainfall to sustain a fragile yet permanent human presence. Whereas most of the rest of Arabia is inhospitable and is the province of wandering nomads, permanent habitations have existed in the Hijaz for over three thousand years. Due to its mercantile settlements and its inaccessibility to most foreign invaders, this region has often been called the incubator of the Arab people. All along the caravan routes at strategic places near water sources, small towns and even religious shrines have developed.

The course of the caravan was not a matter of free choice, but of established custom. In the vast steppes of sandy desert which the caravans had to cross, nature had sparingly allotted to the traveler a few scattered places of rest where, under the shade of palm trees and beside cool fountains, the merchant and his beast of burden might refresh themselves. Such places of repose became entrepots of commerce and, not infrequently, sites of temples and sanctuaries under the protection of which the merchant pursued his trade and to which the pilgrim resorted.

—Heeren’s Researches: Africa, Vol. 1, page 23

Despite having the good fortune of being a major crossroads for international trade, the Isle of the Arabs, as the Arabian Peninsula was nicknamed, was by no means a pleasant place to live. Beyond the harshness of desert conditions, the lack of easily cultivable land meant that food and water supplies were always scarce—and hence worth fighting over. Sheep, camels, and goats were herded in certain regions, but only on a limited scale due to the scarcity of pasturage. The lack of water permitted few settlements, communities, or other trappings of civilization. No king ruled over Arabia, and none could have tamed the wandering nomads, called Bedouins, whose free spirit was legendary even in Roman times.

By the seventh century of the European calendar, (the century that would produce Islam), Arabia’s political culture consisted primarily of tribes, related clans that banded together to defend their meager resources or to steal from those foolish enough to let their guard down. Each tribe consisted of anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of members, all of whom traced their ancestry back to a common progenitor. Members of the tribe could expect to be protected or avenged if they were harmed. Tribal dictates and longstanding custom were the only law, and this law was enforced according to the whims of the elders, or shaykhs, who ruled each tribe. One’s tribe was one’s nation, and wars, raids, and barbarism were a part of everyday life. Although the cities and towns of the Hijaz were relatively safer, vast tribal networks throughout the mountains, plains, and dunes were in an almost constant state of warfare. Vulnerable travelers were often attacked and robbed or enslaved. Captured enemies were usually ransomed or even tortured to death.

Oral history, the poetry and prose of tribal storytellers, helped to preserve each tribe’s identity. Traveling bards would recite the tales of their tribe and their brave forefathers. Cities such as Mecca held public poetry forums where different poets tried to outdo each other with zealous retellings of their tribes’ past glories. Although a rudimentary Arabic alphabet existed and a few people could read, the vast majority of Arabs were illiterate, relying upon their memories and tongues for a vast store of legends, shared history, and news.

Many elements of Arabian society were admirable. Bravery and courage in battle brought fame to one’s tribe. Custom dictated that guests of the tribe should be treated with the utmost deference and honor. Generosity towards strangers was a peculiar virtue in a land where strangers were usually unsafe. Many tales of such notables as Hatim Tai, the generous chieftain who outwitted a jealous rival, and Sayf bin Dhi Yazan, the southern Arabian prince who had many fabled adventures (see Chapter 3, Muhammad: Merchant of Mecca), traveled through the desert towns and oases, although the attributes of justice and wisdom attributed to these leaders weren’t always evident in everyday life.

Tribal customs had a nightmarish side as well. Muhammad labeled the time before the coming of Islam Jahiliyya, the Days of Ignorance, and rightly so. Arab human rights were quite backward, even for the time. Women had precious few rights. A woman became the property of a man upon marriage, and no woman could refuse a match made by her father. Spousal abuse was rampant, with no recourse to any quarter for help. Upon the death of her husband, a woman could be inherited by her son and made her son’s wife. Female infanticide in which newborn baby girls were buried alive in the sand was quite common in a society that considered surplus females a burden. Women had no divorce or well-defined inheritance rights and certainly no political voice. A man could divorce without reason and leave a woman penniless, and there was no limit to the number of wives a man could have, nor rules for how each should be treated. Slaves fared even worse in that they had no legal or even tribal protections. Slaves could be bought, sold, abused, overworked, and even killed according to the whim of their owners. Members of other tribes were often kidnapped and sold into bondage. Orphans were routinely swindled out of their inheritances and treated as pariahs. Arabian life was harsh.

Idolatry was the prevailing religion among the Arab tribes. The majority of the people in the Arabian Peninsula worshipped statues and other man-made idols that represented animal gods, objects found in nature, or gods dedicated to luck, bravery, or good fortune. Besides the major gods of each tribe, every household had its own idols and shrines. People commonly consulted soothsayers and fortune-tellers in much the same way people pay psychics and astrologers today. Oaths and curses were taken seriously, and protective amulets were often worn to ward off the evil eye or the countless ghouls, known as jinn, which were thought to roam the desert at night.

A story told by the companions of Muhammad illustrates the nature of idolatry among the Arabs of the pre-Islamic age. A poor man who had no idol of his own carved a face in a date in the morning and proceeded to worship his new god. By the late afternoon, with hunger pangs coming upon him, he decided to eat his god and thus went in search of a new idol.

Although a few isolated Jewish and partially Christianized tribes were scattered throughout Arabia, their influence was negligible and they did not try to secure converts. There were no large dedicated church structures or permanent synagogues, for Jews and Christians were part of the shifting society they lived in, like the dunes themselves. In most cases, these tribes followed the same customs as the rest of Arabia. The only exceptions were in Yemen and a territory just north of it known as Najran; however, their example illustrates just how far from the ideals of Moses and Jesus these communities were.

In the sixth century, the Yemeni king, Dhu Nuwas, from the prevailing tribe of Himyar, converted to Judaism after becoming disenchanted with his people’s form of idolatry. He built a synagogue and was instructed by Jewish migrants who had settled in his land. At the same time, a pious Christian from Byzantium by the name of Qaymiyun converted the Arabs of Najran to Christianity through his virtue and persistent teaching. Dhu Nuwas, alarmed by the expanding influence of this rival religion, assembled an army and marched on Najran. He executed anyone who would not convert to Judaism and returned to Yemen satisfied that he had crushed this rival religion. Survivors of this massacre appealed to the Byzantine emperor, Justinian, who called upon his allies in Africa, the Abyssinians, to take action. The Negus of this Christian African kingdom sent an army to conquer Yemen and soon the whole southern tip of Arabia came under Christian sway. However, the Abyssinian governors were soon despised by the local people due to their tyrannical despotism and harsh rule. One Abyssinian general, Abrahah, even marched an army to Mecca to destroy the Ka‘bah, a story that is recounted in detail in the next chapter. Yemeni dissidents eventually appealed to the Persians to invade and rule their nation instead. The Persians successfully occupied Yemen and would rule until the triumph of Islam in the rest of Arabia. The Persians were, ironically, idolaters.

The city of Mecca, centrally located along the great caravan route in the Hijaz, was the focal point of Arab religion with a mystique rooted in ancient times. For the Arabs, Mecca was where their common ancestor, Ishmael, lived. Oral history recounts how Abraham brought his wife Hagar and their young son, Ishmael, to the then-barren valley of Becca (or Baca) and left them there on God’s orders. After Hagar and Ishmael frantically searched for water, an angel caused a bubbling spring to flow, providing them with a resource to trade with passing groups for foodstuffs. This spring is the famed Well of Zamzam. In time, wandering nomads of the Banu Jurham tribe settled in the valley, respecting the claim of Hagar to the well.

Abraham returned from Palestine some years later to find his family not only alive and well but the masters of a profitable water-selling operation. In thanks he prayed to God to bless the valley and all its inhabitants. While there he received the curious commandment from God to sacrifice his son. Abraham was distraught and asked his son’s opinion. Ishmael told his father, Do as you have been commanded. Accordingly, Abraham took his beloved first-born son into the desert and prepared to sacrifice him. An angel stopped him just before he struck and told him that he had already proved that he would give up everything for God, so he needn’t go through with the act; a ram caught in a nearby bush would suffice. (This story obviously parallels the biblical account, but differs in which son was involved.) In thanks, Abraham built a large shrine near his family’s well. He dedicated the valley to the worship of the one true God and asked his Lord to bless it and make it a place for all humanity to gather for prayer and pilgrimage. The Bible mentions the great valley of Becca and the pilgrimage in the book of Psalms:

O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. (Psalm 84:4-6)

The original shrine of Abraham has been rebuilt many times over the millennia. It eventually took the form of a large, stone, cube-shaped building. It stands about two stories high and measures about thirty feet across both ways. Its four corners are aligned with the four points of the compass, and a black meteorite, said to have been a part of Abraham’s original construction, is situated in the eastern corner. This building is the Ka‘bah, or Cube.

In time, a permanent settlement arose at this spot, and the valley of Becca became known as the city of Mecca. Tragically, with the passage of many generations, Abraham’s original goal for the city to be a center of monotheism dissipated. Idolatry crept into the lives of the people who lived in and around Mecca, even as they still believed in the supreme God, known in the Arabic language as Allah (the God). In other words, all the Arabs knew that there was one all-powerful God, but they believed that Allah was a remote god, unconcerned with the affairs of men. So idols of lesser gods filled the void and were the objects of daily veneration and supplication. Angels existed for the Arabs as well, but they were merely God’s daughters.

What of the Ka‘bah? How did the Arabs employ it and what was its significance in their religious life? While retaining the sense that it was dedicated to the supreme being by Abraham and that people should make a pilgrimage to it, the Arabs gradually modified its purpose into something quite different: a home for their gods. Every tribe vied for the honor of keeping their most prized idols inside the building, which became a sort of gathering place of the gods. (By Muhammad’s time, 360 such idols were inside the Ka‘bah.) Once a year a seasonal truce was called between all the tribes of the desert so that religious people from every corner of Arabia could make a pilgrimage to Mecca to worship their idols and buy and sell in the markets. Rituals consisted of sacrificing animals, walking in circles around the Ka‘bah (oftentimes naked), and public displays of adoration for the idols in and around the courtyard. This yearly pilgrimage added another dimension to Mecca’s local economy, which relied solely on trade during the rest of the year. Food, lodging, local taxes levied by the merchant council that ruled the city, and donations by the desert tribes for the upkeep of their idols swelled the city treasury. Idolatry became big business.

Mecca was a collection of neighborhoods, each belonging to a different tribe. The most numerous and therefore dominant tribe was the Quraysh, who claimed direct descent from Ishmael and held the office of Keeper of the Ka‘bah, a post which signified their right to rule. Legend says that Ishmael married a woman of the Banu Jurham tribe and had many children. Generations passed and the people of Mecca became lazy and began to disregard their duty to irrigate the valley with the abundant waters of the Well of Zamzam. One concerned man by the name of al-Mudad ibn ‘Amr decided to bury the well to teach the people a lesson, so he removed all the money stored in the Ka‘bah and threw it down the well. Then he covered it over and took his tribe, which contained the descendants of Ishmael, and left the valley. A rival tribe named the Banu Khuza’a moved into the valley and took over the small town that had developed, though the tribe didn’t know the location of the well. This tribe is believed to be the people who introduced the practice of idolatry in Mecca. Hundreds of years later the clans descended from Ishmael began moving back in and around Mecca. One of these was a group known as the Quraysh. Its hero, a man named Qusayy, tricked the leader of the Banu Khuza’a into giving authority over the Ka‘bah to him. Civil war broke out in the city, and the Quraysh succeeded in ousting the Banu Khuza’a from Mecca forever. Qusayy was declared the king of Mecca. He was the fourth great-grandfather of Muhammad.

Under the leadership of Qusayy in the middle of the fifth century, Mecca became an actual city. Prior to his rule, the people who populated the valley built no permanent structures out of a sense of deference for the Ka‘bah. Qusayy, who had been raised in Syria, a land of well-built cities, ordered his tribesmen to build their houses around the Ka‘bah, leaving a large courtyard for religious activities and rituals in the city center.

Before Qusayy died, he divided the important posts of the city among his sons. The main tasks were in feeding and watering the many Arab pilgrims who came to Mecca to worship their gods. Although the location of the Well of Zamzam was still a mystery, there were enough small wells on the outskirts of the city to allow for some backbreaking water delivery service. In turn, the next generation divided the duties further. Hashim, one of Qusayy’s grandsons, was recognized as the most capable at organizing water for the merchants and pilgrims. (Muhammad’s clan name, the Banu Hashim, comes from Hashim.) The Meccan people, under Quraysh rule, took their job as custodians of the Ka‘bah and the idols inside very seriously. Pilgrims and visitors were treated with the utmost hospitality: The livelihood and honor of the city depended on it.

By the seventh century, the world surrounding the Arabian Peninsula had taken on a definite political structure. To the north lay the vast successor empire to the Romans: the Byzantines, who ruled the Mediterranean. The Persians controlled a large swath of territory from present-day Iraq to the borders of India. These were the superpowers of the day, and warfare was constant between the two mighty states. The Hijaz was relatively free of foreign incursions, but the two empires exerted whatever influence they could upon the desert dwellers; although their military might was considerable, neither empire could afford to station troops in such a desolate place. Arabia was a valuable gem, but the world’s mightiest empires could only eye it greedily.

Thus Arabia is a land of paradox: a desert in the midst of an ocean, a treasure house buried in the sand, a rich culture perpetually on the edge of disaster, a province no empire could hold, and a land of history whose origins are rooted in religion. In this land was born the world’s second largest religion, Islam, and its principal spokesman was an illiterate orphan who grew up in a dusty trading town.

Chapter 2

The Child of Tragedy

Didn’t He find you an orphan and care for you? Didn’t He find you lost and show you the way? Didn’t He find you poor and provide for you? Therefore, be kind to the orphan, gentle to the poor, and declare the mercy and blessings of your Lord.

—Qur’an 93:6-11

Within a few years of the death of Qusayy, Mecca had become a major, cosmopolitan trading post on the caravan route that ran along the length of the Hijaz. Prior to its formal establishment, merchants would stop there to fill their depleted water supplies; but now with the building of permanent structures, people from the countryside began to settle in and around the embryonic city. Qusayy was Mecca’s first king, and he would also be its last. The difficulty of marshalling support and effectively controlling a highly mobile population in a desert region meant that Qusayy could not maintain a power base. In addition, he had far too many sons who might have contended for power, potentially sapping the resources of the city beyond what it could bear. Qusayy wisely opted to divide his powers among his sons, and they, in turn, began the tradition of ruling Mecca through a relatively egalitarian council of tribal elders.

‘Abd Manaf, one of Qusayy’s sons, was given the official titles of water-giver to the pilgrims and tithe-taker from the Quraysh, titles that were to be passed down through his family line. ‘Abd Manaf ’s son, Hashim, carried on this office faithfully after his father’s death. Hashim was wealthy and esteemed among his peers. Once, while on his way to Syria for business, Hashim stopped in the northern Arabian city of Yathrib and fell in love with a woman named Salma bint ‘Amr. He married her, and they lived in Mecca for several years. They were eventually blessed with a son, whom they named Shaybah. Hashim died tragically on a trade expedition to Gaza, so Salma and her son returned to her hometown of Yathrib. Shaybah, now considered an orphan by Arab society, had few prospects for a successful life in Arabia, for customs of inheritance often favored brothers or uncles if the deceased’s heirs were minors. Indeed, his life appeared headed nowhere until a generous benefactor appeared.

Hashim’s brother, al-Muttalib, took over the two ceremonial jobs his brother had held. The benefits of being in charge of the water enabled him to live prosperously. His large extended family worked together to ensure that pilgrims and visitors enjoyed the now-famous Meccan hospitality. The family was also able to take a tithe from the other members of the very large Quraysh tribe to cover any expenses. After several years passed, al-Muttalib began to wax nostalgic and decided to honor his deceased brother by bringing his nephew, Shaybah, back to Mecca so that he could have a decent chance to succeed in life—with al-Muttalib’s support, of course. Al-Muttalib went to Yathrib, and Salma agreed that moving to Mecca would be the best option for her son. When al-Muttalib and Shaybah entered the city a few weeks later, the boy happened to be riding ahead of his uncle on a separate camel. People who saw them come into town thought the unknown child was some new slave al-Muttalib had bought, so they called him ‘Abdel Muttalib, the slave of al-Muttalib. Even though al-Muttalib emphasized to his friends that his traveling companion was his brother’s son, people kept using the nickname ‘Abdel Muttalib, and the name Shaybah was soon forgotten.

Al-Muttalib was very generous and supportive to ‘Abdel Muttalib. He secured his rights of inheritance and established him in Mecca with honor. As the years passed, ‘Abdel Muttalib grew wealthy