Post 21 July 2024, Khurheeid Ahmed post translated by Mohammad Seemab Zaman

We all know that the Prophet Ibrahim had two sons, the older son’s name was Ismail and the younger one was Ishaq. Ishaq’s son was Yaqub, and Yaqub other name was Israel. Yaqub had twelve children and the12 tribes came into existence from his twelve children.

*How may children Ismail had is not mentioned in the Quran. But according to the Torah, Ismail also had twelve sons and 12 Arab tribes came into existence from his 12 sons.

With the passage of time, one of Ismail’s children was named Adnan. Adnan was very dignified person and became a very famous leader in Makkah. After him all the tribes that came into existence from Ismail’s clan came to be known as “Adnani” tribes instead of Ismaili tribes.

*Today there are two types of tribes in Arabs, one is Adnani and other Qahtani. Adnani tribe is related to Ismail and the Qahtanis are those Arabs who are not the descendants of Ismail. The Ansars in Madinah were Qahtanis.

Among these Adnani tribes, one tribe became very famous and was named Banu Kinanah. One branch of Kinana’s clan was called Quraysh tribe. Islam’s Prophet Muhammad ﷺ belonged to the Quraysh tribe.

*The people of the Quraysh tribe used to live in Makkah but they spread to other areas of Arabia due to growth of their population.

Later on, a person named Qaysi قصی became leader of the Quraysh in Makkah and he tried to bring back the people of the Quraysh tribe who had dispersed from Makkah to other areas. To a great extent, he was successful in his efforts to bring back the Qureysh to Makkah.

When Qaysi was about to die, he divided his responsibilities among his sons. He gave the leadership to one, the keys of the Kaaba to another etc. His eldest son, Abd Munaf got the leadership of the Quraysh and many other important responsibilities in Makkah.

*Abd Munaf had four sons and among them two were twins. The twins were named Hashim and Abd Shams. Our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (570-632 AD), Hazrat Ali (601-661) and Prophet’s uncle Hazrat Abbas (568-652) were all from the lineage of Hashim, hence they are called Banu Hashim or Hashmi.

*Abd Shams’s eldest son name was Umayyah and all his children were called Banu Umayyad. Third Caliph of Islam, Hazrat Usman (576-656), Governor of Syria, Muawiya and Marwan, they all belonged to the Umayyah family of the Qurayshi tribe of Makkah.

#It seems that, a large part of the Muslims’ history revolves around the children of these two twin brothers – Hashim and Abd Shams.

Abbasids Caliphate (750-1258) in Baghdad, Fatimids Caliphate in Egypt, both of them belonged to Banu Hashim’s clan.

Caliph Muawiyah established the Umayyad dynasty in 661AD. Abbasids ousted the Umayyad from power in 750 AD. But, Abd al-Rahman, a young Umayyad prince went to Spain in 775 AD and ruled Spain.

Muawiyah was the one of the first Muslim rulers to send an expedition to capture Constantinople in which Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, distinguished companion of the Prophet died fighting against the Byzantines, and was buried in Constantinople (present day Istanbul).

*The rule of both Abbasids and Umayyad dynasties lasted for about 600 years, which is called the Classical Period of Islamic rule. Ottomans (1299-1922), Safavids (1501-1722), Mughals (1526-1857) are called influential regional and political powers.

*Even today the kings of four countries: Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia and Brunei are Hashimites. In Iran, Hashimites also have greater influence in the society and government till today.

#Note: Khursheeid Ahmad Sahib has written this in his Hindi Post, the wonderful genealogy of Ismail, the father of Semitic Arab race.