Qusai Ibn Kilab

Qusai ibn Kilab ibn Murrah (Qusayy or Kusayy) (Arabic: قصي بن كلاب بن مُرة‎; ca. 400 – 480) was the great-grandfather of Shaiba ibn Hashim (Abdul-Mutallib). He was fifth in the line of descent to the Islamic Muhammad, and attained supreme power at Makkah. Qusai is amongst the ancestors of Sahaba and the progenitor of the Quraysh^[1].

1 Background
2 Life in as-Sham
3 Life in Makkah
4 Ancestry
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Background [link]

He was born into the famous Quraysh tribe. His father was Kilab ibn Murrah. After Islamization the tribe claimed that he was a descendant of Ibrahim (Abraham) through his son Isma'il (Ishmael) died when Qusai was an infant. His elder brother Zuhrah ibn Kilab was the progenitor of the Banu Zuhrah clan. After his father's death his mother Fatimah bint Sa'd ibn Sayl married Rabi'ah ibn Haram from the Bani Azra tribe, who took her with him to as-Sham where she gave birth to a son called Darraj.

Life in as-Sham [link]

Qusai grew up knowing no other father than Rabi'ah. When a quarrel broke out between Qusai and some members of the Rabi'ah tribe, they reproached him as they would a foreigner and betrayed the fact that they never regarded him as one of their own. Qusai complained to his mother and related to her the reproach he heard. Her answer was as defiant as it was proud. "O my son," she said, "your descendance is nobler than theirs, you are the son of Kilab ibn Murrah, and your people live in the proximity of the holy house in Makkah." This was the cause of Qusai's departure from as Sham and return to Makkah.

Life in Makkah [link]

His seriousness and wisdom soon won him the respect of the Meccans. When Qusai came of age, Hulail ibn Hubshiyyah the chief of Banu Khuza'a tribe was the trustee and guardian of the Ka'bah. Soon Qusai asked for and married Hubba, daughter of Hulail. He continued to work hard at his trade and acquired much affluence, great respect, and many children. When his father-in-law died after a fierce battle which ended in arbitration , he committed the keys of the Ka'bah to Hubba, wife of Qusai. Hulail preferred Qusai from his own sons as Qusai was outstanding among Arabs of his time and therefore according to Hulail's will, got the trusteeship of the Ka'bah after him.

He therefore bought those of Quraysh who were his nearest of kin and settled them in the Meccan valley besides the Sanctuary - his brother Zuhrah, his uncle Taym ibn Murrah, the son of another uncle Makhzum ibn Yaqaza, and his other cousins Jumah and Sahm who were less close.^[2] These and their posterity where known as Quraysh of Hollow, whereas his more remote kinsmen settled in the ravines of the surrounding hills and in the countryside beyond and where known as Quraysh of the Outskirts.

He ruled as a king and is reputed to have brought great honor and illustriousness to his tribe, due to his wisdom. He reconstructed the Ka'bah from a state of decay, and made the Arab people build their houses around it. He is known to have built the first "town hall" in the Arabian Peninsula a spacious dwelling which was known as the House of Assembly. Leaders of different clans met in this hall to discuss their social, commercial, cultural and political problems. A provident leader, Qusai created laws so that pilgrims who went to Makkah were supplied with food and water, which was paid for by a tax that he persuaded his people to pay. He distributed the responsibilities of looking after the visitors during pilgrimage taking care of Ka'bah, warfare and pacifying amongst myriad tribes living in Makkah.

Qusai had many sons, some of them are Abd ibn Qusai, who had issue, Abd-al-Dar ibn Qusai, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai and Abd-al-Uzza ibn Qusai.^[3]^[4]^[5].

It was a marked characteristic of Qusai's line that in each generation there would be one man who was altogether pre-eminent. Among his four sons Abd Manaf was already honoured in his lifetime. However he preferred his first born, Abd-al-Dar, although he was the least capable of all; and shortly before his death he invested all his rights, powers, and transferred to him the ownership of the House of Assembly^[6].

Ancestry [link]

Adnan (son of Add, son of Send^[7], son of Napyot^[8] son of Ismail, Islamic Prophet^[9]^[10])
- Akk, had issue
- El-Rith
- El-No'man
- El-Dhallâh
- Ma'add
  - Nizar
    - Rabi'a El-Farras, had issue
    - Anmar
    - Mudar
      - Ailân, had issue
      - Ilyâs
        
        Omeir
        
        Amir, had issue
        
        Mudrika
        
        Hodseil, had issue
        
        Khuzayma
        
        Kinâna
        
        El-Nadr
        
        Malik
        
        Fihr or Kuraysh, Founder of the Tribe of the Kurayshites
        
        Muharib, had issue
        
        El-Harith, had issue
        
        Ghalib
        
        Lu'avy
        
        Chozeima, had issue
        
        Amir, had issue
        
        Ka'b
        
        Adi, ancestor of Umar
        
        Husays
        
        Amr and others
        
        Morra or Murrah
        
        Taym, ancestor of Abu Bakr
        
        Yaqaza, had issue
        
        Kilab
        
        Zuhra, had issue
        
        Qusai ibn Kilab ibn Murrah (Qusayy or Kusayy)
        
        Sâma, had issue
        
        Salma
        
        Sa'd
        
        Goschem
        
        Aub
        
        Morra
        
        El-Harith
        
        Wakb
        
        Oquda, ancestor of Hamal
        
        Teim El-Adram, had issue
        
        Jacklod, had issue
        
        Atika
        
        Azib, had issue
        
        Gandala
        
        El-Hârith, had issue
        
        Jacklod, had issue
        
        El-Calt
        
        Abdmenât, had issue
        
        Hodâl
        
        Milkân
        
        Amr
        
        Malik, had issue
        
        Amir
        
        Asad, had issue
        
        El-Haun
    - Iyad, had issue
  - Iyad, ancestors of the Iyadites
  - Anmar
  - Conâça
  - Canaç
  - Heida, had issue
  - Heidân, had issue
- Adi
- Adan
- Amr
- Nabt
- Odd

References [link]

^ Wife of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWAS)
^ Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, Karen Armstrong, Phoenix, 1991, p66
^ https://www.islamonline.net/Arabic/hajj/2001/rihab/remember/article9.SHTML (Arabic)
^ https://web.genealogie.free.fr/Les_Dynasties/Les_Dynasties_musulmanes/Dynastie_de_Mahomet.htm
^ Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, Martin Lings, George Allen & Unwin, 1983, p6
^ Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, Martin Lings, George Allen & Unwin, 1983, p6
^ عن موسى بن يعقوب عن عبد الله بن وهب بن زمعة الزمعي عن عمته عن أم سلمة عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال معد بن عدنان بن أدد بن زند بن يرى بن أعراق الثرى قالت أم سلمة : فزند هو الهميسع واليرى هو نبت ، وأعراق الثرى هو إسماعيل; لأنه ابن ابراهيم ، وإبراهيم لم تأكله النار كما أن النار لا تأكل الثرى
^ Book of Genesis 25:12-16
^ Ishmael, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
^ Azraqi, Akhbar Makkah, vol. 1, pp. 58-66