Hashim ibn Abd Manaf
Hashim ibn Abd al-Manaf () (died ca.
497) was the great-grandfather of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad and
Ali ibn Abi Talib (the first
Shia Imam and fourth
Sunni Caliph). He also was the originator of the
Banu Hashim clan of the distinguished
Quraish tribe in
Mecca.
His real name was
Amr which means
ruler/
commander, but he was given the nickname
Hashim which translates as
pulverizer in Arabic - because he initiated the practice of providing crumbled
bread in
broth for the
pilgrims to the
Kaaba in
Mecca. According to tradition, he was a descendant of
Ishmael and thus
Ibrahim. He married
Salma bint Amr, a woman of
Madina. He is said to have died while doing business in
Gaza,
Palestine in
497. His grave is preserved, and Gaza is also called
Ghazzah Hashim or Hashim's Gaza.
He is credited with initiating
trade caravans of the Quraish after obtaining an edict from the
Byzantine emperor, exempting Quraish from duties or taxes when operating in the countries under his domain. He obtained the same concession from the emperor of
Ethiopia. Thus, the Quraish engaged in trade in
Yemen,
Syria and
Ankara which allowed them to flurish economically.
His father was
Abd al-Manaf ibn Qusai and he had two brothers we are aware of, the elder
Abd Shams ibn al-Manaf and a younger brother
Muttalib ibn Abd al-Manaf who would become his successor. According to
Ibn Hisham, his sons are:
*
Asad ibn Hashim (Ali's maternal grandfather)
*Abu Saifi ibn Hashim
*Nadla ibn Hashim
*
Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim (Muhammad's paternal grandfather)
and his daughters are:
*Ash-Shifa bint Hashim
*Khalida bint Hashim
*Da'ifa bint Hashim
*Ruqayyah bint Hashim
*Jannah bint Hashim
He is believed to be a
Hanif by
Shia Muslims.
*
Gerald de Gaury,
Rulers of Mecca*
Sahaba*http://al-islam.org/restatement/4.htm
