Qusayy ibn Kilab: Difference between revisions

'''Qusai ibn Kilab ibn Murrah (Qusayy or Kusayy)''' ({{lang-ar|قصي بن كلاب بن مُرة}}; ca. 400 &ndash; 480) was the great-grandfather of [[Shaiba ibn Hashim]] (Abdul-Mutallib), thus the great-great-great-grandfather of the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]].<ref name="IbnHisham">{{cite book |last=Ibn Hisham|first= |title=The Life of the Prophet Muhammad|year= |volume=1|publisher= |page=181|isbn= }}</ref>

He was born into the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]] tribe. His father was [[Kilab ibn Murrah]]. After Islamization the tribe claimed that he was a descendant of [[Islamic view of Abraham|Ibrahim]] ([[Abraham]]) through his son [[Ishmael#Islamic_view|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|Fatimah bint Sa'd ibn Sayl]] married Rabi'ah ibn Haram from the [[Bani Azra]] tribe, who took her with him to [[Greater Syria|as-Sham]] where she gave birth to a son called Darraj.

==Life in Mecca==

When Qusai came of age, [[Hulail ibn Hubshiyyah]] the chief of [[Banu Khuza'a]] tribe was the trustee and guardian of the [[Kaaba|Ka'bah]]. Soon Qusai asked for and married [[Hubba bint Hulail|Hubba]], daughter of Hulail. When his father-in-law died after a 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 and 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.<ref name="Armstrong">{{cite book |last=Armstrong|first=Karen|title=Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet|year=2001|publisher=Phoenix|page=66|isbn=0946621330}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Lings">{{cite book |last=Lings|first=Martin|title=Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources|year=1983|publisher=[[George Allen & Unwin]]|page=6|isbn=0946621330}}</ref>

He ruled as a king. 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 Mecca 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 Mecca.<ref name="Lings"/>

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]].<ref name="Lings"/>

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.<ref name="Lings"/>

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