A Grandfather Named for a Slave

So they named him Shaybah. And because his father had passed away, his mother stayed with her family in Madīnah, and he was brought up there. One day a man came into Madīnah — his name was al-Muṭṭalib, Hāshim's brother. He went into Madīnah to claim his nephew, because Hāshim's son, Shaybah, was living there. So his uncle al-Muṭṭalib came to claim him, when he was eight years old or so. He said: "We want to take him back to his land in Makkah." The mother's side of the family refused to give him up, but al-Muṭṭalib was able to convince them, telling them that the boy belonged to the most noble family in Quraysh, and that he had to go back and learn about his heritage, learn about his family, and start assuming responsibilities in Makkah. Eventually they agreed to let him go, so al-Muṭṭalib took the child into Makkah.

Now, nobody in Makkah had ever seen this child before, and in those days slavery was quite common — you would go out to the market, buy a slave, and just walk in with that slave into Makkah. Since this boy had never been seen in Makkah before, they assumed he was the slave of al-Muṭṭalib, so they called him ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib — and this is the grandfather of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). So his real name was Shaybah, but he was nicknamed ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib because they thought he was the slave of his uncle. And usually they would buy slaves young, so that you could raise them and train them for what you wanted them to do — they would usually purchase them when they were young. So they thought he was a slave, and he was named ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, the slave of al-Muṭṭalib. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib means the slave of al-Muṭṭalib. So this is the grandfather of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

The line of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has now been traced as far as his grandfather: from Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl, through Quṣayy, to Hāshim, and then ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. Two important events happened with ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.