Two Kinds of Leadership in Makkah

Now, Jurhum had the political leadership in Makkah. Later on, Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) grew up, and his father came, and they built the Kaʿbah. The religious leadership in Makkah was with Ismāʿīl, and it continued down along the line of his descendants. So Jurhum never had the religious authority over the Kaʿbah; it was always in the hands of the descendants of Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him). But the political leadership was with Jurhum.

Jurhum stayed in Makkah for a very long time — two thousand years. They became corrupt, tyrannical, so Allah (swt) sent against them Khuzāʿah, and Khuzāʿah drove them out of Makkah. This is another tribe that came out of Yemen and settled in the Ḥijāz. They went in and invaded Makkah and drove Jurhum out. Jurhum, before they left, did two things: they filled in the well of Zamzam and erased all of its marks, and they stole the treasures that were inside the Kaʿbah.

Khuzāʿah now became the new leaders of Makkah, while the descendants of Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him), by that time, had already increased in numbers and branched out and spread all over Arabia. But there was one branch that remained in Makkah, and that branch was Quraysh. So Quraysh was one of many different tribes descended from Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him). They are called the descendants of ʿAdnān. So Quraysh were still living in Makkah, but now Makkah was ruled by Khuzāʿah. The leader of Khuzāʿah, one of the leaders, his name was ʿAmr ibn Luḥayy al-Khuzāʿī; his story is taken up later, when the religious background of Arabia is touched on. Here, the lineage of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) remains the thread to follow.

The head of Quraysh, Quṣayy ibn Kilāb, was able to unify Quraysh and lead a revolt against Khuzāʿah, and he was able to drive them out completely from Makkah. So now, finally, a descendant of Ismāʿīl combined the political and religious leadership of Makkah. Not only that, but Quṣayy ibn Kilāb consolidated all of the different aspects of authority in his hands. He controlled al-ḥijābah, the guardianship of the Kaʿbah, which was a very noble thing — so he was the guardian of the Kaʿbah. He controlled al-siqāyah and al-rifādah, which is the provision of water and food to the pilgrims.

This might not seem like a big deal today — so what if he was providing food and drink to the pilgrims? But to them, this was considered such a great honour, to be the one providing for the guests of Allah, that they used to fight over it. What this responsibility entailed is that all of the Arabs who came for pilgrimage would be hosted by the people of Quraysh: they would provide them with food throughout their stay in the season of Ḥajj. So Quṣayy ibn Kilāb was responsible for that. He also had control over al-nadwah, the assembly of Quraysh — it was like their parliament — he held control over that. And he also held control over al-liwāʾ. Al-liwāʾ is the banner of war; in other words, he was the one who had the power to declare war. So these were the authorities that Quṣayy ibn Kilāb had. Basically, he had every authority that existed in Makkah, so he was the absolute ruler of Makkah.