Establishment in Mecca

For the chapter in the Qur'an, see Quraysh (sura). For other uses, see Quraysh (disambiguation).

The Quraysh (Arabic: قُرَيْش‎, Hejazi pronunciation: [qʊrajʃ]) were a mercantile Arab tribe that historically inhabited and controlled Mecca and its Ka'aba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashemite clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Quraysh staunchly opposed Muhammad, until converting to Islam en masse in c. 630 CE. Afterward, leadership of the Muslim community traditionally passed to a member of the Quraysh, as was the case with the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid caliphs.

Name

Sources differ as to the etymology of Quraysh, with one theory holding that it was the diminutive form of qirsh (shark). The 9th-century genealogist Hisham ibn al-Kalbi asserted that there was no eponymous founder of Quraysh; rather, the name stemmed from taqarrush, an Arabic word meaning "a coming together" or "association". The nisba or surname of the Quraysh is Qurashī, though in the early centuries of the Islamic Ummah, most Qurayshi tribesmen were denoted by their specific clan instead of the tribe. Later, particularly after the 13th century, claimants of Qurayshi descent used the Qurashī surname.

History

The Quraysh's progenitor was Fihr ibn Malik, whose full genealogy, according to traditional Arab sources, was the following: Fihr ibn Mālik ibn al-Naḍr ibn Kināna ibn Khuzayma ibn Mudrika ibn Ilyās ibn Muḍar ibn Nizār ibn Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān. Thus, Fihr belonged to the Kinana tribe and his descent is traced to Adnan, the semi-legendary father of the "northern Arabs". According to the traditional sources, Fihr led the warriors of Kinana and Khuzayma in defense of the Ka'aba, at the time a major pagan sanctuary in Mecca, against tribes from Yemen; however, the sanctuary and the privileges associated with it continued to be in the hands of the Yemeni Khuza'a tribe. The Quraysh gained their name when Qusayy ibn Kilab, a sixth-generation descendant of Fihr ibn Malik, gathered together his kinsmen and took control of the Ka'aba. Prior to this, Fihr's offspring lived in scattered, nomadic groups among their Kinana relatives

Establishment in Mecca

All medieval Muslim sources agree that Qusayy unified Fihr's descendants, and established the Quraysh as the dominant power in Mecca. After conquering Mecca, Qusayy assigned quarters to different Qurayshi clans. Those settled around the Ka'aba were known Quraysh al-Biṭāḥ (Arabic: قُرَيْش ٱلْبِِطَاح‎, lit. 'Quraysh of the Hollow'), and included all of the descendants of Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy and others. The clans settled in the outskirts of the sanctuary were known as Quraysh al-Ẓawāhīr (Arabic: قُرَيْش ٱلظَّوَاهِر‎, lit. 'Quraysh of the Outskirts'). According to historian Ibn Ishaq, Qusayy's younger son, 'Abd Manaf, had grown prominent during his father's lifetime and was chosen by Qusayy to be his successor as the guardian of the Ka'aba. He also gave other responsibilities related to the Ka'aba to his other sons 'Abd al-'Uzza and 'Abd, while ensuring that all decisions by the Quraysh had to be made in the presence of his eldest son 'Abd al-Dar; the latter was also designated ceremonial privileges such as keeper of the Qurayshi war banner and supervisor of water and provisions to the pilgrims visiting the Ka'bah.

According to historian F. E. Peters, Ibn Ishaq's account reveals that Mecca in the time of Qusayy and his immediate offspring was not yet a commercial center; rather, the city's economy was based on pilgrimage to the Ka'bah, and "what pass[ed] for municipal offices [designated by Qusayy] have to do only with military operations and with control of the shrine". During that time, the tribesmen of Quraysh were not traders; instead, they were entrusted with religious services, from which they significantly profited. They also profited from taxes collected from incoming pilgrims. Though Qusayy appeared to be the strongman of Quraysh, he was not officially a king of the tribe, but one of many leading sheikhs (tribal chieftains).

According to historian Gerald R. Hawting, if the traditional sources are to be believed, Qusayy's children, "must have lived in the second half of the fifth century". However, historian W. Montgomery Watt asserts that Qusayy himself likely died in the second half of the 6th century. The issue of succession between Qusayy's natural successor, 'Abd al-Dar, and his chosen successor, 'Abd Manaf, led to the division of Quraysh into two factions; those who backed the 'Abd al-Dar clan, including the clans of Banu Sahm, Banu 'Adi, Banu Makhzum and Banu Jumah, became known as al-Aḥlāf (the Confederates), while those who backed the 'Abd Manaf clan, including the Banu Taym, Banu Asad, Banu Zuhra and Banu al-Harith ibn Fihr, were known as al-Muṭayyabūn (Arabic: ٱلْمُطَيَّبُوْن‎, lit. 'the Perfumed')
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