63. THE STORY OF ‘ABDUL-MUTTALIB’S VOW TO SACRIFICE ONE OF HIS SONS
Ibn Ishaq said, “According to what is claimed, due to the attitude of Quraish toward his digging of Zamzam, ‘Abdul-Muttalib vowed that if ten sons were born to him and they all survived to reach manhood, he would sacrifice one of them to Allah beside the Ka‘bah. When his sons numbered ten, he knew that Quraish would try to prevent him – and they were Al-Harith, Az-Zubair, Hajl, Dirar, Al-Muqawam, Abu Lahab, Al-‘Abbas, Hamzah, Abu Talib, and ‘Abdullah – he gathered them and informed them of his vow and he called upon them to fulfill it for Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful and they obeyed him, asking him, “What will you do?” He replied, “Each of you will take a divining arrow and then he will write his name on it, then all of you come to me.” They did as he asked and then they came to him and he went with them to the idol, Hubal, which was inside the Ka‘bah. Hubal was near a well inside the Ka‘bah. It was at this well that donations to the Ka‘bah were stored. Beside Hubal there were seven divining arrows, which they used to use to seek judgments when any matter was difficult for them, such as bloodwit, paternity or any other problem. They would go there and cast their arrows and whatever the arrows ordered or forbade, they would fulfill it.
What is meant is that when ‘Abdul-Muttalib came and cast the divining arrows beside Hubal, the arrow on which ‘Abdullah’s name was written came up. He was his youngest son and the most beloved of them to him. But he took ‘Abdullah by the hand and took his knife and approached Isaf and Na’ilah, with the intention of sacrificing his son before them. But Quraish left their assemblies and tried to prevent him, saying, “What do you intend, O, ‘Abdul-Muttalib?” He said, “(I intend to) sacrifice him.” Quraish and his sons – the brothers of ‘Abdullah – said to him, “By Allah, you shall never sacrifice him unless there is some valid reason for it! If you do so, men will continue to come and sacrifice their sons and the people cannot remain upon such a custom.”
The Story of ‘Abdullah’s Giving of His Son, ‘Abdullah in Marriage to Aminah Bint Wahb Az-Zuhriyyah
Ibn Ishaq said, “Then ‘Abdul-Muttalib left, taking his son, ‘Abdullah by the hand and according to what is claimed, he passed by a woman from Banu Asad Ibn ‘Abdul-‘Uzza Ibn Qusayy, whose name was Umm Qannal; she was the sister of Waraqah Ibn Nawfal Ibn Asad Ibn ‘Abdul-‘Uzza Ibn Qusayy and she was beside the Ka‘bah. She looked at his face and she asked, “Where are you going, o, ‘Abdullah?” He said, “With my father.” She said, “You can have the like of the camels that were slaughtered in your stead if you will have intimate relations with me.” But he said, “I am with my father and I cannot disobey him or leave him.” So ‘Abdul-Muttalib departed with him and went to Wahb Ibn ‘Abd Manaf Ibn Zuhrah Ibn Kilab Ibn Murrah Ibn Ka‘b Ibn Lu’ayy Ibn Ghalib Ibn Fihr, who was at that time the leader of Banu Zuhrah, being the oldest of them and the noblest, and he gave ‘Abdullah to his daughter, Aminah Bint Wahb in marriage, who at that time was the head of the women of her tribe. It is claimed that he consummated his marriage to her as soon as he had transferred her to his home and that she became pregnant with the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). Then he left her and went to the woman who had offered herself to him and he said to her, “Why do you not offer to me today what you offered me yesterday?” She said to him, “The light that was with you yesterday has left you and so I have no need of you.” She used to hear from her brother, Waraqah Ibn Nawfal, who had embraced Christianity and read the Scriptures, that there would be a Prophet from this nation and so she desired that he should be born to her. But Allah made him to be from the finest and noblest stock, as Allah, Most High, says, {Allah (SWT) knows best with whom to place His Message.} (Soorah Al-An‘am 6:124)
By Ibn Katheer
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