A Chosen Family, and the Year of the Elephant

The world was in darkness, waiting for light, and that light was almost here. We are getting closer and closer to the day our beloved Prophet ﷺ was born. But first, let us meet his family, his grandfathers and great-grandfathers, going back many, many years. It is a wonderful thing to see, because every single one of them did something special that helped prepare the way for the greatest grandchild the world would ever know.

The Best Family in the World

Allah chose the very best family for His Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet himself told us about this. He said that Allah chose the tribe of Kinana from the children of Ismail; and from Kinana He chose the Quraysh; and from the Quraysh He chose the family of Banu Hashim; and from Banu Hashim He chose him, Muhammad ﷺ. So he came from the best of the best of the best, and no person on earth has ever had a nobler family.

Now, here is an important little lesson. Having a great family is a nice blessing, and the Arabs honoured it very much. But remember: on the Day of Judgement, Allah will not ask us who our grandfather was. He will look at our own hearts and our own good deeds. A good family is a gift, but it is our own kindness and faith that truly count with Allah.

From the Prophet ﷺ all the way back to a forefather named Adnan, there are exactly twenty grandfathers, and Adnan himself came from the family of Prophet Ismail, the son of Prophet Ibrahim. So the Prophet ﷺ truly came from a family of prophets. Let us meet a few of these special grandfathers.

Grandfathers Who Prepared the Way

The first one to know is Qusayy. He lived about a hundred and seventy years before the Prophet ﷺ was born. Long before his time, the family of Ismail had been pushed out of Makkah by other tribes, and they lived in small camps out in the desert. Qusayy was clever, brave, and well-loved. He gathered his scattered relatives together, brought them back, and made the Quraysh the leaders of Makkah once again.

Qusayy did many good things. He built a special meeting house next to the Ka’bah where the leaders could gather and talk over important matters, a little like a town hall. And best of all, he began the beautiful custom of looking after the pilgrims, the visitors who came to Makkah every year. He made sure they were given food to eat and water to drink. He would stand up and remind his people, “These pilgrims are the guests of Allah; let us honour them!”

Qusayy’s grandson was named Hashim, and this is the “Hashim” in “Banu Hashim,” the Prophet’s own family branch. Hashim was famous for one shining quality: he was incredibly generous. In fact, the name Hashim comes from the way he would crumble bread into broth to feed hungry travellers. It is said he never once ate a meal by himself; he would always call someone to share it with him.

Hashim also had a clever idea that made Makkah rich and safe. He started two great trading journeys each year: one in the summer, travelling north to Syria, and one in the winter, travelling south to Yemen. The caravans would carry goods all the way between these lands, and Makkah sat right in the middle, like a busy shop on the world’s greatest road. Because the people of Makkah lived beside Allah’s holy house, others respected them and left their caravans in peace. Allah speaks about this blessing in the Qur’an, in a short chapter named after the Quraysh. On one of his journeys, Hashim married a kind woman from the city of Yathrib, the city that would one day be called Madinah. (Keep that in your mind; it matters later!) Hashim passed away far from home, in a place called Gaza.

Grandfather Abd al-Muttalib

Hashim’s son was the Prophet’s own grandfather, a very important man named Abd al-Muttalib. His story even begins with a puzzle!

When he was born in Yathrib, he had a little streak of white in his hair, so he was named Shaybah, which means “the one with white hair.” His father Hashim had died, so young Shaybah grew up far away with his mother. Years later, his uncle came looking for him and brought him back to Makkah on his camel. When the people of Makkah saw the uncle arriving with a strange young boy, they guessed, wrongly, that the boy was a servant the uncle had bought. So they called him “Abd al-Muttalib,” which sounds like “the servant of Muttalib.” The nickname stuck for the rest of his life, even after everyone learned he was really Hashim’s noble son! He grew up to become the most respected leader in all of Makkah.

The Lost Well of Zamzam

Now for one of the loveliest parts of the story: a story about water.

Long, long before, when Prophet Ibrahim had left his wife Hajar and their tiny baby Ismail in the empty valley of Makkah, there had been no water at all. Baby Ismail cried and cried with thirst, and brave Hajar ran back and forth between the two little hills of Safa and Marwah, searching for help. Then, by Allah’s mercy, a spring of cool, fresh water bubbled up from the ground right by the baby’s feet. That spring was called Zamzam, and it was the reason people were able to live in Makkah at all.

But over the long years, an old tribe that once lived in Makkah had covered the well of Zamzam and buried it before they were forced to leave, and then everyone forgot exactly where it was! For hundreds of years, the people of Makkah had to fetch water from far away, wishing they could find their lost well again.

Then one night, Abd al-Muttalib had a dream. In the dream, he was shown the exact spot where Zamzam lay hidden. He saw the same dream again and again, until he knew it was a sign from Allah. So he took his son and a shovel and began to dig at that very place, while some people stood around doubting him. He dug and dug, until suddenly, water came bubbling up! He had found the lost well of Zamzam, which still gives water to millions of pilgrims to this very day.

Finding Zamzam gave Abd al-Muttalib great honour. During a disagreement about the well, he made a promise to Allah that one day he would show his thankfulness in a big way. Years later, keeping that promise became a frightening moment: it looked as though he might have to give up his most beloved son, Abdullah. But Allah, in His mercy, made a way out, and Abdullah was saved instead by offering one hundred camels. And who was Abdullah? He would grow up to become the father of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself. So Allah protected him for a very special reason.

The Year of the Elephant

And now we come to the most amazing event of all: a true miracle that happened in the very year the Prophet ﷺ was born. It is so famous that the whole year is named after it: the Year of the Elephant.

Far away in Yemen, there was a powerful Christian governor named Abraha. He was jealous that everyone loved to travel to the Ka’bah in Makkah. So he built a huge, beautiful church, covered in coloured glass, and announced, “Come to my grand church instead!” But the people still loved the Ka’bah, the house of Allah built by Ibrahim. This made Abraha so angry that he decided to march to Makkah and knock the Ka’bah down.

Abraha gathered a mighty army, and, most frightening of all, he brought war elephants, enormous beasts the Arabs had never faced before. The huge elephant at the front was named Mahmud. As the army neared Makkah, Abraha’s soldiers grabbed two hundred camels belonging to Abd al-Muttalib.

So Abd al-Muttalib went to speak with Abraha. Abraha was impressed by this tall, dignified man and expected him to beg for the Ka’bah to be spared. But instead, Abd al-Muttalib simply asked for his camels back! Abraha was surprised and a little insulted. “I came to destroy your holy house,” he said, “and you only talk about your camels?” Abd al-Muttalib gave a wise and beautiful answer: “The camels belong to me, so I ask about them. But the House belongs to Allah, and He will protect His own House.”

Then Abd al-Muttalib and the people of Makkah went up into the mountains, praying to Allah, for the army was far too strong for them to fight. And here is where the miracle happened. When the soldiers tried to make the great elephant Mahmud march toward the Ka’bah, he simply knelt down and would not move. They pushed him and beat him, but he refused. Yet whenever they turned him toward any other direction, he stood up and walked happily. It was as if the elephant himself knew better than to attack the house of Allah!

And then Allah sent something no army could fight. Flocks of small birds appeared in the sky, each carrying tiny stones. They dropped the stones upon Abraha’s soldiers, and the great army was destroyed. Abraha himself did not survive the journey home. Allah had protected His sacred house with nothing but little birds and little stones. This wonderful event is told in the Qur’an, in a short chapter called “The Elephant.”

Now here is the most beautiful secret of all. During that very year, a lady named Amina was expecting a baby. Can you guess who that baby was? It was Prophet Muhammad ﷺ! So while Allah was protecting the Ka’bah from the elephants, the future Prophet was already on his way into the world. It was as if Allah was announcing that something truly great was about to happen.

Everything Was Ready

Look back at this amazing family. Qusayy gave them leadership. Hashim gave them kindness and prosperity. Abd al-Muttalib gave them honour and rediscovered Zamzam. Each grandfather added something good, step by step, until everything was ready for the greatest person of all to arrive.

And notice a gentle little wonder: at the very beginning of this family stood baby Ismail, whom Allah saved long ago; and near the end stood baby Abdullah, whom Allah also saved. Allah was watching over this blessed family from beginning to end.

The world had been made ready. The family had been made ready. And now, at last, the moment we have been waiting for is here. In the next chapter, the birth of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.