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Revision as of 00:25, 7 August 2022 by 2604:3d09:6981:61c0:6517:bdb0:8d29:421 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Cousin of the prophet Muhammad and brother of Ali ibn Abi Talib| ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib | |
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| Born | c. 580 Hejaz, Arabia |
| Died | 670 (aged 89–90) or 683 (aged 102–103) Medina, Arabia |
| Other names | Abū Yazīd |
| Known for | Companion and cousin of the prophet Muhammad |
| Spouse | Fatima bint Utba |
| Children | |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | |
| Family | Banu Hashim |
ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib (lit. "Aqil the Son of Abu Talib"; full name Abū Yazīd ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, Template:Lang-ar), c. 580 – 670 or 683, was a cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (c. 570 – 632) and an older brother of Ali (c. 600 – 661) and Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (c. 590 – 629).
ʿAqīl b. Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: عقیل بن أبي طالب) was one of the Prophet's (s) companions (sahaba), Imam Ali's (a) brother, and Muslim's father. He was a great genealogist of Quraysh, and was quick at repartees.
Sahaba Aqil b. Abi Talib Personal Information Full Name 'Aqil b. Abi Talib b. 'Abd al-Muttalib Teknonym Abu Yazid Lineage Banu Hashim Well-Known Relatives The Prophet (s) (cousin), Imam Ali (a) (brother), Abu Talib (Father) Birth 10 years after 'Am al-Fil Muhajir/Ansar Muhajir Place(s) of Residence Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Syria Religious Information Presence at Ghazwas Battle of Muta, Battle of Hunayn Known for Being one of Sahaba, Brother of Imam Ali (a) Biography
'Aqil was a son of Abu Talib b. 'Abd al-Muttalib. According to one of his offspring's names, his kunya was Abu Yazid. Based on reports, he was 20 years older than Imam Ali (a). Therefore, his birth had been 10 years after 'Am al-Fil. He was a genealogist of Quraysh. 'Aqil was quick at repartees and talked back to his interlocutors whoever they were.
'Aqil reluctantly was present in the army of pagans during the Battle of Badr. He became captive in this war and his uncle al-'Abbas paid 4000 dirham as fidya to set him free.
Family tree of the Prophet (s)
Qusay 400 CE
'Abd al-'Uzza
'Abd Manaf
430 CE
'Abd al-Dar
Asad
Muttalib
Hashim
464 CE
Nawfal
'Abd Shams
Khuwaylid
'Abd al-Muttalib
497 CE
Al-'Awwam
Khadija (a)
Hamza
Abd Allah
b. 545 CE
Abu Talib
Al-'Abbas
Al-Zubayr
Muhammad (s) b. 571 CE
'Ali (a) b. 599 CE
'Aqil
Ja'far
Fatima (a)
Muslim
'Abd Allah
Al-Hasan (a)
b. 625 CE
Al-Husayn (a)
b. 626 CE
Becoming Muslim
There are different narrations about the time at which he became Muslim. According to what Ibn Qutayba believes 'Aqil became Muslim right after his freedom. On the basis of Ibn Hajar's statements, he converted to Islam when Muslims conquered Mecca. Yet Ibn Hajar states in the following: Some have said he became Muslim after Hudaybiyya peace treaty was made, and he migrated to Medina at the beginning of 8th year of Hijra.
He took part in the Battle of Muta. According to a narration, he was one of those who did not run away in the Battle of Hunayn.
After the Prophet (s)
To share the government treasure (bayt al-mal) among people, he was invited along with two other people to write down people's names based on their status in 'Umar b. al-Khattab age.
During Imam Ali's (a) Government According to Ibn Abi l-Hadid, 'Aqil went to Iraq, then to Syria, and after that came back to Medina, not having participated in any battles of Imam Ali (a). Even though he told Imam Ali (a) his sons and he were ready to assist him in wars, Imam (a) did not oblige him to take part in the wars.
'Aqil and Requesting for Money from Bayt al-Mal
At the time Imam Ali (a) was governing the Islamic territory and all the Islamic lands treasure was under his control, 'Aqil met him and asked him to pay his debts, stating that he himself was not able to pay them. When Imam Ali (a) learned his debt was 100 thousand dirhams, he said: "I take oath to God that I cannot afford this much now, wait until I receive my salary, then I will help you as much as I can". 'Aqil asked Imam (a) to lend the money from the government treasure, but Imam Ali (a) refused to do so. Imagining it was money, 'Aqil who was blind, touched the cauterizing-iron which Imam Ali (a) had brought near his hand. Imam Ali (a) replied to his protesting reaction by stating: "You are not able to endure the heat of this peace of iron, so how can I tolerate the burning fire of the hell which is the consequence of violating people's right?"
Visiting Mu'awiya
'Aqil visited Mu'awiya for requesting for financial assistance. It is not plain that his visit happened at the time of Imam Ali (a) or after his death.
Some think this visit took place when Imam Ali (a) was alive. Their reason is this narration: Once when 'Aqil was beside Mu'awiya, Mu'awiya said: "If Abu Yazid (Aqil's kunya) had not learned that I am more beneficial to him than his brother, he would not have come to me." 'Aqil replied: "My brother is more blessing to me when it comes to religion, and you are more beneficial when it comes to the mundane life. I have chosen mundane life, and I ask God to bless my destiny and end."
Some others believe his meeting with Mu'awiya was after Imam Ali (a)'s death. This idea is preferred by Ibn Abi l-Hadid. The reason of this side is the letter which 'Aqil wrote at the end of Imam Ali (a)'s government and the answer to this letter.
Biography
Aqil ibn Abi Talib is said to have been born 10 years after his older brother Talib ibn Abi Talib (the first son of Muhammad's paternal uncle and guardian Abu Talib and Fatima bint Asad), and 10 and 20 years before his younger brothers Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and Ali ibn Abi Talib, respectively. After the death of his father Abu Talib in c. 619, Aqil and his older brother Talib inherited Abu Talib's great wealth.
Having initially fought against Muhammad at the Battle of Badr (624), in which he was taken prisoner and later bought free by his uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, he converted to Islam around 629 or 630. He may have participated at the Muslim side in the battles of Mu'tah (629) and Hunayn (630).
After the victory of the Muslims and the death of Muhammad in 632, Aqil lived in the military encampments of Kufa and Basra for a while, supporting his brother Ali (who ruled from Medina as the fourth caliph, 656 – 661). However, later he may have abandoned Ali, as he moved to Syria in order to join the court of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680). According to later tradition, Aqil's change of heart was motivated by the fact that Mu'awiya was more willing than Ali to pay his debts. While he may have given up the Hashimite claims to the caliphate and politically supported the rival claim of the Umayyads instead, he always defended his brother Ali against any criticism leveled against him at Mu'awiya's court.
Aqil was an expert on the genealogy of the Quraysh tribe (the leading tribe of Mecca, to which both the Hashimite and Umayyad families belonged). The second caliph Umar (r. 634–644) appointed him to record the names of the members of the Quraysh in the clan register (the dīwān), and to arbitrate disputes with regard to genealogy.
He was married to Fatima bint Utba, with whom he had several children (the most famous of them being Muslim ibn Aqil). Contrary to their father, a number of his sons decided to fight for the Hashimite cause and were martyred along with their cousin Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680. Aqil himself died in Medina, having become blind, either in 670 or (according to another report) in 683.
Legacy
Multiple prophetic traditions (hadiths) were transmitted on Aqil's authority, and he also figured in hadiths related by others. According to one of those, Muhammad had expressed his twofold love for Aqil: one love for him because of his kinship with him, and another love because Aqil was Abu Talib's favorite son (Muhammad himself had a close relationship with Abu Talib, who had adopted him after his own father Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib had died a few months before his birth).
Aqil was often cited by later writers for his eloquence and his witty rejoinders, addressed both against his wife Fatima bint Utba and against Mu'awiya. He seems to have been a rich man, owning multiple properties both in Mecca and in Medina. One of his properties in Medina, the Dār ʿAqīl (lit. 'the House of Aqil'), appears to have contained a graveyard where a number of notable early Muslims (especially members of the Hashimite family, such as Muhammad's daughter and Ali's wife Fatima) are said to have been buried.
Aqil's descendants through his son Muhammad, known by the name al-ʿAqīlī, were sometimes seen by later generations as members of the Ahl al-Bayt (the extended family of the prophet Muhammad, whom Shiites regarded as eligible for holding the title of caliph), much like the descendants of his brothers Ali (the Alids) and Ja'far (the Ja'farids), as well as the descendants of the three brothers' uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (the Abbasids).
Claims of ancestry by Somali clans
Most notably, the great majority of Somali clans trace their ancestry to Aqil ibn Abi Talib, either through Samaale (the source of the name 'Somali'; purported forefather of the northern pastoralist clans such as the Hawiye, the Dir, and –matrilineally through the Dir– the Isaaq and the Darod), through Sab (the purported forefather of the southern cultivating clans such as the Digil or the Rahanweyn), or through Darod (the purported forefather of the northern Darod clan). Although these genealogical claims are historically untenable, they do reflect the longstanding cultural contacts between Somalia (especially, though not exclusively, its most northern part Somaliland) and Southern Arabia.
References
- ^ Rubin 2009.
- Rubin 2009. This is contested by Madelung 1997, p. 264, according to whom there is no good evidence that Aqil ever supported Mu'awiya against his own brother Ali. Madelung also believes Laura Veccia Vaglieri's opinion that Aqil and Ali were estranged because of political differences to be unfounded.
- Lewis 1961, pp. 11–13; cf. Mukhtar 2003, p. 62. On the division between the Sab and the Samaale, see further Lewis 1988, pp. 6, 14–15.
- Lewis 1994, pp. 102–106, esp. p. 105. Cf. the attempt at a historical reconstruction of Somali clan genealogy by Abbink 2009, which does not even mention any Arab ancestry, but rather starts with Sab and Samaale (see p. 10).
Works cited
- Abbink, G. J. (2009). The Total Somali Clan Genealogy (second edition). Asc Working Paper Series. Vol. 84. Leiden: African Studies Centre. hdl:1887/14007.
- Lewis, Ioan M. (1961). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780852552803.
- Lewis, Ioan M. (1988). A Modern History of Somalia: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa (2nd ed.). Boulder and London: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-7402-2.
- Lewis, Ioan M. (1994). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Lawrencewill, NJ: The Red Sea Press. ISBN 0-932415-93-8.
- Madelung, Wilferd (1997). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56181-7.
- Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. African Historical Dictionary Series. Vol. 87. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810866041.
- Rubin, Uri (2009). "ʿAqīl b. Abī Ṭālib". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23073.