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His Lineage—May Allah Bless Him and Grant Him Peace

He has the noblest lineage of anyone on earth. His ancestry reaches the very pinnacle of nobility, and even his enemies (1) acknowledged this. Thus, Abū Sufyān, who was then his enemy, testified to it (2) before the Byzantine emperor (3). His people are the noblest of peoples, his tribe the noblest of tribes, and his clan the noblest of clans.

He is Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hāshim ibn ‘Abd Manāf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilāb ibn Murrah ibn Ka‘b ibn Lu’ayy ibn Ghālib ibn Fihr ibn Mālik ibn al-Nadr ibn Kinānah ibn Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah ibn Ilyās ibn Mudar ibn Nizār ibn Ma‘add ibn ‘Adnān.

His lineage up to this point is known to be authentic and is unanimously accepted by genealogists, with no disagreement whatsoever. His ancestry beyond ‘Adnān, however, is disputed. They do not disagree that ‘Adnān was a descendant of Ishmael.

Ishmael was the son intended for sacrifice, according to the correct view held by the scholars among the Companions, the Successors, and those who came after them. As for the view that it was Isaac, it is false on more than twenty grounds (4). I heard Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah sanctify his soul—say: “This