expeditions to demolish it and to smash those idols, so that nothing remained to rival the Kaʿbah and Allah alone—without partner—was worshipped. The full explanation and details will be given in their proper places, God willing; in Him we place our trust.
The Account of ʿAdnān, Forefather of the Ḥijāz Arabs
(the lineage of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ terminates with him)
(1) There is no dispute that ʿAdnān is a descendant of Ishmael, son of Abraham the Friend of Allah, peace be upon them both. Opinions, however, differ widely over the number of forefathers that separate him from Ishmael.
The highest figure stated is forty ancestors; this is what appears in the writings of the People of the Book, taken from the work of Rakhyā, the scribe of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, as we shall mention.
Others say thirty.
Others say twenty.
Others say fifteen.
Others say ten.
Others say nine.
Others say seven.
It has also been said that the smallest figure is four, on the basis of a report transmitted by Mūsā ibn Yaʿqūb (2) al-Zamʿī—from his aunt, from Umm Salama—who related that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Maʿdd son of ʿAdnān son of Udud son of Zand son of al-Yarā son of Aʿrāq al-Tharā.” (3)
Umm Salama explained: Zand is al-Hamaysaʿ; al-Yarā is Nābit; and Aʿrāq al-Tharā is Ishmael, because he was the son of Abraham, and the fire did not consume Abraham just as fire does not consume the soil.
Al-Dāraqutnī observed: “We know of no one named Zand except in this ḥadīth and Zand ibn al-Jawn (4), the father of the poet Abū Dalāmah.”
The ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim al-Suhaylī (5) and other leading scholars said: “The span between ʿAdnān and the time of Ishmael is far too long for there to be only four, or ten, or even twenty generations between them, for Maʿdd ibn ʿAdnān was twelve years old during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.”
Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭabarī (6) and others have narrated that Allah, exalted be He, revealed (7) to Jeremiah son of Hilkiah: “Go to Nebuchadnezzar and inform him that I have given him authority over the Arabs.” Allah also commanded Jeremiah to take with him Maʿdd ibn ʿAdnān, mounted upon al-Burāq, so that