Fihr ibn Mālik is Quraysh; whoever traces his lineage beyond Fihr ibn Mālik is not counted among Quraysh. He then championed this view with firm resolve, defending it and similar opinions, asserting that he (1) was the most knowledgeable of his people’s genealogy and the most reliable preserver of their exploits.
Al-Bukhārī (2) relates—on the authority of Kulayb ibn Wāʾil—who said: I asked the Prophet’s step-daughter, meaning Zaynab, in the course of a ḥadīth he records, “Tell me about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. To which stock did he belong—Muḍar?” She replied, “To whom else could he belong if not Muḍar? He was from the descendants of al-Naḍr ibn Kinānah.” (3)
Al-Ṭabarānī (4) reports: Ibrāhīm ibn Nāʾilah al-Aṣbahānī narrated to us; Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAmr al-Bajalī narrated to us; al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ, from his father, from al-Jufshish (5) al-Kindī, said: A group from Kindah came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “You are one of us,” claiming kinship with him. He replied,
“ We neither attribute ourselves to an unknown mother nor do we disown our father; we are the children of al-Naḍr ibn Kinānah.” (6)(7)
Imām Abū ʿUthmān Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd (8) said: My father narrated to us; al-Kalbī narrated to us, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās (9): A man from Kindah named al-Jufshish came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, we claim that ʿAbd Manāf is one of us.” The Prophet turned away. He repeated the statement; again the Prophet turned away. He said it a third time, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ declared,
“ We are the sons of al-Naḍr ibn Kinānah; we neither attribute ourselves to an unknown mother nor do we repudiate our father.” (10)
Al-Ashʿath then remarked, “Had you remained silent the first time, he would have invalidated their claim through the words of his Prophet ﷺ.” This tradition is also unusual through this chain, and al-Kalbī is weak. Allah knows best. (11)