Did the Maternal Uncles of Muhammad Belong to Yathreb or to Mecca?

Published in April 13, 2018

Written by: Dr. Othman M. Ali

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

 This is a legitimate question that might have popped into the minds of many dear readers on seeing the title of this article: what is the importance of posing this query about if the maternal uncles of Prophet Muhammad belonged to the people of Yathreb or to the Meccans? Of course, this is a good question, but the aim of this article and of the answer to the question of the title, about a historical topic, is something different, as readers will perceive in the next lines.

 Within the preparatory stage of Azharite education, I have been taught during the lessons of the so-called Sirah (i.e., the fake biographies of Muhammad) and in later stages within the Sunnite books of history that Amina Bint Wahb, the mother of Muhammad, died when he was 6 years old on her way within a caravan to visit her brothers, the Bani Al-Najjar tribe, in Yathreb; such books narrate the story that Muhammad, as a child, buried his mother and did not continue the journey to Yathreb and he returned alone to his grandfather, Abdul-Mutalib, in Mecca. Hence, the conclusion here is that the maternal uncles of Muhammad belonged to or resided in Yathreb at the time. Yet, the Quran contradicts this guess and proves that it is wrong and false.  God says in the Quran: "O Prophet! I have permitted to you your wives to whom you have given their dowries, and those you already have, as granted to you by God, and the daughters of your paternal uncle, and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncle, and the daughters of your maternal aunts who immigrated with you..." (33:50). This clearly indicates that the maternal uncles, and indeed all of the maternal relatives, of Muhammad resided in Mecca; they were Meccan people (or among the Meccans) and not among the Yathrebian people; they did not reside in Yathreb when Muhammad was a child; they relocated and moved to Yathreb only within the immigration of Muhammad and the early believers. This is because those who immigrated moved from Mecca to Yathreb to avoid the persecution of the Meccan aggressive polytheists.

 Hence, it is silly to assume that the maternal uncles of Muhammad were originally from Yathreb or residing in it when Muhammad was a child, or else, how come that they have immigrated to it?! The Quran gives those who left Mecca to settle in Yathreb the appellation of "the immigrants", and the appellation given to the Yathreb dwellers, who received and welcomed Muhammad and the immigrants, is "the supporters". Thus, since the Quranic verse 33:50 mentions clearly that the maternal relatives of Muhammad have immigrated to Yathreb, this means that their homeland was Mecca and not Yathreb to which they moved and where they settled later on. This applies equally to the paternal relatives of Muhammad as I infer from the Quranic verse 33:50. I conclude then that Amina Bint Wahb and her relatives resided in Mecca and not in Yathreb when she died; hence, the story of her death during a journey within a caravan heading to Yathreb to visit her brothers, who were Muhammad's paternal uncles, is fake and false. I also conclude that heritage books of traditions contain nothing but lies and falsehoods; their authors were inveterate liars as they have been, all their lives, the enemies of God and of His Book, the Quran, who deliberately made their writings contradict it even in simple events of history. The only Truth in Islam and within history/stories of God's prophets/messengers, including Muhammad, is found only in God's Word: the Quran. Glorified be the Holy Name of God; He says in the Quran: "...And who speaks more truly than God?" (4:87); "...And who is more truthful in speech than God?" (87:122). Finally, I assert here, based on the above conclusions, that the Azharite curricula and heritage books of traditions contain nothing but fabrications that contradict the Quran in all small and big issues and topics. Such curricula and books have nothing to do with Quranism, which is the Only True Islam. Thank you for taking the time to read this article of mine.