Prophet Muhammad’s Noble Lineage

he pbuh was abul-qasim, muhammad ibn `abdullah ibn `abdul-muttalib ibn hashim ibn `abdi manaf ibn qusayy ibn kilab ibn murrah ibn ka`b ibn lu'ay ibn ghalib ibn fihr ibn malik ibn an-nadhr ibn kinanah ibn khuzaymah ibn mudrikah ibn ilyas ibn mudhar ibn nizar ibn ma`add ibn adnan.  this is the consensus of the scholars, who also agreed that adnan was the descendant of prophet isma`eel (peace be upon him).

his names

jubayr ibn mut`im reported that the messenger of allah pbuh said,

"i have certain names: i am muhammad, i am ahmad, i am al-mahi (the eliminator) through whom allah eliminates disbelief, i am al-hashir (the gatherer) at whose feet people will be gathered, and i am al-`aaqib (the last) after whom will be no other." (al-bukhari and muslim) 

and abu musa al-ash`ari reported: "the messenger of allah pbuh named himself some names. he pbuh said,

 'i am muhammad, ahmad, al-muqaffi (the final), al-hashir (the gatherer), the prophet of repentance and the prophet of mercy." (muslim)

his pure origin

this is something which needs no proof, for he pbuh was the chosen one from bani hashim and from the descendants of quraysh. so he pbuh is the most noble of the arabs in lineage; and he pbuh was from makkah, the most beloved city to allah the almighty, who said:

allah knows best where he places his message. (6:124)

before he accepted islam, abu sufyan admitted the excellent lineage and nobility of the prophet pbuh when he was asked by heraclius about his ancestry. he replied, "he is of high lineage among us." heraclius said, "and that is how messengers are sent among their peoples." (al-bukhari and muslim)

and the prophet pbuh said, "allah, the mighty and majestic chose isma`eel from the sons of ibraheem and chose kinanah from the sons of isma`eel and chose quraysh from the sons of kinanah and chose bani hashim from quraysh and chose me from bani hashim." (muslim)

allah the almighty kept his parents from falling into fornication; thus, he pbuh was born of a valid marriage and not out of wedlock.

he pbuh said,

 "i came out of marriage, not fornication, from [the time of] adam until my father and mother produced me, and i was not at all affected by the promiscuity of the [pre-islamic] days of ignorance."  (at-tabarani – graded as hasan by al-albani)

and he said,

"i came from [the time of] adam through marriage and not fornication." (ibn sa`d – graded as hasan by al-albani)

ibn sa`d and ibn asaakir related that al-kalbi said, "i recorded for the prophet  five hundred mothers, and did not find any promiscuity among them or anything of the practices of the days of ignorance." by "mothers" he meant grandmothers, great grandmothers, etc. from both his father's and mother's side.

a poet said:

from the time of adam the loins and wombs kept protecting his lineage

until he was transferred in pure marriage; no two had met in what was unlawful.

he appeared as a full moon the night of his birth, unblemished by the darkness.

darkness's vanished at his bright lights, for light will not let any darkness remain.

thanks to him who gave us this blessing whose nature is not within an illusion.