techsamatar
I put Books to the Test of Life
I am CadCad with 3a hair type, so please refrain from categorizing me as Afrocentric or ana-arab. I take pride in my heritage as a noble Somali from the Hawiye clan.
I. Paternal
‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib (d. 578) was the Prophet’s paternal grandfather and, as an Hāshimī Arab, he was (as expected) black-skinned. Muhammad b. ‘Umar Bahriq al-Hadramī, in his book al-Anwār wa matāli’i al-asrār fī sīrat al-Nabī al-Mukhtar, reports: “Concerning ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib…he was [dark] brown (asmar) complexioned.” This dark brown Arab fathered sons with Arab women from clans who were even blacker than his own clan and these sons will be even blacker than he. Al-Jāḥiẓ noted:
Dalham is a very deep black or ‘jet black.’ ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib’s ten dalham sons were: Ḥārith, ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā (Abū Lahab), Abū Ṭālib, al-Zubayr, ‘Abd Allah, Ḥamza, Muqūm, al-‘Abbās, Hijl, and Zarrar. All ten were black Arabs of the Banū Hāshim, including ‘Abd Allah, the Prophet’s father. Yes, the Holy Prophet’s father was a jet black Arab! So too were the Prophet’s uncles and cousins.
Uncles and Cousins
2. ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib and Descendants. More popularly known as Abū Lahab or “Father of the Flame” (d. 624), this was the uncle infamously hostile to the Prophet. He too was dalham “jet black” according to al-Jaḥiẓ and others. According to a report found in the Musnad of Imam Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal (d. 855), Abū Lahab’s appearance was “luminous, with two braids; the most abyaḍ and the most handsome of the people (#16020).” Abyaḍ used here to describe Abū Lahab’s complexion does not mean white or fair-skinned. According to the Classical Arabic linguistic phenomenon called al-addad (“Opposites”), it means “black (aswad) but free of blemish (al-kalaf) and giving off a luminous glow (a-hintī al-lawn).”[8]
This is demonstrated further by the example of Abū Lahab’s great grandson, the seventh century CE Qurayshī poet, al-Faḍl b. al-‘Abbās (d. 714). Al-Faḍl himself and his mother, Amīna, were cousins of the Prophet. Called al-Akhḍar al-Lahabī “The Flaming Black,” Al-Faḍl is well-known for both his blackness and his genealogical purity. He recited these famous words:
4. Abū Ṭālib b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib and Descendants. Abū Ṭālib (d. 619), brother of the Prophet’s father ‘Abd Allāh and stalwart of the Prophet until his death in 619, was dalham or jet black like his brother. Al-Jāḥiẓ confirms further that “those of Abū Ṭālib’s family, who are the most noble (genealogically pure) of men, are black (sūd).” This fact is further confirmed for Abū Ṭālib’s famous son, ‘Alī b. Abū Ṭālib (d. 661), the first cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, and also the father of the Prophet’s only grandsons al-Hasan and al-Husayn. ‘Alī, the fourth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Khulafā’ Rāshidūn) is the central figure of Shiite Islam. For the latter, ‘Alī is considered the first Imam and he and his descendants are considered the legitimate successors of the Prophet. That ‘Alī b. Abū Ṭālib was a black-skinned Arab is pointed out by al-Suyūṭī, who describes him as “husky, bald…pot-bellied, large-bearded…and jet-black (ādam shadīd al-udma).”[14] ‘Alī’s own son, Abū Ja’far Muhammad, according to Ibn Sa’d (d. 845), described ‘Alī thusly: “He was a black-skinned man with big, heavy eyes, pot-bellied, bald, and kind of short.”[15] ‘Alī’s descendents, the sharīfs/sayyids, were similarly described as black-skinned.[16] This ‘family blackness’ of Abū Ṭālib is very significant for our discussion of the appearance of the Prophet because Abū Ṭālib’s son Ja‘far, who is the elder brother of ‘Alī and is known as al-Hāshimī, “The Hāshimite.” Ja’far is “one of Muhammad’s kinsmen who most closely resembled him.”[17] Indeed, Muhammad himself is reported to have said to his black-skinned cousin: “You resemble me both in appearance and character (ashbahta khalqī wa khuluqī).”[18]
Descendants
Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allāh (d. 762), known also as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (“The Pure Soul”), was a pure descendant of the Prophet himself through the latter’s daughter Fāṭimah, wife of ‘Alī b. Abū Ṭālib. Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya “prided himself on being a Qurayshi of pure lineage…[with] a pure descent from the Prophet,”[19]and could boast: “I am at the very center of the Banū Hāshim’s (genealogical) lines. My paternity is purest among them, undiluted with non-Arab blood, and no concubines dispute over me.”[20] What did this pure Arab descendent of the pure Arab Prophet look like? “Muhammad (Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya) is described as tall and strong with very dark skin”.[21] Indeed, al-Dhahabī describes him as “black-skinned and huge.”[22] But it is al-Ṭabarī’s description that is most informative:
I. Paternal
‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib (d. 578) was the Prophet’s paternal grandfather and, as an Hāshimī Arab, he was (as expected) black-skinned. Muhammad b. ‘Umar Bahriq al-Hadramī, in his book al-Anwār wa matāli’i al-asrār fī sīrat al-Nabī al-Mukhtar, reports: “Concerning ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib…he was [dark] brown (asmar) complexioned.” This dark brown Arab fathered sons with Arab women from clans who were even blacker than his own clan and these sons will be even blacker than he. Al-Jāḥiẓ noted:
Dalham is a very deep black or ‘jet black.’ ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib’s ten dalham sons were: Ḥārith, ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā (Abū Lahab), Abū Ṭālib, al-Zubayr, ‘Abd Allah, Ḥamza, Muqūm, al-‘Abbās, Hijl, and Zarrar. All ten were black Arabs of the Banū Hāshim, including ‘Abd Allah, the Prophet’s father. Yes, the Holy Prophet’s father was a jet black Arab! So too were the Prophet’s uncles and cousins.
Uncles and Cousins
1. Hamza b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib. The Prophet’s famous paternal uncle, Hamza (d. 625), famously called “The Lion of God,” was black-skinned. Abū Dā’ūd (d. 819), in his text Musnad al-Tayālisī, reports: “(The Ethiopian slave) Wahsi (b. Harb) said: ‘…I saw Hamza as if he were an awraq (colored) camel…” According to Ibn Manẓūr (s.v.) awraq, from wurqa, means an asmar or (dark) brown complexion.2. ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib and Descendants. More popularly known as Abū Lahab or “Father of the Flame” (d. 624), this was the uncle infamously hostile to the Prophet. He too was dalham “jet black” according to al-Jaḥiẓ and others. According to a report found in the Musnad of Imam Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal (d. 855), Abū Lahab’s appearance was “luminous, with two braids; the most abyaḍ and the most handsome of the people (#16020).” Abyaḍ used here to describe Abū Lahab’s complexion does not mean white or fair-skinned. According to the Classical Arabic linguistic phenomenon called al-addad (“Opposites”), it means “black (aswad) but free of blemish (al-kalaf) and giving off a luminous glow (a-hintī al-lawn).”[8]
This is demonstrated further by the example of Abū Lahab’s great grandson, the seventh century CE Qurayshī poet, al-Faḍl b. al-‘Abbās (d. 714). Al-Faḍl himself and his mother, Amīna, were cousins of the Prophet. Called al-Akhḍar al-Lahabī “The Flaming Black,” Al-Faḍl is well-known for both his blackness and his genealogical purity. He recited these famous words:
3. Al-‘Abbās b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib and Descendants. Al-‘Abbās (d. 652) is the patronym and root of the Banū ‘Abbās, after which the ‘Abbāsid dynasty was named. He was a dalham uncle of the Prophet and fathered an important first cousin of the Prophet also noted for his deep blackness: ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Abbās (d. 687), famed for being Tarjuman al-Qur’an, “THE Interpreter of the Qur’an.” Al-Jāḥiẓ describes him as “very black and tall.” The Syrian scholar and historian al-Dhahabī (d. 1348) too reported that ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Abbās and his son, ‘Alī b. ‘Abd Allāh, were “very dark-skinned.”[12] When al-Dhahabī reports also that ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Abbās “was abyaḍ, imbued with sufra (yellowish black), tall and bulky, handsome,”[13] we know there is no contradiction here. Abyaḍ as a human complexion means “black (aswad) but free of blemish (al-kalaf) and giving off a luminous glow (a-hintī al-lawn).”
4. Abū Ṭālib b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib and Descendants. Abū Ṭālib (d. 619), brother of the Prophet’s father ‘Abd Allāh and stalwart of the Prophet until his death in 619, was dalham or jet black like his brother. Al-Jāḥiẓ confirms further that “those of Abū Ṭālib’s family, who are the most noble (genealogically pure) of men, are black (sūd).” This fact is further confirmed for Abū Ṭālib’s famous son, ‘Alī b. Abū Ṭālib (d. 661), the first cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, and also the father of the Prophet’s only grandsons al-Hasan and al-Husayn. ‘Alī, the fourth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Khulafā’ Rāshidūn) is the central figure of Shiite Islam. For the latter, ‘Alī is considered the first Imam and he and his descendants are considered the legitimate successors of the Prophet. That ‘Alī b. Abū Ṭālib was a black-skinned Arab is pointed out by al-Suyūṭī, who describes him as “husky, bald…pot-bellied, large-bearded…and jet-black (ādam shadīd al-udma).”[14] ‘Alī’s own son, Abū Ja’far Muhammad, according to Ibn Sa’d (d. 845), described ‘Alī thusly: “He was a black-skinned man with big, heavy eyes, pot-bellied, bald, and kind of short.”[15] ‘Alī’s descendents, the sharīfs/sayyids, were similarly described as black-skinned.[16] This ‘family blackness’ of Abū Ṭālib is very significant for our discussion of the appearance of the Prophet because Abū Ṭālib’s son Ja‘far, who is the elder brother of ‘Alī and is known as al-Hāshimī, “The Hāshimite.” Ja’far is “one of Muhammad’s kinsmen who most closely resembled him.”[17] Indeed, Muhammad himself is reported to have said to his black-skinned cousin: “You resemble me both in appearance and character (ashbahta khalqī wa khuluqī).”[18]
Descendants
Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allāh (d. 762), known also as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (“The Pure Soul”), was a pure descendant of the Prophet himself through the latter’s daughter Fāṭimah, wife of ‘Alī b. Abū Ṭālib. Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya “prided himself on being a Qurayshi of pure lineage…[with] a pure descent from the Prophet,”[19]and could boast: “I am at the very center of the Banū Hāshim’s (genealogical) lines. My paternity is purest among them, undiluted with non-Arab blood, and no concubines dispute over me.”[20] What did this pure Arab descendent of the pure Arab Prophet look like? “Muhammad (Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya) is described as tall and strong with very dark skin”.[21] Indeed, al-Dhahabī describes him as “black-skinned and huge.”[22] But it is al-Ṭabarī’s description that is most informative:
Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya was a Qurayshī Arab whose pure lineage on both his father’s and his mother’s side put him “at the center” of the genealogical lines of the Banū Hāshim, the Prophet’s kinsfolk; indeed he was famously of pure descent from the Prophet himself. The fact that he was so black he was called ‘Tar face’ and ‘Charcoal face’ is of significance for our discussion of the ethnicity of the Prophet himself.
