‘Abdul Muttalib
The grandfather of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was known as ‘Abdul Muttalib, and his name was Shaibatul Hamd.
‘Abdul Muttalib’s father was Haashim. After his father passed away, ‘Abdul Muttalib lived with his mother, Salmaa, in Madeenah Munawwarah Munawwarah. As he grew older, his uncle, whose name was Muttalib, came from Makkah Mukarramah to fetch him.
After fetching him, when they were sitting together on the camel and coming into Makkah Mukarramah, ‘Abdul Muttalib’s clothes were dirty and dusty. Because his clothes were dirty and dusty, Muttalib felt shy to tell the people that this was his nephew, so he told them that he was his slave. This is why people began to call him ‘Abdul Muttalib which means “the slave of Muttalib”. After they entered Makkah Mukarramah, he made him wear nice, clean clothes, and then he told everyone that this was his nephew.
Allah Ta‘ala had made ‘Abdul Muttalib very handsome and strong. From all the Quraish, he was very patient and tolerant, and he was also the most generous. In fact, he was even more generous than his father, Haashim. The reason is that his father used to feed people and help people, but ‘Abdul Muttalib would not only help people – he would even help and feed animals!
While other people would do very evil things, ‘Abdul Muttalib was a good man and would not do wrong things. He would not drink wine, and in the month of Ramadhaan, he would try to feed all the poor people. There were also some people who did not want to have daughters, so if they had a baby girl, they would take the girl and bury her. ‘Abdul Muttalib would try and stop these people from doing these evil actions.
Allah Ta‘ala would sometimes show ‘Abdul Muttalib dreams that were true. In fact, there were times when something happened and ‘Abdul Muttalib did not know what do, but then Allah Ta‘ala showed him a true dream and he would see the answer to his problem.
Because ‘Abdul Muttalib was such a good person, the Quraish respected him and made him their leader.
Lessons:
1. We must always try to be generous and kind and help people. We must also be good to animals. If we cannot help animals and feed them, then at least we must not hurt or trouble them.
2. When all the people were drinking wine and were doing wrong things, ‘Abdul Muttalib did not join them. Instead, he would tell them to be good and would stop them from doing naughty things. In the same way, if our friends are doing wrong things, we must not join them, but must remind them to be good Muslims.
3. When a person is good, then whenever he has a problem and does not know what to do, Allah Ta‘ala will help him and guide him.
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