Haashim

The great grandfather of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was named ‘Amr, but he was known as Haashim.

There was once a very bad drought in Makkah Mukarramah. This meant that there was very little rain for a long time, so no food could grow. The people were very hungry, and because they were starving, they became very thin and weak. When Haashim would see all the hungry people, he would feed them by crushing pieces of bread into a gravy and giving it to them to eat. In Arabic, the word ‘Haashim’ means ‘a person who crushes’, and that is why he was called Haashim.

Haashim was very, very generous. He was always ready to feed people, and he would help poor people who were travelling by giving them camels to use in their journey. When people would come to Makkah Mukarramah for hajj, Haashim would feed them with meat, bread and dates and would also give them Zamzam water to drink. When the haajis would go to Mina, Muzdalifah and ‘Arafaat, he would give them food and water in those places as well.

Haashim had a relative whose name was Umayyah bin ‘Abdi Shams. He was very rich and also wanted to feed the haajis like Haashim. However, even though he had so much of money, he could not feed the people like Haashim because Haashim was more generous than him.

Haashim was very handsome, and because he was going to become the great grandfather of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), there was a special noor and light that would shine on his forehead. Because of this, many people wanted Haashim to get married to their daughters. In fact, even one of the kings of that time wanted his daughter, who was a beautiful princess, to marry Haashim, but Haashim did not accept to marry her.

Haashim eventually got married to a woman from Madeenah Munawwarah whose name was Salmaa bintu ‘Amr. She gave birth to his son, ‘Abdul Muttalib, who was the grandfather of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).

After he got married, Haashim went to Ghazzah, in Palestine, and he passed away there when he was twenty-five years old.

Lessons:

1. Haashim was very, very generous, and always wanted to help people. When people were hungry and had no food, he would feed them, and when poor travellers had no animals to ride, he would give them camels to ride. This is like giving a person a whole car! That is how generous he was! We must also try to be generous and help people.

2. Haashim would always look after and feed the people coming for Hajj because they were the guests of Allah Ta‘ala. In the same way, when people are guests of Allah Ta‘ala, like jamaats, or students staying in a madrasah and studying Deen, then we should also try to look after them.

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