History of name Al-Muttalib
Fatwa No: 320890

Question

Who started the generation of the name Al-Muttalib.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The name Al-Muttalib was a common name among the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era. We could not find any scholar who mentioned the first person to have this name. Many Arabs were named Al-Muttalib, one of the most famous of whom was Al-Muttalib ibn ʻAbd Manaaf, the paternal uncle of ʻAbd Al-Muttalib ibn Haashim, the grandfather of the Prophet .

Another man who carried this name was Al-Muttalib ibn Asad ibn ʻAbd Al-ʻUzza ibn Qusayy ibn Kilaab ibn Murrah ibn Kaʻab ibn Lu'ayy, known as Al-Aswad ibn Al-Muttalib, one of the (five) disbelievers who mocked the Prophet . Qataadah reported:

"The verse: {Indeed, We are sufficient for you against the mockers} [Quran 15:95] refers to Al-Waleed ibn Al-Mugheerah, Al-ʻAas ibn Waa'il, ʻAdiyy ibn Qays, Al-Aswad ibn ʻAbd Yaghooth, and Al-Aswad ibn Al-Muttalib. They passed by the Prophet one by one while Jibreel (Angel Gabriel) was with him. Whenever one of them passed by, Jibreel would ask the Prophet 'How do you describe this man?' The Prophet answered, 'Wicked is the man; he is the enemy of Allaah!' And Jibreel would remark, 'Allaah safeguarded you from his harm.'" [At-Tabari]

In fact, knowing who started the generation of the name Al-Muttalib does not lead to doing any action or embracing a certain belief and can only be classified as futile. We, therefore, advise the brother who asked the question to preoccupy himself with asking about what benefits him in his worldly life and religious affairs and help him attain bliss in the Hereafter.

Allaah knows best.

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