Arab Dagestanis – direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad

The beloved Prophet is the best among people. Islamic history researchers and researchers of Prophet’s genealogy are unanimous that Prophet Muhammad’s family has its roots in the family of the prophet Ismail , who is the son of the prophet Ibrahim . Thus Muhammad was an adherent of Ibrahim’s religion , a descendant of Ismail and an Arab from the pure and noble tribe of Quraysh and the Hashimite clan.

The ancestors of the Prophet Muhammad on his father’s side were: his father Abdullah, then Abd al-Muttalib, Hashim, Abd ul-Manaf, Qusay, Kilab, Murrat, Qaab, Luay, Halib, Fihr, Malik, Nazar, Kinana, Huzayma, Mudriqa, Ilyas, Muzar, Nizar, Muad andAdnan.

His mother Amina was Wahb’s daughter. Wahb was Abdul-Manaf’s son, who was Zuhrat’s son, who was a son of Kilab. Both the Prophet’s mother’s and father’s families go back to Kilab.

Our Prophet had seven children. There were four daughters and three sons: Qasim, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Fatima, Umm Kulthum, Abdullah and Ibrahim. Fatima was the only one to live after the Prophet died. Fatima was born in Mecca and by the Almighty’s decision she married the companion Ali, who was Muhammad’s cousin. She had six children: Hasan, Husayn, Muhsin, Umm Kulthum, Zaynab, Ruqayyah. The Prophet loved Fatima very much. She will be senior to other women in Heaven. Her elder sons Hasan and Husayn are the only ones who left descendants that still live amongst us. Among their descendants were great imams, awliya, tariqa sheikhs and other outstanding people.

God’s beloved One left this world about 1400 years ago. But there are some people left with the Prophet’s blood. These are descendants belonging to his noble tribe. Many of them are quite famous. They live in different countries. Some of them are in Russia, for example, in Dagestan. We had a conversation about Prophet Muhammad’s descendants with a historian, the Head of the History Department at the Islamic University of Dagestan, Muradula Dadayev.

- How did Prophet Muhammad’s r descendants move to the current land of Dagestan and what was their fate?

- Prophet Muhammad , whose appearance on Earth was the salvation for the mankind, said on the Farewell pilgrimage: ‘O Men! Listen well to my words carefully! And retell them to the ones who are not here, for I do not know whether I shall meet you again on such an occasion in the future.’ Obeying these words of the Prophet his companions worked hard to inform everyone of the Almighty’s religion. They travelled to the different parts of the world to make da’wah (call to Islam). Thus they came to Dagestan. There were some people from the Quraysh tribe and some from Banu Hashims, i.e. descendants of the Prophet Muhammad .

In the time of the Abbasids a famous sheikh Abu Muslim came to Dagestan. Two more sheikhs from the Hamza tribe and three from the Abbas tribe who were blood brothers of Prophet’s father followed Abu Muslim. Shekhkh Abu Muslim settled down in Dagestan and was busy with da’wah. He lived about 24 years in Khunzakh, the capital of Avaristan, and spread Islam. He built mosques and Islamic schools. When Islam asserted itself and people wanted to live according to the Creator’s religion, Abu Muslim following Islamic traditions of governance chose five sheikhs and made them rule over five regions: Kazikumukh, Kaytag etc. These governors and their descendants are sayyids, which mean that they belong to the Prophet’s family .

And there is a third branch in Dagestan that comes from Prophet’s daughter Fatima and her sons Hasan and Husayn. It is known that Djamaludin Kazikumukh, who is a sheikkh of the Naqshbandi tariqa, is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad r on his daughter Fatima’s side. And it is also known that great Dagestan sheikhs are direct descendants of God’s Messenger .

It is notable that the head of Dagestan Muslims, mufti Ahmad-hajji Abdulayev, is a grandchild of Tariqa sheikh Abdulhamid-afandi from Inkho, whose genealogy goes back to Prophet Muhammad . Thus Ahmad-hajji is a descendant of Prophet Muhammad in various meanings, because he continues spreading God’s religion.

- What historical documents mention sayyids?

- According to Shariah norms people from the Banu Hashim and the Banu Abd al-Mutalib clan used to receive a stipend (khumus) from booty. At the times of imam Shamil’s Imamat the descendants of the Prophet also used to get this stipend. Reliable sources say there were more than 70 sayyid families in Dagestan and they received khumus. Sheikh imam Shamil gave these families a special document that stated that these people truly were sayyids, the descendants of the Prophet’s noble clan, so that not anyone could claim khumus. One of these documents given by imam Shamil to two brothers Muhammad and Ahmad, who lived in the village of Kudali of Gunib region, has been preserved until today.

And there are some other documents that tell us about the Prophet’s descendants in Dagestan. There is this certified document that tells about a ruler of Kazikumukh Muhammadkhan from the clan of Abbas, Prophet’s uncle. After his death three of his sons Gunash, Alikhan and Alibeg had an argument concerning governing rights.

They were given lands in the Hid and Andalal vilayats. The community of Hid (Shamilsky district) gave them the lands in the village of Gogotl and descendants of the Prophet resided there for a while. But the climate did not suit them and they left.

The elder son Gunash moved to Gonoda (Gunibsky district), Alibeg moved to Teletl (Shamilsky district) and Alikhan moved to the village of Gotsal (Khunzakh district).

What happened to Alikhan after he moved to Gotsatl is of a great interest. His son Aliskandi was famous for his wisdom and was a vizier of the Khunzah khans. Aliskandi’s son Gamzat-beg was Dagestan’s second imam. His destiny was similar to Hamza’s, who was the Prophet’s uncle, and died as a martyr on a mosque threshold.

To be continued…

MURAD RADJABOV As-Salam correspondent