It has already been mentioned that the first tribe to settle in Makkah was the Jurhumuth-Thānīyah. The daughter of this clan’s chieftain named Maḍāḍ bin ‘Amr was married to Ishmaelas and twelve sons were born of this wedlock. Among these children the eldest was Nebaioth and the next was Kedar. The people of Arabia are primarily the children of Kedar son of Ishmaelas and the Quraish are also his descendants. As long as Ishmaelas was alive it was he who supervised the Ka‘bah, but after his death, the eldest of his sons, named Nebaioth became its custodian. After his death, the custodianship of the Ka‘bah was entrusted to his maternal grandfather, Maḍāḍ bin ‘Amr, and for an extended period in time it remained with the tribe of Jurhum.
However, after the passing of an extended period in time, a branch of the Banū Qaḥṭān, the tribe of Khuzā‘ah gained supremacy over the Jurhum and snatched the custodianship of the Ka‘bah from them. The tribe of Jurhum was deeply grieved on account of their exile from Makkah, and immigrated to Yemen. However, prior to departing from Makkah, their chieftain, ‘Amr bin Al-Ḥārith, buried his national wealth in the fountain of Zamzam and sealed its opening. In this manner, when the tribe of Khuzā‘ah entered Makkah, this sacred water spring had vanished and it remained sealed for hundreds of years until finally, Ḥaḍrat ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib, the paternal grandfather of the Holy Prophetsa, located it and once again caused it to gush forth of water. In any case, after the Jurhum, the Khuzā‘ah became the rulers of Makkah and the custodians of the Ka‘bah.1 The dawn of idolatry in the Ka‘bah is attributed to ‘Amr bin Luḥaiyy, a chieftain of the Khuzā‘ah.2 Upon his observance of idol worship in Syria, his desire was that idols should be placed in the Ka‘bah as well and that people should worship them. Therefore, he brought some idols from Syria and placed them in the close proximity of the Ka‘bah.3 Since the Ka‘bah had become the religious centre of Arabia by that time and every year people would gather there for Ḥajj, idolatry rampantly spread throughout the country. This is not to imply that idolatry was not at all practiced in Arabia prior to this, rather, the purpose is to merely establish the fact that the arrival of idols in the Ka‘bah was a major cause in the spread and establishment of idolatry throughout Arabia. Therefore, gradually the idols in the Ka‘bah alone reached a total of 360. After a prolonged period in time the custodianship of the Ka‘bah escaped the hands of the Khuzā‘ah as well. In elaboration of the cause of this occurrence, historians have narrated a strange tale, the mention of which shall prove interesting here.
In the middle of the 5th century A.D. there was a man named Qusaiyy bin Kilāb who was among the descendants of Fihr bin Mālik, or in other words, the Quraish. He was a very wise and intelligent individual. During the days of his youth, it was his heartfelt desire that the rule of Makkah and custodianship of the Ka‘bah is the inheritance of the children of Ishmaelas and it should not remain in the hands of any other nation. Hence, he came to Makkah and gradually began to develop friendships, after which he married Ḥubbā, the daughter of Ḥalīl bin Ḥabashiyyah Khuzā‘ī, who was the chieftain of the Khuzā‘ah. At that time, it was he who possessed the custodianship of the Ka‘bah. At his deathbed, Ḥalīl bequeathed the custodianship of the Ka‘bah to his daughter Ḥubbā, the wife of Qusaiyy. In this manner, the custodianship of the Ka‘bah practically came into the hands of Qusaiyy, but his heart was not content as a mere authority. Rather, he wished to become the rightful ruler of Makkah and the custodian of the Ka‘bah. Therefore, gradually, he began to establish his claim of entitlement. When the Khuzā‘ah began to realize this, they were outraged and prepared for battle. On the other hand, Qusaiyy also gathered his own people and both these tribes fought in a vehement battle. Eventually both tribes were reconciled on the foundation that an arbitrator be appointed, whose verdict shall be accepted by both parties. Thus, a man named ‘Amr bin ‘Auf was appointed as an arbitrator, whose judgement was that in actuality, the custodianship of the Ka‘bah rightfully belongs to Qusaiyy and that the Khuzā‘ah shall not receive bloodmoney for any of its slain men but compensation for Qusaiyy’s slain men shall be paid by the Khuzā’ah. In this manner, after a prolonged period in time the custodianship of the Ka‘bah was once again returned to the Banū Ismā‘īl.4 Since the custodianship of the Ka‘bah was also a means of worldly grandeur and power, the custodian tribe was looked upon with special honour and veneration in all of Arabia. It is for this reason that the Quraish became very dignified and honoured.
1 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, p. 96, Amru Jurhum wa Dafnu Zamzam, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001)
2 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābul-Manāqib, Bābu Qiṣṣati Khuzā‘ah, Ḥadīth No. 3523
3 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, p. 73, Qissatu ‘Amr bin Luḥaiyy wa Dhikru Aṣnāmil-‘Arab, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001)
4 * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, pp. 97-100, Tazawwuju Qusaiyy bin Kilāb Ḥubbā bint Ḥalīl, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001)
* Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī, By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Al-Jarīr Ṭabarī, Dhikru Nasbi Rasūlillāhisa..., Volume 2, p. 192, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002)