«MAHDI IS FROM KANANE»

Author of «Eqdud-Durar» in his first chapter narrates from 'Sunan' of Imam Abu Amro Osman-ibn - Sa'eed Muqari who narrates from Qatada who said: «I asked Sa'eed-ibn-Maseeb whether Mahdi is the truth and he replied: 'Yes, he is the truth, I then asked: 'To which tribe does he belong? He replied: 'To the Kanane.' I again asked: 'To which clan does he belong? He replied: 'To the Quraish' I further asked: 'To which family does he belong? He replied: 'To the Bani-Hashim' Again I asked: 'To which one of the families does he belong? He replied: 'To the progeny of Fatemah.'

Author says: 'By Kanane is meant the same son of Kazima, who was the son of Madraka, son of Elyaas, son of Mazar, son of Nezar, son of Sa'ad, son of Adnan.'

Author of «Saba'ek al-Zahab» says: 'Banu Kanane are a family from Mazar and Mazar had a son in whom the lineage of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.A.) terminated and he was called as Nezar. Moreover Mazar had children who were from the Holy Prophet's lineage and they were: Malik, Malkaan, Haaris, Amr, Aamer, Saad, Ghanam, Auf, Mujraba, Jarwal, Jazaal and Gurwaan. Abu Ubaid says: 'They were all from Yemen' and in the book called «Ebar» it has come that their place of stay was in the outskirts of Mecca.'

«MAHDI IS FROM QURAISH»

In the first chapter of «Eqdud-Durar», the author narrates from Imam Abu Abdullah Na'eem-ibn Hamad who narrates from Ibn-Wa'el who narrates from Imam Abul Hussein Ahmad-ibn-Jafar Manawi who narrates from Qatada who said: 'I asked Sa'eed-ibn-Maseeb whether Mahdi was on truth and he replied: 'Yes'. I asked: 'To which tribe does he belong? He replied: 'Quraish'. I asked: 'To which clan does he belong?' He replied: 'Bani-Hashim'. I asked: 'To which family does he belong: 'He replied: 'He is from the offspring of Abdul-Muttalib'. I asked: 'Which one of the families?' He replied: 'From the progeny of Fatemah'. I asked: 'Which one of her sons?' He replied: 'That is enough now.'

Also, the afore-mentioned book narrates (in the seventh chapter) from the book «Al-Fatan» of Hafez Abu Abdullah Na'eem-ibn-Hemaad which in turn narrates from Ishaaq-ibn-Yahya-ibn-Thalha who narrates from Ta'oos who said: «Omar ibn-Khattab was on death-bed and bidding farewell to his family members. He then said: 'I do not know of any treasure which I can bestow. The house, and all that it contains from wealth and weapons should be spent in the way of Allah.

Then Ali (May Allah be satisfied with him) said: 'O Amir ul-Momineen, leave aside this matter because you are not the owner of (this) wealth. Rather its owner is a young man from the tribe of Quraish who shall, at the end of time distribute it in the way of Allah.(23)

Ibn - Hajar writes on page 99 of his book «Sawa'eq» as such:-

'Ahmad and Maawardi have brought a tradition from the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.A.) who said: «Glad-tidings be to you about Mahdi. He is from the Quraish; from my progeny.(24)

Esa'af-ur-Raghebeen too has narrated the same in his book on page 151. The author believes: 'Quraish is the same Nazr-ibn-Kanane. In Ja'ame-ul-Latif we read as such: 'Know that there exists differences in Quraish as to why they were called by this name. So it is said: They were titled in the name of a beast living in the sea - a beast which eats and itself is not eaten; conquers and itself is not conquered (a metaphoric remark signifying power and magnificence) and this tribe too is similar to that beast due to their toughness and significance'.

In Madarek we read: Quraish is a mighty beast which plays with the ships and except for fire it cannot be repulsed by any other thing. Its diminutive form is due to reverence.'

Some others say: The reason they were called as Quraish was that the leader of their tribe Ibn-Yakhled Ghalib-ibn-Fahr was named as Quraish. Thus it was said: The tribe of Quraish came; the tribe of Quraish went and in this way they became famous by this name.

Still some others have said: Qusi (--) who was one person belonging to their tribe gathered them together and brought them to Mecca and «Qurash» means «to gather together». Thus, as he gathered them together he was named as «--» (gathering) just as we saw in the poem of Fazl-ibn-Abbas-ibn-Utba and also in his following poem:

We were the residents of Mecca from Quraish
and it was due to us that the tribe of Quraish was called by this name.

It is also said that Quraish was the name of Qusi and it was because of this reason that his tribe was named as Quraish. What is more common however is that his name had been Zaid just as it was previously mentioned.

Yet others have said: The word of is derived from which means «to earn» and because they were carrying on business and earning they were called as Quraish.

It is also said that since «Nazr» was called as Quraish, his family too became famous by this name.

Some say: They were called as Quraish because they were doing «Taqrish» of goods of the pilgrims going for Haj and «Taqrish» means 'to inspect'. Thus they erected inspection points in their way and prevented them from moving ahead unchecked. The proof that this statement is correct is the saying of Haaris-ibn-Khulatul-Yashkari who says:

'O' the speaker who investigates us in front of Amr;
Is there for us any to affair be faithful upon?