The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 114
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 114 In this tree, it may seem as if certain individuals have no tribes attributed to them, although they possessed notable fame among the Quraish. The reason is that it was a custom among the tribes of Arabia that until the children of one person remained in alliance and unity; they were attributed to a common forefather. However, when enmity and conflict spurred among them , divided parties disliked being attributed to the same ancestor. Instead , every tribe would identify itself with any other eminent individual under that same ancestor. It is for this very reason that we find that none of the children of Qusaiyy are attributed to him, rather, some of them became the Banū H ā shim, others the Banū Umaiyyah, still others the Banū ‘ Abdid-Dā r , etc. , though none of them was as renowned as Qusaiyy himself. Qusaiyy bin Kilāb In their times, Naḍr bin Kinānah and Fihr bin Mālik were two very eminent and influential individuals. After them, in the 5 th Century A. D. , approximately 100 to 150 years prior to the Holy Prophet sa , Qusaiyy bin Kilāb acquired much authority within the Quraish. This man possessed extraordinary abilities. His strategic plan to take the custodianship of the Ka‘bah away from the Banū Khuzā‘ah has already been mentioned, and it has also been stated that Qusaiyy gathered all of the tribes of the Quraish and settled them in Makkah. It is for this reason that he has received the appellation of Mujammi‘ , which means, ‘the one who gathers’. However, Qusaiyy’s work does not end here. As a matter of fact, he organized his nation formally, and established the foundation of a democratic sovereignty in Makkah. The details of which are that Qusaiyy distributed the duties pertinent to the custodianship of the Ka‘bah as well as other administrative tasks of the Quraish into various segments and delegated the fulfillment of these various responsibilities to the chieftains of the various tribes of the Quraish. Division of Offices in the Custodianship of the Ka‘bah Under this administration, the following tasks of the custodianship of the Ka‘bah were ordained: 1. Siqāyah : In other words, the arrangement of water for pilgrims during the days of Ḥajj. Since there was a scarcity of water in Makkah, due to the fact that the fountain of Zamzam had been lost for a long period in time. Even if the fountain had been present,