The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 118
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 118 kind. Therefore, the passage of Quraish mercantile caravans between Syria and Yemen commenced in the time of Hāshim. Generally, mercantile caravans travelled to Yemen during the winter season and towards Syria in the summer season. The terms 1 ِ رِحْلَت ُ الشِّتَاء and 2 ِ رِحْلَت ُ الصَّیْف are used to describe these two trades. 3 Umaiyyah’s Rivalry Upon witnessing Hāshim’s success, his nephew, Umaiyyah bin ‘Abdi Shams began to harbour feelings of jealousy. He tried to compete with Hāshim, and strived to develop a name through his acts of generosity among the people, but failed miserably. On the contrary, he became the target of mockery among the Quraish. Ultimately, Umaiyyah became so enraged that he openly challenged Hāshim to compete with him. At first Hāshim ignored it, but the Quraish (who always remained eager to witness such spectacles), urged Hāshim to accept the challenge. The condition set was that an arbitrator would pass a verdict as to their greatness and the one who loses would give the winner fifty camels and face an exile of ten years from Makkah. Thus, a soothsayer from the Khuzā‘ah was appointed an arbitrator. He uttered a few statements in his soothsaying tongue, and passed a verdict in favour of Hāshim. Therefore, Umaiyyah gave Hāshim fifty camels and left Makkah. He wandered Syria and other areas for ten years. Historians write that this was the first enmity and rivalry which spurred between the Banū Hāshim and Banū Umaiyyah. After Hāshim, ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib bin Hāshim also, with full vigour, kept the Banū Hāshim above the Banū Umaiyyah. However, after the demise of ‘Abdul- Muṭṭalib, among Hāshim’s grandsons, no man of such influence came forward, and thus the Banū Umaiyyah gradually gathered strength and Hāshim’s family fell into a state of poverty, weakened. Once, Hāshim travelled to Syria for the purpose of business and trade. On route, he stopped at Yathrib, also known as Madīnah. There Hāshim married a girl named Salmā who belonged to the Banū Najjār, which was a branch of the Khazraj. He had a son from Salmā in Madīnah, who was named Shaibah. 1 Journeys of Winter (Publishers) 2 Journeys of Summer (Publishers) 3 Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Dhikru Hāshim bin ‘Abdi Manāf, Volume 1, p. 34, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)