Chief of the Prophets — Page 29
Chapter Two 29 This greatly impressed everyone and established his esteem over the entire Quraish. 1 ‘Abdullāh Glory to God’s powers! God the Exalted, did grace ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib with ten sons, who grew up quickly. When they reached their adulthood, ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib took them to the Ka‘bah in order to fulfill his promise by casting lots in front of the Hubal idol to determine which son would be sacrificed. The lot fell to ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Abdul- Muṭṭalib, 2 who was the dearest to ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib. ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib was badly shaken by the result of the lot, but was determined to fulfill his pledge. Helplessly he took his son for the sacrifice. When the chieftains of the Quraish tribe found out about it, they rushed to ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib and stopped him. First, ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib insisted on carrying out the sacrifice, however, on the consultation of an acquaintance, it was decided to cast lots between ‘Abdullāh and ten camels (which was equivalent to blood money at that time), and if the lot came in favour of camels, they would be sacrificed in place of ‘Abdullāh. But the lot came in favour of ‘Abdullāh. Now, ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib added ten more camels and again cast the lot. But the lot again came in favour of ‘Abdullāh. ‘Abdul- Muṭṭalib kept on increasing the camels by ten until the time the lots were cast between 100 camels and ‘Abdullāh. This time the lot came in favour of the camels. To be sure about it, he cast the lots again and it still came in favour of the camels. ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib was ecstatic at this; he sacrificed 100 camels and jubilantly went home with ‘Abdullāh. From this time onwards, blood money was set at 100 camels. 3 1 Ibni Sa‘d and Ibni Hishām. 2 The father of Muḥammad sa 3 Ibni Sa‘d