ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf (Arabic: عبد شمس بن عبد مناف) was a prominent member of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca in modern-day Saudi Arabia. The Banu Abd Shams sub-clan of the Quraysh tribe and their descendants take its name from him.
Contents
Biography
Birth legend
Islamic hagiographers give an exotic narration concerning the birth of Hashim. This narration states that Hashim and Abd Shams were conjoined twins born with Hashim's leg attached to his twin brother's head. It says that they had struggled in their mother's womb seeking to be firstborn. Their birth was remembered for Hashim being born with one of his toes pressed into the younger twin brother's forehead. Legend says that their father, 'Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, separated his conjoined sons with a sword and that some priests believed that the blood that had flown between them signified wars between their progeny (a confrontation did occur between Banu al-'Abbās, a branch of the Banu Hashim, and Banu Umayyah, a branch of the Banu 'Abd Shams, in the year 750 CE). The astrologers of Arabia predicted that Abd Manaf had committed a grave error when he separated both of them by means of a sword. Hashim and Abd Shams were born to an Adnanite Arabian tribe.
Life and family
Abd Shams was the oldest son of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai. His younger brothers were Muttalib, Nawfal and Hashim, after whom the Banu Hashim clan was named.
The Banu Umayya clan was named after his son Umayya ibn Abd Shams.