Hashim and the Two Journeys

Qusayy's grandson 'Amr became famous for generosity. In a year of famine he crumbled bread into broth to feed the pilgrims and the poor, and people began calling him Hashim — "the one who crumbles". His descendants, the clan of Banu Hashim, would include the Prophet ﷺ.

Hashim is remembered for organising the two great trade caravans of Quraysh: to Yemen in winter and to Syria in summer, protected by agreements with the tribes and rulers along the way. The Qur'an recalls this blessing of security and trade in Surah Quraysh, calling them: ﴿فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِ ۝ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُم مِّنْ خَوْفٍ﴾ (“So let them worship the Lord of this House, who has fed them against hunger and made them safe from fear”) (106:1–4).

On one journey Hashim married Salma bint 'Amr of the clan of Banu al-Najjar in Yathrib, the city later called Madinah. He died soon after in Gaza, and their son Shaybah grew up with his mother's people. When his uncle al-Muttalib brought the boy to Makkah, people assumed the stranger riding behind him was a servant and called him "'Abd al-Muttalib" — al-Muttalib's servant. The name stuck, and so did a family tie to Yathrib.