Sons of Immigrants to Abyssinia and Medina from Quraish and its Allies in the Reign of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) A Statistical- Historical Study

Abstract

In this research the researcher addressed the number of born sons of immigrants to Abyssinia and Medina from Quraish’s sub- clans and its allies in the reign of the prophet (ﷺ) in Abyssinia and Medina, based on the books of classes and biographies which addressed companions’ sons from Quraish and its allies who were born in Medina or Abyssinia in the reign of the messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The researcher also relied on other resources in addition to books of hadith and traditions; the researcher also mentioned the reasons which prevented many companions from having children in Medina or Abyssinia, whether these reasons were social, like if they already had had many children before immigration and circumstances of immigration stood between them and having more children, or if some of them were infertile, some died without leaving offspring or had a small number of them, or they died in forays and expeditions in the reign of the prophet (ﷺ), and this prevented them from having children, as well as the economic conditions which played an important role in limiting  the reproduction for many immigrants; poverty prevented them from having many children in order to secure their living. On the other hand, the improvement of living condition of some of them at the end of the era of the messenger’s mission or during the reign of the rightly caliphs, helped lead them to have many children.

Most - not all- of these reasons prevented having large statistics regarding the births of children of immigrants during the era of the mission, as well as the occurrence of deaths of children in that era. Hence, through what was mentioned in the sources, books and historical texts, the researcher conducted a census of the births and deaths of the children of immigrants to Abyssinia and Medina from the sub- clans of Quraish and its allies during the era of the mission, in addition to conducting a statistical study of the Companions who did not have any opportunity to give birth to children during the era of the mission in Medina and Abyssinia, those who were infertile and did not have successors, or different situations prevented them from having children, based on the mentioned sources, books and historical texts, despite that the researcher reached statistics indicating the lack of children of immigrants - whose number was seventy-eight individuals- in Medina or Abyssinia, from the sub-clans of Quraysh and its allies in the era of the mission.

In addition, the researcher has drawn up statistical tables dealing with the percentages of births and deaths of the children of immigrants from the sub-clans of Quraysh, whether those who were born in Medina or Abyssinia during the era of the mission, in addition to drawing statistical tables for those who did not give birth of the companions of Quraysh and its allies, trying through modern scientific methods to find the ratio and proportionality for males and females born in Medina or Abyssinia. In addition, we dealt with the mortality rate for new-borns, whether they were males or females.

The researcher started to find the exact percentage of those who were born in Medina or Abyssinia by making a statistical comparison between the numbers of non-childbearing companions, or companions of whom the percentage of child births in Medina or Abyssinia were recorded in order to arrive at the percentages of births for children of the immigrant companions during the era of the mission.

In conclusion, the researcher tried, through presenting this research, to conduct a statistical study of the children of immigrants from Quraysh and its allies who immigrated to Medina or Abyssinia from a historical perspective, dealing with  a period of time that passed by fourteen centuries, and given the importance of this historical period, the researcher tended to conduct a population census for a group of births and deaths who were the focus of attention on the part of the Prophet (ﷺ) and the companions. In fact, we find that Islam as a religion and Sharia, and the Prophet (ﷺ)) being a messenger sent by Allah The Almighty and a leader of the Islamic nation urged us to increase the number of children and increase the population, and to pay attention to the category of children without discrimination between male or female. In spite of all this, we find that what the researcher has reached in terms of statistics does not rise to the level of ambition and care that the Prophet (ﷺ) gave to man and childhood during the era of the mission. As mentioned earlier, there were various and multiple situations and circumstances that prevented the immigrants from having children of males and females that satisfy the aspiration of the Islamic community to have many children during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) so that they would be the solid foundation in building the Islamic nation and the best successor to the best predecessors who were the nucleus of the era of the mission.

Most - not all- of these reasons prevented having large statistics regarding the births of children of immigrants during the era of the mission, as well as the occurrence of deaths of children in that era. Hence, through what was mentioned in the sources, books and historical texts, we conducted a census of the births and deaths of the children of immigrants to Abyssinia and Medina from the sub- clans of Quraish and its allies during the era of the mission, in addition to conducting a statistical study of the Companions who did not have any opportunity to give birth to children during the era of the mission in Medina and Abyssinia, those who were infertile and did not have successors, or different situations prevented them from having children, based on the mentioned sources, books and historical texts, and despite what we reached of statistics indicating the lack of children of immigrants in Medina or Abyssinia from the sub-clans of Quraysh and its allies in the era of the mission,their number was seventy-eight individuals.

In addition, we have drawn up statistical tables dealing with the percentages of births and deaths of the children of immigrants from the sub-clans of Quraysh, whether those who were born in Medina or Abyssinia during the era of the mission, in addition to drawing statistical tables for those who did not give birth of the companions of Quraysh and its allies, trying through modern scientific methods to find the ratio and proportionality for males and females born in Medina or Abyssinia. In addition, we dealt with the mortality rate for new-borns, whether they were males or females.

We also tried to find the exact percentage of those who were born in Medina or Abyssinia by making a statistical comparison between the numbers of non-childbearing companions, or companions who represented the percentage of child births in Medina or Abyssinia in order to arrive at the percentages of births for children of the immigrant companions during the era of the mission.

In conclusion, we tried, through presenting this research, to conduct a statistical study of the children of immigrants from Quraysh and its allies who immigrated to Medina or Abyssinia from a historical perspective, dealing with  a period of time that passed by fourteen centuries, and given the importance of this historical period, the research has tended to do a population census for a group of births and deaths who were the focus of attention on the part of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Companions. Indeed, we find that Islam as a religion and Sharia, and the Prophet (PBUH) being a messenger sent by Allah The Almighty and a leader of the Islamic nation urged us to increase the number of children and increase the population, and to pay attention to the category of children without discrimination between male or female. In spite of all this, we find that what we have reached in terms of statistics does not rise to the level of ambition and care that the Prophet (PBUH) gave to man and childhood during the era of the mission. As we mentioned earlier there were various and multiple situations and circumstances that prevented the immigrants from having children of males and females that satisfy the aspiration of the Islamic community to have many children during the time of the Prophet (PBUH) so that they would be the solid foundation in building the Islamic nation and the best successor to the best predecessors who were the nucleus of the era of the mission.