“Anyone who says that the Prophet is black should be killed”: The ...

One of these ‘deep black and tall’ sons of #Abd al-Muããalib was #Abd All§h b. #Abd al-Muããalib,
the Prophet’s father. Another is al-#Abb§s, the Prophet’s uncle whose descendants founded the
#Abb§sid Dynasty in 132/750 CE. This was evidently a line of dark-skinned Arabs. 75 #Abd All§h
b. #Abb§s whom al-J§Èií described as “very black and tall,” was MuÈammad’s first cousin and
his son, #Alī b. #Abd All§h, was also black-skinned (§dam). 76 Of particular importance for us are
#Abd al-#Uzz§ (Abå Lahab), uncle and infamous enemy of the Prophet and Abå •§lib, supportive
uncle and father of the progenitor of the Shiite line of Imams. Abå Lahab’s importance for us
here rather lies with his great grandson, the seventh century CE Qurayshī poet, al-Fa∙l b. al-
#Abb§s. Al-Fa∙l was a cousin of the Prophet. Called al-Akh∙ar al-LahabÊ “The Flaming Black,” he
was well-known for his black complexion, handsome face and his genealogical purity, and
reportedly recited these famous words:
I am the black-skinned one (al-Akh∙ar). I am well-known.
My complexion is black. I am from the noble house of the Arabs. 77
Al-Fa∙l’s black-complexion (akh∙ar) was thus the visual mark of his pure, Qurayshī
background. 78
Al-J§Èií noted that Abå •§lib’s family was “the most noble of men” and “more or less
black (såd).” This fact is further affirmed for Abå •§lib’s famous son, #Alī b. AbÊ •§lib (d.
40/661), the first cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet. #Alī b. AbÊ •§lib was a very black-skinned
Arab, described by his son Abå Ja#far MuÈammad as “an intensely black man (rajul §dam shadīd
al-udma) with big, heavy eyes, pot-bellied, bald, and kind of short.” 79 Many of #Alī’s descendents,
the sharÊfs/sayyids, were similarly described as black-skinned. 80 This ‘family blackness’ of Abå
•§lib is very significant for our discussion of the appearance of the Prophet because Abå •§lib’s
son Ja#far, known as al-H§shimÊ, “The H§shimite,” who is the elder brother of #Alī, is “one of
MuÈammad’s kinsmen who most closely resembled him.” 81 Indeed, MuÈammad himself is
reported to have said to his presumably black-skinned cousin: “You resemble me both in
appearance and character (ashbahta khalqÊ wa khuluqÊ).” 82
The representative of the Banå H§shim who is most instructive in this regard is
MuÈammad b. #Abd Allāh (d. 145/762), known also as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (“The Pure Soul”). He
75 In 659/1261 a black-skinned man claiming to be a surviving member of the Banå "l-#Abb§s after the destruction of
Baghdad by the Mongols in 656/1258 was brought by a group of Iraqis to Cairo. He was given a ceremonious
welcome by the Seljuk sultan, al-£§hir Baybars, who had the chief judge make an official inquiry into his genealogy.
Once confirmed, Abå "l-Q§sim AÈmad b. al-£§hir MuÈammad was inaugurated as the first #Abb§sid ‘shadow’
caliph in Cairo, taking the throne-name “al-Mustanßir”. See AÈmad al-DardÊr, al-SharÈ al-kabÊr, 4 vols. (Beirut:
D§r al-Fikr, n.d.) IV:409 (on the margin of MuÈammad al-DasåqÊ, \§shÊyat al-dasåqÊ #al§ al-sharÈ al-kabÊr,
4 vols. [Beirut: D§r al-Fikr, n.d.]); EI 2 VII:729 s.v. al-Mustanßir (II) by P.M. Holt.
76 Al-Dhahabī, Siyar,V:253.
77 Ibn Maníår, Lis§n al-#arab, s.v. ﺮﻀﺧﺍ IV:245f; al-MawardÊ, Ordinances, 190; Edward William Lane, Arabic-
English Lexicon (London: Williams & Norgate 1863) I: 756 s.v. ﺮﻀﺧ .
78 Ibn Maníår, Lis§n al-#arab, s.v. ﺮﻀﺧﺍ IV:245; Ibn AbÊ al-\adÊd, SharÈ nahj al-bal§ghah, V: 56.
79 Ibn Sa#d, al-•abaqāt al-kubrā III/i,17; Al-Suyåãī, Tārikh al-khulafā, ed. Jam§l MaÈmåd Mußãaf§ (Cairo:
D§r al-Fajr lil-Tur§th, 1999) 134.
80 Ibn al-‘abb§gh, Al-Fusål al-muhimmah fÊ ma#rifat aÈw§ l-a"ummah (Najaf: D§r al-Kutub al-Tij§rÊyah,
1950) e.g. 183 (Zayn al-#$bidÊn, asmar), 193 (MuÈammad al-B§qir, asmar mu#tadil), 205 (Ja#far al-‘§diq, §dam§), 214
(Mås§ al-K§íim, asmar #amÊq).
81 EI 2 II: 372 s.v. Dja#far b. AbÊ •§lib by L. Veccia Vaglieri.
82 ‘aÈÊÈ BukharÊ, b§b fa∙§"il aßȧb al-nabÊ, no. 47 (=Translation, V:47).
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