Abu Ghabshan

In the Islamic tradition, Abū Ghubshān (Arabic: أبو غبشان, real name Sulaym ibn 'Amr) was the final Khuza'ite custodian of the Ka'aba during the pre-Islamic period of Mecca.

Biography

Abu Ghubshan was a member of the Banu Khuza'ah, an Arab tribe that held control of the Ka'aba after the expulsion of the Jurhum, an earlier tribe that became among the ʿArab bāʾida ("extinct Arabs").[1] Custodians of the Ka'aba were appointed from the dominant Banu Khuza'ah by the people of Mecca as a form of gratitude after they helped to overthrow the Jurhum, who had been unfairly taxing pilgrims to the sanctuary as well as mistreating locals.[1] However, the Khuza'ites themselves began to become oppressive and their morals deteriorated, much like the majority of the other Arab tribes in pre-Islamic Mecca, who became inclined to polytheism, gambling, debt slavery and excessive drinking.[2][3]

The Qurayshi historian and former qāḍī, Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar, narrates that Abu Ghubshan met with Qusayy ibn Kilab, the patriarch of the Quraysh, when the former was intoxicated after drinking alcohol.[4] Qusayy asked Abu Ghubshan for a price of the keys of the Ka'aba, to which the latter, in a drunken stupor, replied that he could give Qusayy the keys in exchange for a packet of wine.[4][5] So, Qusayy bought a packet of wine and gave it to Abu Ghubshan, who kept his word and gave him the keys to the Ka'aba. Once he was certain that Abu Ghubshan had been satisfied with the deal, Qusayy announced publicly that the descendants of Ishmael (i.e. Quraysh) had regained control of the Ka'aba.[4][5]

When Abu Ghubshan had gotten back to his senses, he tried to take the keys of the Ka'aba back, forgetting that he had sold them when he was drunk.[4][5] The Banu Khuza'ah tried to use military force to reclaim custodianship of the Ka'aba, but were defeated by the forces of the Quraysh which had anticipated such an event. Most of the Khuza'ites were expelled from Mecca afterwards.[1]

In Arabic literature

Ibn al-Jawzi records three popular Arabic sayings, "More regretful than Abu Ghubshan," "a bigger loser than Abu Ghubshan" or "surpassing Abu Ghubshan's foolishness" all of which are made in reference to the fact that Abu Ghubshan sold the keys of the Ka'aba at such a cheap price when drunk and foolishly tried to take the keys back when he had returned to a sober state.[6] A poem about the affair has been transmitted from the same source:

Khuza'ah sold Allah's house while drunk;
for a sack of wine, what a wretched transaction!
It sold its guardianship for wine, and went off;
from the standing place, the caller and its house were lost!

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mubarakpuri, Saifur Rahman (2008). The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet. Dar-us-Salam Publications. ISBN 978-9960899558.
  2. ↑ N.A. Faris (1952). "The Book Of Idols: Being A Translation From The Arabic Of The Kitāb al-Asnām By Hishām Ibn Al-Kalbi". Princeton Oriental Studies. 14. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
  3. ↑ Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume (1955). The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Isḥāq's sīrat. London. ISBN 0195778286. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 Fāsī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (1998). al-ʻIqd al-thamīn fī Tārīkh al-Balad al-Amīn. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah. pp. 65–66. OCLC 1227667881.
  5. 1 2 3 El-Diyarbekri (2009). Tarihü`l-Hamis fî Ahvâli Enfesi Nefis [History of Thursday in the States of Precious Souls]. Beirut, Lebanon: Darül-Kütübil-İlmiyye. ISBN 9782745156266.
  6. ↑ Ibn-al-Jawzi, Goy (2018). Sketches of fools and simpletons: an abridged rendering of Imām Ibn al-Jawzī's 'Akhbar al-Hamqa wa'l Mughaffalin' (First ed.). Birmingham, UK: Dar as-Sunnah Publishers. ISBN 978-1-904336-57-0.
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