At a glance
- Era
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Place in the story
- ProtectortowardMuhammad · c. 578 CETradition
- OfficialtowardQurayshTradition
- Family of the ProphetTradition
Other (debated)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Brief
Abd al-Muttalib was the Prophet Muhammad's grandfather and his guardian after his mother's death — the leading elder of Mecca in the generation before Islam, remembered for restoring the well of Zamzam.
Life
Born in Yathrib (later Medina) to the line of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf 1, he rose to lead Quraysh. Tradition credits him with rediscovering the buried well of Zamzam beside the Kaaba, and with the offices of watering and feeding the pilgrims 1.
The sira places him at Mecca's head during the campaign of Abraha, the event remembered as the 'Year of the Elephant' — the same year the tradition gives for the Prophet's birth The Year of the Elephant and the Prophet's birth 1. He became guardian of the orphaned Muhammad about 578 CE and died not long after, passing the boy to his son Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
Legacy
His household — Banu Hashim — is the thread through the whole story: the clan that produced the Prophet, protected him when others would not, and gave the later age its claimants to rule.
For young visitors
Abd al-Muttalib was the grandfather who looked after Muhammad when his parents had died, and who rediscovered the famous well of Zamzam in Mecca.
Connections
- Parent of
- al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib· ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib· Abu Lahab· Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Arwa bint Abd al-Muttalib· Atika bint Abd al-Muttalib· Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib· Umayma bint Abd al-Muttalib
- Participated in
- The Recovery of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib’s Rights· ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib’s Vow and the Lot· The Re-digging of Zamzam· The Year of the Elephant and the Prophet's birth· The death of Amina at al-Abwa
- Spouse of
- Fāṭima bint ʿAmr al-Makhzūmiyya
- Child of
- Salmā bint ʿAmr· Hashim ibn Abd Manaf
- Born in
- Medina
- Died in
- Mecca
- Member of
- Banu Hashim· Quraysh
- Opposed by
- Nawfal ibn ʿAbd Manāf
People and things also explored
Mecca· Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Banu Hashim· al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Muhammad· Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Abu Lahab· Quraysh
Sources
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (1953)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abd-al-muttalib/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-13.