The elderly

Family: People and stages of life · 4 entries

Guide. The curated guide for this theme has not been written yet.

Entries on this theme

Event

• The conversion of Abu Quhafa

  January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHAt Dhu Tuwa or upon the entry into Mecca, Abu Bakr led his aged, blind father Abu Quhafa to the Prophet to profess Islam; the Prophet remarked with tenderness that he should have gone to the old man instead, and instructed that his white hair be dyed.

Person

• Durayd ibn al-Simma

  A legendary pre-Islamic knight, tribal champion and poet of Banu Jusham (Hawazin); an old, blind veteran carried in a litter at Hunayn, he vehemently criticized Malik ibn Awf's strategy of bringing women and herds into battle, and was slain at Awtas.

• Abu Quhafa Uthman ibn Amir

  The father of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq; an old, blind man who watched the Muslim army enter Mecca from Mount Abu Qubays and was brought by his son to the Prophet at Dhu Tuwa to profess Islam.

• Huwaytib ibn Abd al-Uzza

  A Meccan nobleman of Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy who witnessed the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyya on Quraysh's side; he embraced Islam at the conquest of Mecca, was granted one hundred camels at al-Ji'rana among al-Mu'allafa Qulubuhum, and lived to a very advanced age.

What is missing? Tell us · A theme is open when it has a reviewed guide, 10 questions, 25 entries across 5 classes, and voices from several traditions and regions.

Controversial topics

• Sexuality and gender diversity
• Converts and those who leave
• Images and figural art
• Takfir and its critics
• Dissent, heresy and freethought
• Conquest and its debates
• Violent extremism and the Muslim response
• Islam and atheism or secular thought