Quraysh
Nation of the Quran
Qurayshقريش
Traditional date, disputedMakkah
The Prophet's ﷺ own tribe, keepers of the Kaaba and masters of the winter and summer caravans (106:2). Their leaders opposed him for twenty years, boycotted his clan, plotted to kill him (8:30) and fought him at Badr, Uhud and the Trench. Yet Khadijah and Abu Bakr, among the first believers, were also of Quraysh.
What does the Quran say?
Let them worship the Lord of this House,
Quran 106:3
How did they end?
They were not destroyed. Makkah opened in 630 almost without fighting, the Prophet ﷺ forgave them, and Quraysh entered Islam; the first caliphs came from among them.
What do historians say?
Little archaeology has been done in Makkah, and the Quraysh are known mainly from Arabic sources. A place called Macoraba in Ptolemy's geography is sometimes, but not certainly, identified with Makkah.
The lesson
Even fierce enemies can become the carriers of the message.
Where do they appear in the story?
Everyone and everything in the timeline
People named in the Quran and the hadith, the Prophet's ﷺ family and Companions, scholars, rulers, the nations of the Quran, the world's empires and the places where it all happened. Where scholars differ, each entry says so.
Nations of the Quran
- People of Nuh
- Ad
- Thamud
- People of Lut
- Madyan
- Companions of the Thicket
- Companions of the Rass
- People of Tubba
- Saba (Sheba)
- Bani Israil
- People of Firaun
- People of Yunus
- The city of the Sleepers
- Companions of the Ditch
- Companions of the Elephant
- People of the Sabbath
- Yajuj and Majuj
- Quraysh
- Thaqif
- Hawazin
- Aws and Khazraj (the Ansar)
- The Romans (Rum)
- The Persians
- People of Ibrahim
- Jurhum
- People of Ilyas
- People of the Town (Ya-Sin)
- The Sabians
- The Magians (Majus)