Draft:Aqil

Aqil
Name	Aqil
Other Names	{{{other_names}}}
Personal Details
Birth Place	{{{birth_place}}}
Brith Date	10 years after the Year of the Elephant
Death Place	Medina, Al-Baqi'
Death Date	{{{death_date}}}
Religion	Islam

Aqil ibn Abi Talib was the elder brother of Imam Ali (peace be upon him).

Biography

Aqil was the son of Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim. His mother was Fatimah bint Asad ibn Hashim, and he was the cousin of the noble Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny). He was Hashemite from both his father's and mother's sides. Imam Ali (peace be upon him), Ja'far, Talib, Umm Hani (Fakhita), Jumanah, and Raytah were his brothers and sisters.

He was 20 years older than Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and 10 years older than Ja'far, and 10 years younger than Talib. Therefore, his birth year can be considered 30 years before the Mission of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny). Aqil was specially loved and cherished by Abu Talib. In the years when the people of Mecca were experiencing hard times due to drought, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his progeny) suggested to his uncle Abbas that they go to Abu Talib's house and each take one of his children to their own homes to raise, thereby lightening the burden of his life.

When they went to Abu Talib's house and raised the subject, Abu Talib said: Leave Aqil for me and do whatever you wish with the others. The noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) took Imam Ali (peace be upon him) to his home, and Abbas took Ja'far.

Aqil had 17 children named: Muslim, Abdullah, Ubayd Allah, Muhammad, Abd al-Rahman, Hamza, Ali, Ja'far, Yazid, Uthman, Sa'id, Sa'd, Ramla, Zaynab, Fatimah, Isma'il, and Umm Hani.

Muslim ibn Aqil was sent to Kufa by Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) during the movement and uprising of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and was arrested there by Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, the governor of Kufa, and was martyred in a distressing manner. Abdullah and Abd al-Rahman were also martyred on the Day of Ashura.

Aqil's other children became extinct and no offspring remained from them except Muhammad, whose children are the well-known jurist and exegete Abdullah and Abd al-Rahman.

Conversion to Islam

Several members of Banu Hashim had converted to Islam in Mecca before the Battle of Badr and, for certain interests and out of taqiyyah, refrained from declaring it. Their participation alongside the polytheists in the Battle of Badr was also out of compulsion and coercion.

Therefore, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his progeny) ordered his companions that "Several members of Banu Hashim have participated in this war (Badr) who had no need in the war; if you find them, refrain from shedding their blood," among whom were Abbas, Aqil, and Abu al-Bukhtari.

After Aqil and Abbas were captured by the Muslims in the Battle of Badr, they declared their Islam. Ibn Qutaybah al-Dinawari says regarding this: "So Abbas accepted Islam and ordered Aqil to accept Islam, and none of the captives accepted Islam except these two" "Among the captives of Mecca who came into the possession of the Muslims, no one accepted Islam except Abbas and Aqil." Even if Aqil's conversion to Islam was not before the Battle of Badr, it is certain and definite that he converted to Islam during the Battle of Badr and from the second year of the Hijrah, and was among the Muslims.

Aqil in Sunni Rijal Scholarship

In this discussion of "The Personality of Aqil from the Perspective of Sunni Rijal Scholars," the issue raised is that their specialization is biographical evaluation and their work is to introduce narrators of Hadith in terms of their spiritual status and reliability or the opposite. They have mentioned Aqil not in terms of the quantity of Hadith nor from the angle of history and being a Companion, but from the aspect that he is among the men of Hadith and narrators of the effect and Sunnah of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his progeny). Among the Rijal scholars and sources available to us are:

1. The head of Sunni Rijal scholars, Abu Hatim al-Razi (d. 327 AH), who introduced Aqil as one of the narrators of Hadith and counts four people who took Hadith from him, and says: "Aqil is among the Companions of the Messenger of God and the narrators of the Prophet's Hadith from him are: Musa ibn Talhah, Ata ibn Abi Riyah, Hasan (al-Basri), and Malik ibn Abi Amir.
2. Among those who introduced Aqil with this title is Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in "Tahdhib al-Tahdhib," but he mentions the number of narrators of Hadith from Aqil as seven, writing: "Narrators of Hadith from him; are his son Muhammad, his grandson Abdullah ibn Muhammad, and besides these Ata, Abu Salih Samman, Musa ibn Talhah, Hasan al-Basri, and Malik ibn Abi Amir Asbahi". Ibn Hajar also mentions Aqil as one of the men of Hadith in his other book "Taqrib al-Tahdhib".
3. Al-Hafiz Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi counts the narrators of Hadith from Aqil like Ibn Hajar, with the exception of Malik ibn Abi Amir, and writes: "His son Muhammad narrated from him and ..."

References

• Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra
• Tarikh al-Tabari
• Maqatil al-Talibiyyin
• Sharh Nahj al-Balagha
• Al-Kamil ibn al-Athir
• Sirat Ibn Hisham
• Al-Ma'arif
• Al-Iqd al-Farid
• Ayan al-Shia
• Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil
• Tahdhib al-Tahdhib
• Taqrib al-Tahdhib
• Tarikh Islam: Ahd Muawiyah

Aqil's Presence at the Wedding Ceremony of Ali and Fatimah

It should be noted that the Battle of Badr occurred at the end of Jumada al-Thani, 2 AH (624 CE), and the marriage of the Commander of the Faithful to Lady Fatimah Zahra (peace be upon her) took place five months after this battle, on the 1st or 6th of Dhu al-Hijjah of the same year.

According to Shia sources, Aqil was present and participated in two stages of this wedding ceremony:

First Stage

According to the report of "Arbili", the famous traditionist and historian in Kashf al-Ghummah, within a detailed narration from the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) regarding his marriage to Fatimah (peace be upon her), it is stated:

"After one month passed from the engagement ceremony, my brother Aqil came to me and while expressing joy over my marriage to the daughter of the Prophet, he said: Brother! Why do you not ask the Messenger of Allah to allow you to bring your wife to your house, so that by forming a new life our eyes may be brighter and our hearts happier? I said: Brother! Shame and modesty before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) prevented this request. Then he made me swear to go with him to the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) and..."

Second Stage

The great Shia traditionist, Shaykh Saduq, in a narration, has transmitted the event of escorting Lady Fatimah to the home of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), and in that narration it is stated that: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) seated Fatimah (peace be upon her) on the Shahba camel. Salman took the camel's rein, and the Messenger of Allah, Hamzah, Aqil, Ja'far, and Ahl al-Bayt walked behind her with drawn swords, and the wives of the Prophet were also moving ahead while singing. (wa al-Nabi wa Hamzah wa Aqil wa Ja'far wa Ahl al-Bayt yamshuna khalfaha mushhirina suyufahum...)

Death of Aqil

Some have stated his death occurred during the government of Muawiyah, and some at the beginning of the Caliphate of Yazid (before the Event of Harrah).