Aqil ibn Abi Talib

ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib (lit. "Aqil the Son of Abu Talib"; full name , ), , was a cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an elder brother of Ali and Ja'far ibn Abi Talib.

Having fought on the side of the Qurayshi rulers of Mecca against Muhammad and the early Muslims, he converted to Islam a few years before the death of Muhammad . Under the second caliph Umar, he was appointed a position as an expert in the genealogy of the Quraysh. During the rivalry between his brother Ali (who reigned as the fourth caliph until his death ) and Mu'awiya (the first Umayyad caliph) Aqil first chose the side of his brother, but later may have deserted him in favor of Mu'awiya, as the latter is said to have offered him better financial incentives.

He was noted by later authors for his eloquence as well as for transmitting a number of hadith. Due to his close kinship with both Muhammad and with Ali, his descendants were sometimes reckoned among the (the extended family of Muhammad venerated by Shiite Muslims) by later generations. Most notably, the great majority of Somali clans claim to be descended from Aqil ibn Abi Talib, though this is historically untenable.

Biography

Aqil ibn Abi Talib is said to have been born 10 years after his elder brother Talib ibn Abi Talib (the first son of Muhammad's paternal uncle and guardian Abu Talib and Fatima bint Asad), and 10 and 20 years before his younger brothers and , respectively. After the death of his father Abu Talib in , Aqil and his older brother Talib inherited great wealth. he always defended his brother Ali against any criticism leveled against him at Mu'awiya's court. One possible genealogical table may look as follows:

Aqil ibn Abi Talib Darod Darod clan Samaale Irir Hawiye clan Aji Dir clan (matrilineally) Isaaq clan Sab Digil Rahanweyn clan

These genealogical claims, which are part of what Sada Mire has called "the Somali Islamic myth of origin", are historically untenable. However, they do reflect the longstanding cultural contacts between Somalia (especially, though not exclusively, its most northern part Somaliland) and Southern Arabia.