Hashim ibn Abd Manaf

Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf (Arabic: هاشم بن عبد مناف; c. 464–497), born ʿAmr al-ʿUlā (عمرو العلا), was the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the progenitor of the ruling Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. At some point in his life before his father's death, 'Amr chose for himself the name Hāshim, as it was the name God used for Abraham ('Amr was a Hanif, follower of the "religion of Abraham"). The narrations from Islamic hagiographists to explain this name change are varied: A narration suggests that `Amr was called Hashim because Hashim translates as pulverizer in Arabic. As a generous man, he initiated the practice of providing crumbled bread in broth that was later adapted for the pilgrims to the Ka'aba in Mecca. Another narration claims the name derives from the Arabic root Hashm, to save the starving, because he arranged for the feeding of the people of Mecca during a seasonal famine, and he thus came to be known as "the man who fed the starved" (Arabic: هشم الجياع).