Qusai ibn Kilab ibn Murrah, also known as Qusayy or Kusayy, was the great-grandfather of Shaiba ibn Hashim, thus the great-great-great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Background
Qusai was born into the Quraysh tribe. His father was Kilab ibn Murrah who died when Qusai was an infant. According to Islamic tradition, he was a descendant of Ibrahim (Abraham) through his son Isma"il (Ishmael).
After his father"s death his mother Fatimah bint Sa"d ibn Sayl married Rabi"ah ibn Haram from the Bani Azra tribe, who took her with him to as-Sham where she gave birth to a son called Darraj.
Qusai grew up treating his step-father, Rabi"ah, as his father.
Career
When Qusai came of age, Hulail ibn Hubshiyyah the chief of Banu Khuza tribe was the trustee and guardian of the Ka"bah. When his father-in-law died after a battle which ended in arbitration, he committed the keys of the Ka"bah to Hubba, wife of Qusai. These and their posterity were known as Quraysh of Hollow, whereas his more remote kinsmen settled in the ravines of the surrounding hills and in the countryside beyond and were known as Quraysh of the Outskirts.
Qusai ruled as a king.
He reconstructed the Ka"bah from a state of decay, and made the Arab people build their houses around lieutenant He is known to have built the first "town hall" in the Arabian Peninsula, a spacious dwelling which was known as the House of Assembly.
Leaders of different clans met in this hall to discuss their social, commercial, cultural and political problems. Qusai created laws so that pilgrims who went to Mecca were supplied with food and water, which was paid for by a tax that the people paid.
He distributed the responsibilities of looking after the visitors during pilgrimage, taking care of Ka"bah, warfare, and pacifying amongst myriad tribes living in Mecca.
Qusai had many sons, some of them are Abd ibn Qusai, Abd-al-Dar ibn Qusai, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai and Abd-al-Uzza ibn Qusai. lieutenant was a marked characteristic of Qusai"s line that in each generation there would be one man who was altogether pre-eminent. However Qusai preferred his first born, Abd-al-Dar, although he was the least capable of all.
Shortly before Qusai"s death he invested all his rights, powers, and transferred the ownership of the House of Assembly to Abd-al-Dar.
Membership
When a quarrel broke out between Qusai and some members of the Rabi"ah tribe, they reproached him and betrayed the fact that they never regarded him as one of their own.
