The Nisba of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya

Question

You wrote in a previous fatwa that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya is the son of Khawla bint Ja‘far al-Yamamiyya. This implies that Muhammad is the son of [a woman called] al-Hanafiyya; but if he is the son of Khawla, should he not be called Muhammad ibn Khawla? Did he come to Hazrat ‘Ali ﵁ as a share of the war-spoils, or was he born of Hazrat ‘Ali’s ﵁ loins and Khawla’s womb, or was he born in al-Yamama? And who was Ja‘far al-Yamami — a Jew or a Christian?

Answer

He was born of Khawla’s womb, from the loins of Hazrat ‘Ali ﵁; his mother was called Khawla al-Hanafiyya — this is an attribution to her tribe. Some people become known by their father, some by their mother, and some by their homeland; and in such an attribution the person’s real name is sometimes hidden and little known.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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