Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf

Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf, born ʿAmr (عمرو), 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, ʿAmr chose for himself the name Hāshim. The narrations from Islamic hagiographists to explain this name change are varied: A narration suggests that ʿAmr 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". A third version claims is that Hāshim was the name God used for Abraham.