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Notes on Islamic descents

Notes on the possibility of Islamic descents through the Royal houses of Spain and Portugal.

Introduction

Unlike Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad left many descendants, and prominent Muslims were interested from an early period in tracking his descendants, and also marrying them. As a result, there are many Islamic lines claiming to descend from Muhammad. And many of them may be true.

One big mystery is whether we can connect Western Christian lines to this tree. There is not yet any proven descent from the Prophet Muhammad to medieval European Christian lines. If any descent is established, it will probably be through medieval Spain and Portugal.

Muslim family trees
- Family tree of Muhammad

Claimed Christian descents from the Prophet Muhammad

It has been claimed that Auria, wife of Fortun Garces, King of Pamplona (died 922 AD), had Muslim ancestry, and may even have a descent from the Prophet Muhammad. This seems unproven.
A descent from the Prophet Muhammad has been alleged for Zaida of Seville, the Muslim mistress of Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile (died 1109). This seems unproven or disproven.
A descent from the Prophet Muhammad has been alleged for Maria de Padilla, mistress of Peter the Cruel, King of Castile and Leon (born 1334). This seems disproven.

Islamic descents from the Prophet Muhammad

Can we believe the Islamic descents? Some scholars believe that little from this period can be treated as reliable history:
- Historicity of Muhammad
- Did Muhammad Exist? by Robert Spencer (2012).
- Why I Am Not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq (1995).
  - Ch.3 ("The Problem of Sources")
However it is still almost certain that, if we accept that the Prophet existed, had wives and children, and there was status in marrying his descendants, then very soon (within say 300 years) all of the prominent families of Islam would be descended from him, even if some of the specific descents written down are not reliable.
Many prominent people in the Islamic world claim descent from the Prophet. See the titles Sayyid and Sharif.
The Aga Khan claims to descend from the Prophet.
The Hashemite dynasty (see article) claims to descend from the Prophet.
- The Hashemite Family Tree (also here)
- Muhammad's genealogy
People claiming descent from the Prophet:
1. Iran
  1. Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Iranian Islamist revolution, dictator of Iran.
  2. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, current dictator of Iran.
2. Iraq
  1. Ali al-Sistani, prominent Shia cleric.
  2. Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, prominent Shia cleric (see Sadr family).
  3. Muqtada al-Sadr, Islamist revolutionary.
  4. The Hashemite Kings of Iraq, 1921-58.
3. Jordan
  1. The Hashemite Kings of Jordan, 1921-date.
4. Egypt
  1. Sayyid Qutb, founder of Islamism.
5. Lebanon
  1. Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah.
6. Brunei
  1. The Sultan of Brunei apparently claims descent from the Prophet.
The claimed descent of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from the Prophet is fiction. He was a peasant who did not even know his own birthday. He forced Iraqi genealogists to list his descent from the Prophet. They removed him from their lists of descents after his fall in 2003.

Most people are probably descended from the Prophet Muhammad anyway

If we accept the argument above that, even if the exact lines aren't known, most of the prominent families of Islam would have soon ended up descended from the Prophet, then most of modern Islam would descend from the Prophet.
And only a tiny amount of intermarriage with Christians and Jews in medieval Spain would yield the result that, even if we know of no specific Christian descent, quite likely almost every Muslim, almost every Jew, and almost everyone in the West today is descended from the Prophet.
Simply put, if anyone at Muhammad's time left a reasonable number of descendants, they are probably the ancestor of most of the West today, even if no specific descent can be proved. See full discussion on Common ancestors of all humans.