The meaning of hameel
1
أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله، عن محمد بن الحسين، عن صفوان ابن يحيى، عن عبد الرحمن بن الحجاج، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: سألته عن الحميل فقال: وأي شئ الحميل، فقلت: المرأة تسبى من أرضها معها الولد الصغير فتقول هو ابني والرجل يسبى ويلقي أخاه فيقول هو أخي ليس لهما بينة إلا قولهما. قال: فما يقول فيه الناس عندكم؟ قلت: لا يورثونهم إذا لم يكن لهما على ولادتهما بينة إنما كانت ولادة في الشرك. فقال: سبحان الله إذا جاءت بابنها أو ابنتها لم تزل مقرة به وإذا عرف أخاه وكان ذلك في صحة منهما لم يزالوا مقرين بذلك ورث بعضهم بعضا.
1. We were told by my father, may Allah grant him mercy, that he said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, from Muhammed bin Hussain, from Safwan ibn Yahya, from Abdul-Rahman bin Hajjaj, from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, that he said: I asked him about the hameel, and he said: And what thing is hameel? I said: A woman who is taken as captive from her land and with her is a small child, and so she says: «He is my son», and a man who is taken as captive and meets his brother, and so he says: «He is my brother», while they have no proof except for their saying. He said: And what do the people among you say? I said: That they do not pass on inheritance to them if they have no proof of their birth; that the birth was only in a period of polytheism. He said: Glory be to Allah (how strange that is). If she brings her son or daughter, and she does not cease from declare it, and if the man recognizes his brother and it would be by the declaration of both as correct, and they do not cease to declare that, they will inherit each other.
2
أخبرني أبو الحسين محمد بن هارون الزنجاني، قال: حدثنا علي بن عبد العزيز، عن أبي عبيد قال: في حديث النبي صلى الله عليه وآله في قوم يخرجون من النار فينبتون كما تنبت الحبة في حميل السيل. قال الأصمعي: الحميل ما حمله السيل من كل شئ وكل محمول فهو حميل كما يقال للمقتول: " قتيل " ومنه قول عمر في الحميل: " لا يورث إلا ببينة " وسمي حميلا لأنه حمل من بلاده صغيرا ولم يولد في الاسلام. قال الأصمعي وأما الحبة فكل نبت له حب فاسم الحب منه الحبة. وقال الفراء: الحبة بزور البقل. وقال أبو عبيد: وفي الحميل تفسير آخر وهو أجود من هذا يقال: إنما سمي الحميل لأنه مجهول النسب وهو أن يقول الرجل هذا أخي أو أبي أو ابني فلا يصدق إلا ببينة لأنه يريد بذلك أن يدفع ميراث مولاه الذي أعتقه ولهذا قيل للدعي: " حميل " قال: الكميت يعاتب قضاعة في تحولهم إلى اليمن: على م نزلتم من غير فقر * ولا ضراء منزلة الحميل
I was informed by Abu’l-Hasan, Muhammed bin Harun al-Zanjani, that he said: We were told by Ali bin Abdul-Aziz, from Abu Ubaid, that he said with regards to the narration of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, about a people who will be taken out of the Fire and grow like how a seed vegetates in what is carried by overflowing water. Al-Asma’I said: The hameel is what is carried by overflowing water from all things. Every carried thing is a hameel, like how it is said to a person who is killed: qateel. From it stems the saying of Umar with regards to the hameel: «None passes on inheritance except with a proof». One is called hameel because one is carried from one’s country as a child and was not born into (the fold of) Islam. Al-Asma’I said: As for the seed, everything to which it vegetates seeds, the name of the one of them is a seed. Al-Farra’ said: A seed is that which is sown from leguminous plants. Abu Ubaid said: There is another interpretation to hameel, and it is more munificent (in meaning) than this. It is said: One is called hameel because one’s lineage is unknown, and it is that a man would say: «This is my brother» or «my father» or «my son», and so he would not be believed except with a proof, because in that case, he seeks to repel the inheritance of his master who set him free. That is why a bastard is called a hameel. Kumait said, whilst blaming Qudha’a for their relocation to Yemen: