Aqil ibn Abi Talib

ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib (lit. "Aqil the Son of Abu Talib"; full name Abū Yazīd ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, Arabic: أبو يزيد عقيل بن أبي طالب بن عبد المطّلب بن هاشم), c. 580 – 670 or 683, was a cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (c. 570 – 632) and an elder brother of Ali (c. 600 – 661) and Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (c. 590 – 629).^[1]

Having fought on the side of the Qurayshi rulers of Mecca against Muhammad and the early Muslims, he converted to Islam a few years before the death of Muhammad in 632. Under the second caliph Umar (r. 634–644), he was appointed a position as an expert in the genealogy of the Quraysh. During the rivalry between his brother Ali (who reigned as the fourth caliph from 656 until his death in 661) and Mu'awiya (the first Umayyad caliph, r. 661–680) Aqil first chose the side of his brother, but later may have deserted him in favor of Mu'awiya, as the latter offered him better financial incentives.

He was noted by later authors for his eloquence as well as for transmitting a number of hadith. Due to his close kinship with both Muhammad and with Ali, his descendants were sometimes reckoned among the Ahl al-Bayt (the extended family of Muhammad venerated by Shiite Muslims) by later generations. Most notably, the great majority of Somali clans claim to be descended from Aqil ibn Abi Talib, though this is historically untenable.