The Mudar () was a principal grouping of the
northern Arab tribes.
History
The Mudar and
Rabi'a are recorded in central Arabia in the Arabic histories of the
pre-Islamic period; the kings of the
Kindah
Kinda or Kindah may refer to:
People
Given name
* Kinda Alloush (born 1982), Syrian actress
* Kinda El-Khatib (born 1996 or 1997), Lebanese activist
Surname
* Chris Kinda (born 1999), Namibian para-athlete
* Gadi Kinda (1994–2025), Isr ...
bore the title of "king of the Ma'add (or Mudar) and Rabi'a", and they played a role in the conflicts with the Yemeni (southern Arab) tribes. It is unclear, however, in how far these tribes really emerged in the manner described, or are later, artificial designations that emerged through inter-tribal rivalries and conflicts. Even the conflict between the Yemeni and northern tribes is considered by some modern scholars to be a later invention, reflecting the tribal rivalries of the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
period rather than the realities of pre-Islamic Arabia. According to the Arabic sources, a large number of Mudar (identified by some modern scholars with the Μαυζανῖται, ''Mauzanitae'' likely one of the smaller tribes known as
Muzayna of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
sources) also migrated to
Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the regio ...
, where they gave their name to the district of
Diyar Mudar. After the collapse of the Kindah kingdom, the Mudar of central Arabia came under the control of the
Lakhmid
The Lakhmid kingdom ( ), also referred to as al-Manādhirah () or as Banū Lakhm (), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Sawad, Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a d ...
kings of
al-Hira
Al-Hira ( Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient Lakhmid Arabic city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq.
The Sasanian government established the Lakhmid state (Al-Hirah) on the edge of the Arabian Desert ...
during the reign of
al-Mundhir III.
The Mudar dominated
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
after driving out the Jurhum, and held some of the religious offices connected with the
Ka'aba
The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is consi ...
sanctuary. Unlike the Rabi'a, who converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
in large numbers, the Mudar remained attached to the
traditional polytheistic religion. The idol of
al-Uzza
Al-ʻUzzá or al-ʻUzzā (, , ) was one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in pre-Islamic times and she was worshipped by the pre-Islamic Arabs along with Al-Lat and Manāt. A stone cube at Nakhla (near Mecca) was held sacred a ...
at
Nakhla, "revered by all the Mudar" according to
al-Tabari
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...
, was destroyed by
Khalid ibn al-Walid
Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arabs, Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career ...
in 630. Although the
Muzayna boasted of having accepted Muhammad and Islam already in
AH 5 (626/7 CE), it was not until the "Year of the Deputations" in 631 that the other Mudar tribes began converting to Islam.
Traditional ancestor
According to the Arab genealogists, Mudar was the son of
Nizar ibn Ma'add ibn Adnan by Sawda bint Akk ibn Adnan.
See also
*
Arab tribes
*
Qays
Qays ʿAylān (), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the ea ...
References
Sources
* {{EI2 , last = Kindermann , first = H. , authorlink = , title = Rabīʾā and Muḍar , volume = 8 , pages = 352–354
Tribes of Arabia