The Banu Ghifar ( ar, بنو غفار, Banū Ghifār) was an Arab tribe that belonged to the Banu Damra ibn Bakr, a branch of the large
Banu Kinanah tribe in the
Hejaz
The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...
region of Arabia.
They were sometimes derided as brigands and robbers by other Arabs in the region. The formerly-polytheistic tribe converted to Islam in the time of
Muhammad, with
Abu Dhar al-Ghifari being among the first of the Banu Ghifar to convert. The Banu Ghifar had at least two sub-clans, the Banu al-Nar and Banu Huraq, who lived near the city of
Medina.
The tribe joined the early Islamic conquests after their conversion, and some of them moved into Medina itself in later years.
A number of the Banu Ghifar supported the rebellion of
Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya against the
Abbasid caliphate.
References
{{Reflist
Tribes of Arabia
Kinana