The Khindif (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: خندف) also known as the Banu Ilyas ibn Mudar are a group of Mudarite Arab tribes that descend from the patriarch

Ilyas ibn Mudar Ilyas ibn Mudar () also spelled al-Yas was a pre-Islamic Arabian tribal chief and an ancestor of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is the progenitor of the Khindifite tribes, such as the Quraysh. A pioneer of pre-Islamic monotheism, Ilyas ibn Mud ...

. The tribes of

Banu Tamim The Banū Tamīm () are an Arab tribe that originated in Najd and Hejaz in the Arabian Peninsula. It is mainly present in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Jordan and Lebanon, and has a strong presence in Algeria, and Morocco, Palestine, ...

Banu Kinana Kinana () is an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout the Arab wor ...

Banu Hudhayl Banu Hudhayl () is an Arab tribe that originated in the Hejaz. The tribe mainly inhabits Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt. The tribe was one of the tribes in contact with the Islamic prophet Muhammad and they are known throughout history f ...

and

Banu Asad Banu Asad () is an Arab tribe, descended from Asad ibn Khuzayma. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous and influential tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have buri ...

are amongst the various branches of the Khindif group. The Khindif are also ancestors of the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

tribal confederation.

Tribal lineage

The Khindif are named for Khindif Laila, who was the wife of

. Their full lineage, according to genealogists, is: Ilyas, son of Mudar, son of Nizar, son of Ma'ad, son of Adnan.Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Isḥāq's sīrat.'' London. As evident from their lineage, they are descended from Adnan which makes them Adnanite Arabs. Adnan's descent from

Ishmael In the Bible, biblical Book of Genesis, Ishmael (; ; ; ) is the first son of Abraham. His mother was Hagar, the handmaiden of Abraham's wife Sarah. He died at the age of 137. Traditionally, he is seen as the ancestor of the Arabs. Within Isla ...

confirms them as amongst the

Ishmaelites The Ishmaelites (; ) were a collection of various Arab tribes, tribal confederations and small kingdoms described in Abrahamic tradition as being descended from and named after Ishmael, a prophet according to the Quran, the first son of Abraha ...

, or the "Arabized Arabs" of the

Hijaz Hejaz is a historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al-Bahah. It is thus known as the "Western Province ...

region.

Branches

Khindif Laila gave birth to three sons, Mudrikah, Tabikha, and Qam'ah. According to Muslim historian and genealogist

Ibn Ishaq Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar al-Muttalibi (; – , known simply as Ibn Ishaq, was an 8th-century Muslim historian and hagiographer who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of the Islamic proph ...

, the three sons were originally named Amir, 'Amr and Umayr respectively but their names were changed later on. *Mudrikah was the ancestor of the

tribe as well as the

and the

. *Tabikha was the ancestor of the

tribe and its divisions, including the Banu Dabbah tribe. *Qum'ah is said to have been the ancestor of the

Banu Khuza'ah The Banū Khuzāʿah (, singular ''Khuzāʿī'') are an Azdite, Qahtanite tribe, one of the main ancestral tribes of Arabia. They ruled Mecca and were the Kings of Hejaz for 500 years, before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and many members of t ...

; but there is dispute to whether the Khuza'ah were even of Adnanite or

Qahtanite The Qahtanites (; ), also known as Banu Qahtan () or by their nickname ''al-Arab al-Ariba'' (), are the Arabs who originate from modern-day Yemen. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple Ancient South Arabian script, Ancient South Arabian ins ...

descent. A group of genealogists and scholars believe the Banu Khuza'ah were descended from

Qahtan The Qahtanites (; ), also known as Banu Qahtan () or by their nickname ''al-Arab al-Ariba'' (), are the Arabs who originate from modern-day Yemen. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple Ancient South Arabian script, Ancient South Arabian ins ...

.Yāqūt bin ‘Abdullāh al-Hamawī: ''Al-Muqtaḑab min Kitāb Jamharat al-Nasab.'' 1st ed. Pg. 230. Ed. Nājī Ḥasan, Iraq 1987. However, others believe that they were descended from Adnan through 'Amr ibn Luhayy who is from the descendants of Qam'ah.

Badr al-Din al-Ayni Abū Muḥammad Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad ibn Mūsā Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī, often quoted simply as al-'Ayni (; born 26 Ramadan 762 AH/30 July 1360 CE, died 855 AH/1453 CE) was a Sunni Islamic scholar of the Hanafi madh'hab and the Shadhili tariq ...

resolves the dispute by attributing 'Amr as an adoptive grandson of Haritha al-Azdi; hence making 'Amr ibn Luhayy a Qahtanite by adoption and Adnanite by birth (so the descent from Qam'ah is still acknowledged).

History

In ancient times, the Khindif resided in the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

in the region of the

Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ') is the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in masculine form) was the ancient M ...

. However, the tribes descended of Mudrikah managed to expel the tribes that were descended of Tabikha from the Tihamah. The Tabikhites resided in the region of

Al-Yamama Al-Yamama () is a historical region in south-eastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Only a handful of centralized states ever arose in the Yamama, but it figured prominently in early Islamic history, becoming a central theater in the Ridd ...

afterwards. The

, descendants of Mudrikah, held prominence in

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 ...

from the late 6th century until the rise of Islam; which was led by the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, himself from the descendants of Mudrikah (hence making him among the Khindifites as well).

Religion

Currently, the Khindif are a mainly Muslim tribe. In the pre-Islamic times, the ancestor of the Khindif tribes, Ilyas, was a monotheist who abhorred the worship of idols. But many years after his death, his descendants would be the first amongst the Arabs to worship the statues of

Suwa' Suwāʿ () or Soveh, if translated to English, is mentioned in the Qur'an (71:23) as a deity of the time of the Prophet Noah. And they say: Forsake not your gods, nor forsake Wadd, nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth and Ya'uq and Nasr. (Qur'an 71:23) M ...

and

Hubal In Arabian mythology, Hubal () was a god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably by the Quraysh at the Kaaba in Mecca. The god's icon was a human figure believed to control acts of divination, which was performed by tossing arrows before the ...

. Minority 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 ...

, for example

Waraqah ibn Nawfal Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn Abd-al-Uzza ibn Qusayy Al-Qurashi (Arabic ) was a Christian Arabian ascetic who was the paternal first cousin of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the first wife of Muhammad. He was considered to be a ''hanif'', who practi ...

from the Quraysh tribe. Members of the Khindif would later convert to Islam starting from the 7th century CE.

Dynasties

From Mudrikah

* Umayyads - ruling dynasty of the

Umayyad Caliphate 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 member o ...

from the Quraysh which formerly ruled Arabia and Syria *

Hashemites The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Me ...

– current ruling dynasty of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

since 1921 * Sultans of Brunei – starting from 1425, the Sultans ruling

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

were a dynasty descended from

From Tabikha

Al Thani The House of Thani () is the ruling family of Qatar, with origins tracing back to the Adnanites, Adnanite Banu Tamim tribe. Today Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his mother Moza bint Nasser, Moza bint Nassir lead the house. History and structure ...

– the current ruling dynasty of

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

since 1847 *

Aghlabids The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...

– ruling dynasty of

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

(800–909) * Al Mu'ammar – ruling dynasty of Najd (1818–1820) * Al ash-Sheikh – dynasty of clerics and scholars descended from

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī (1703–1792) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, theologian, preacher, activist, religious leader, jurist, and reformer, who was from Najd in Arabian Peninsula and is considered as the eponymo ...

, who is from the Banu Tamim

References

{{reflist Tribes of Arabia Adnanites