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 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 kings of
al-Hira 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 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 at
Nakhla, "revered by all the Mudar" according to
al-Tabari, was destroyed by
Khalid ibn al-Walid 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
References
Sources
* {{EI2 , last = Kindermann , first = H. , authorlink = , title = Rabīʾā and Muḍar , volume = 8 , pages = 352–354
Tribes of Arabia