Al-Qudwa, also spelled, al-Qudwah, Kudwah, Qidwa, () is a famous family of notables in the city of Gaza in the

State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

of the Ashraf class () . The family is also known as ''Arafat'' (), ''Arafat al-Qudwa'' or ''Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini'' .

History and background

The family traces its origins to two brothers, Sayed Mohammad bin Yusef al-Qudwa and Sayed Arafat bin Yusef al-Qudwa (the first), who moved in 1658 to Gaza from

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

(),

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

where the family was also known as "al-Nabhani" and as "al-Nabhani al-Qudwa al-Hussieni" since 1200. Sayed Mohammad bin Arafat al-Qudwa made extensive endowments around 1688, and later his descendants also did. The Qudwas belonged to the Ashraf class, the highest hereditary noble title in the Islamic world. Family fortunes later included homes and farmland in the vicinity of

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. In the mid 18th century their assets extended to include endowments and property still owned in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, where a leading Qudwa, Sayed Mohammad bin Arafat (the third), and his two sons, Sayed Abdullah and Sayed Mustafa, had lived (for part of their life times) and managed their business. Sayed Mohammad bin Arafat died in 1774 in Egypt, and his two sons returned to Gaza. In Gaza, Sayed Mustafa Arafat Al Qudwa was a Naqeeb al-Ashraf, (equal to Archduke: the son or male-line grandson of a sovereign nobleman), of the Hashemite nobility, or the head of the Ashraf class, descendants of

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

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 ...

in the late 18th century, a post held in the family since 1000 and held in the 20th century by

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

. Sayed Suleiman bin Mohammad bin Naqeeb Mustafa al-Qudwa was elected member of the Gaza city municipality council. His wife was Princess Quoot AlQuloob daughter of Prince Najem Eldeen Basha Altomertash (Chief Justice under the Egyptian monarchy in 1766). Sayed Suleiman left several sons, one of whom, Sheikh Sayed Abdul-Razzaq, was also elected to the city municipality council. Sheikh Sayed Abdul-Razzaq was also a traditionally-trained Islamic scholar who had studied under scholars (

Ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

) at the al-Azahar mosques (University) in Egypt; he died in 1872. Sayed Mahmood (d. 1942), the son of Sayed Abdul-Razzaq, served on the council of Awqaf (Endowments), and managed the large Qudwa endowment.

Prominent members

, His full name is Mohammad Yasser Abdul Raouf Dawoud Arafat al-Qudwa al-Hussieni, President of Palestinian National Authority, Chairman of PLO, and Laureate of the Nobel Prize * Fathi Arafat, founder and chairman of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, and member of the Palestinian National Council.The Independent
/ref> * Moussa Arafat, head of the Palestinian Public Security Service in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. * Muhammad al-Qudwa, governor of the Gaza Governorate (1996–2014) * Nasser al-Qudwa, former Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, UN special envoy to Syria.

References

{{reflist Palestinian families