Samad (; transliteration: ''Ṣamād'', also spelled ''Smad'') is a village in southern

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 ...

, administratively part of the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 2594 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra G ...

, located east of

Daraa Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

and immediately southeast of

Bosra Bosra (), formerly Bostra () and officially called Busra al-Sham (), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region. Bosra is an ancient cit ...

. Other nearby localities include

al-Qurayya Al-Qurayya (; also spelled al-Qrayya or Kureiyeh) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda Governorate, located south of al-Suwayda. Nearby localities include Bosra to the southwest, Hout, Syria, Hout to the south, Salk ...

to the northeast, Hout to the east and

Dhibin Dhibin (; also spelled ''Dhaybin'' or ''Thibin'') is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Salkhad District of the al-Suwayda Governorate. It is located south of al-Suwayda, near the southern border with Jordan. Nearby localiti ...

to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Samad had a population of 3,098 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate.

History

An inscription dating back was found in Samad dating back to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

era testifying that a "public speaker's

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

" was built by the local

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

tribe of Daban (Dabanenoi) in the village of Samad. During the late

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

era in the 15th century, Samad was the home of the Samadiyya branch of the

Qadiriyya The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is widesp ...

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

order founded by a certain Shaykh Salim, a student of Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani (died 1166).Nahrawali 2005, p. 65.Bakhit 1982, p. 183. Leadership of the Samadiyya order was hereditary and led by Shaykh Salim's descendants from their '' zawiya'' (Sufi lodge) in Samad. In 1518, the Samadiyya order's sheikh (religious leader) Muhammad ibn Khalil ibn Ali ibn Isa ibn Ahmad al-Samadi (1505–1541) gained an audience with the Ottoman sultan

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

and secured imperial support for his order (''

tariqa A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the ...

''). He also relocated its principal ''zawiya'' to the as-Salihiyya suburb of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1520 and then erected a new principal ''zawiya'' in the Shaghur neighborhood in 1525. The order was named after Samad and maintained its name after the move of its main headquarters to Damascus during the early Ottoman era. Samad is possibly the place named ''Garita al-Janahiyya'' in the 1596 tax registers, being part of the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' (subdistrict) of Bani Malik as-Sadir in the Qada Hauran. It had an entirely

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

population consisting of 32 households and 13 bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 11,000

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...

. In 1838, it was noted as a ruin, ''Sumad'', situated in "the Nukra

auran plain N3V Games (formerly Auran Development and later n3vrf41l Publishing) is an Australian video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Helensvale, Queensland, Australia. Auran is now operated as a holding company, with operatio ...

south of

".Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p
154
/ref>

Modern era

As of 1980, Samad was a village with an estimated population 1,500, consisting of eight clans.Batatu 1999, p. 24. Between 1925 and at least 1980, the office of ''shaykh al-balad'' (village headman) has been filled by members of the al-Shuyukh clan.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Daraa Governorate, daraa Populated places in Daraa District Villages in Syria