The Banu Fazara or Fazzara or Fezara or Fezzara () were an

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 whose original homeland was

Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...

Origins

According to Arab genealogical tradition, the

progenitor In genealogy, a progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; or ''Ahnherr'') is the founder (sometimes one that is legendary) of a family, line of descent, gens, clan, tribe, noble house, or ethnic group.. Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines Geschlec ...

of the Banu Fazara was Fazāra ibn Dhubyān ibn Baghīḍ ibn Rayth ibn Ghaṭafān. Thus the tribe belonged to the Dhubyan branch of the

Ghatafan The Ghaṭafān () were an Arab tribal confederation originally based northeast of Medina. The main branches of the Ghatafan were the tribes of Banu Abs, Banu Dhubyan and Ashja'. They were one of the Arab tribes that interacted with Muhammad. Th ...

tribe, making the Fazara a north Arabian tribe. Its ancestral pasture grounds were in the Wadi al-Rumma region of the

in central Arabia.

History

In the pre-Islamic period, the Fazara were known for their rivalry with the

Banu Abs The Banu Abs (, "sons of ") are an ancient Bedouin tribe that originated in central Arabia. They form a branch of the powerful and numerous Ghatafan tribes. They still inhabit the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa but have spread to man ...

, another branch of the Ghatafan. The two tribes fought against each other in the war of 'Dahis and Ghabra', so-called after the horses of the tribes' respective chiefs, Qays ibn Zuhayr ibn Jadhima of the Abs and Hudhayfa ibn Badr of the Fazara. According to the story of the war, the Fazara originally bested the Abs due to underhanded acts and the Abs retaliated by killing a brother of Hudhayfa. The latter, then his son Hisn, led the tribe during the long-running war. Peace was eventually established between the brother tribes, after which Fazara, under Hisn's son Uyayna, engaged in feuds with the

Banu Amir The Banu Amir () was a large and ancient Arab tribe originating from Western Arabia that dominated Najd for centuries after the rise of Islam. It was an independent branch of the Hawazin confederation, and its original homeland was the border are ...

, the

Banu Jusham The Banu Jusham () were a large sub-tribe in the Arabian Peninsula during the time of Mohammed. According to genealogists and various oral traditions, they are the descendants of Jusham ibn Muawiya ibn Bakr ibn Hawazin. Branches The main tribes ...

, and other groups. The Fazara under Uyayna participated in 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 ...

ite siege of 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 ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

in 627. They later raided a Muslim expedition under

Zayd ibn Haritha Zayd ibn Ḥāritha al-Kalbī () (), was an early Muslim, Sahabi and the adopted son of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He is commonly regarded as the fourth person to have accepted Islam, after Muhammad's wife Khadija, Muhammad's cousin Ali, a ...

, and in 628, supported the Jews of

Khaybar KhaybarOther Arabic transliteration, standardized Arabic transliterations: / . Anglicized pronunciation: , . (, ) is an oasis in Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province, Saudi Arabia, situated some north of the city of Medina. Prior to ...

against the Muslims. By 630, Uyayna made peace with Muhammad and participated in the Muslim victories at

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 ...

and Hunayn. A Fazara delegation submitted to Muhammad, but after his death in 632, broke off allegiance from the Muslims and joined the rebel chief

Tulayha Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal al-Asadi () was a wealthy Arab clan chief and military commander during the time of Muhammad; he belonged to the Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah tribe. In 625 he was defeated in the Expedition of Qatan, a Muslim expedi ...

in the

Ridda Wars The Ridda Wars were a series of military campaigns launched by the first caliph Abu Bakr against rebellious Arabian tribes, some of which were led by rival prophet claimants. They began shortly after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in ...

. The Muslims defeated them and the Fazara submitted once again to Muslim rule. In the modern day, the Fazara section of the

Sudanese Arabs Sudanese Arabs () are the inhabitants of Sudan who identify as Arabs and speak Sudanese Arabic, Arabic as their mother tongue. Sudanese Arabs make up 70% of the population of Sudan, however prior to the independence of South Sudan in 2011, Suda ...

are camel-nomadic Arab tribes who live in the pastures of

North Kordofan North Kordofan () is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 185,302 km2 and an estimated population of 3,174,029 people (2018 est). El-Obeid is the capital of the state. North Kordofan is generally arid and desert. ...

. They include the Shanabla, Majaneen, Bani-Jarrar, and Bani-Dhubian.

Umm Qirfa

Umm Qirfa Fatima was a leader of the Banu Fazara Arab tribe from Wadi Al-Qura. Ancient genealogies described Umm Qirfa as a member of the Banu Fazara. She married into the Banu Badr. According to

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 ...

and

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

, Umm Qirfa was wealthy. She was described as being an old woman with high social status and wife of Malik ibn Hudhayfa ibn Badr al-Fazari. After her thirty horsemen were defeated by

ordered Qirfa or her children to be slaughtered "by putting a rope into her two legs and to two camels and driving them until they rent her in two..." Two of her limbs were torn in two by four camels, and her severed head was later paraded all over the streets of

. But the story is transmitted through weak chains of transmission.www.ebnmaryam.com
As for the first narration, which was mentioned by

, the sequence of its chain of transmission is as follows: :''Muhammad bin Hamid Al-Razi → Ibn Ishaq → Abdullah bin Abi Bakr '' There are two problems with the chain. Muhammad ibn Hamid al-Razi considered unreliable transmitter by

Al-Nasa'i Al-Nasāʾī (214 – 303 Islamic calendar, AH; 829 – 915 CE), full name Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb ibn ʿAlī ibn Sinān ibn Baḥr ibn Dīnar al-Khurasānī al-Nasāʾī (), was a noted collector of hadith (sayin ...

, Abu Ishaq al-Jawzjani, and others. Also,

narrates it on the authority of Abdullah Ibn Abu Bakr, even though the time difference between them was 69 years. Ali ibn Naayif Ash-Shahood in his book ''Al-Mufassal Fi Ar-Radd ‘Ala Shubuhaat A’daa’ Al-Islam'' states about this matter: Al-Waqidi has been condemned as an untrustworthy narrator and has been frequently and severely criticized by scholars, thus his narrations have been abandoned by the majority of hadith scholars. Yahya ibn Ma'een said: "Al-Waqidi narrated 20,000 false hadith about the prophet".

Al-Shafi'i Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles ...

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. T ...

and Al-Albanisaid: "Al-Waqidi is a liar" while Al-Bukhari said he didn't include a single letter by Al-Waqidi in his hadith works. On the other hand the story goes against the Prophet Muhammad's orders to merciful killing and forbid mutilation. In, Safi-Ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri in his book ''

Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum ''Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum'' (; ) is a seerah book (biography of Prophet Muhammad) by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri. It was awarded first prize by the Muslim World League in a worldwide competition of biographies of Prophet Muhammad held in Mecca in 19 ...

'' tells that Umm Qirfa wanted to kill Muhammad:

References

Bibliography

* * {{Historical Arab tribes Fazara History of Najd Tribes of Arabia