Al-Muntafiq ( ar, المنتفق) was a large
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
tribal confederation of southern
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
. The confederation's tribes predominantly settled in Iraq's southern provinces and northern Kuwait. The confederation is not homogeneous in terms of sect/religion. Centuries of intermarriage and intermingling created mixed of
Sunni and
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
tribes. Therefore, a minority of individual tribes within the confederation is Sunni. Overall, it is almost impossible to delineate who is, and who is not part of the Muntafiq.
The tribe is divided into three main branches: Bani Malik, al-Ajwad, and Bani Sa'id. Most of the tribe traces its
genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
to the tribe of
Banu 'Uqayl of the large and ancient
Banu 'Amir
The Banū ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa ( ar, بنو عامر بن صعصعة) was a large and ancient Arab tribe originating from central Arabia, that dominated Najd for centuries after the rise of Islam. The tribe is an Arab Adnanite tribe and its ...
confederation of
Najd. However, the tribe's traditional leaders are Al-Saadun ("the house of Saadun"), who are said to be
Sharif
Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, f ...
s originating from
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
, while the al-Ajwad branch is said to partially originate from the ancient Arab tribe of
Tayy
, location = 2nd century CE–10th century: Jabal Tayy and Syrian Desert
10th century–16th century: Jabal Tayy, Syrian Desert, Jibal al-Sharat, al-Balqa, Palmyrene Steppe, Upper Mesopotamia, Northern Hejaz, Najd
, parent_tribe = Madh ...
. The Muntafiq tribe was led by Yusuf Beg of the Saadun clan. They were traditional rivals of the
Dhufir and of Ibn Saud, although Yusuf sometimes co-operated with Ibn Saud.
The tribe migrated to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
during the
Islamic conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
. In
Ottoman times, the tribe held control over the region of
Basrah
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is ha ...
under Ottoman suzerainty. In 1521, they successfully occupied
al-Ahsa and
al-Qatif (eastern
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
today) on the Ottomans' behalf, before being expelled by
Banu Khalid
Bani Khalid ( ar, بني خالد) is an Arab tribal confederation mainly inhabiting Eastern Arabia and Najd. The tribe ruled southern Iraq, Kuwait, and Eastern Arabia ( al-Hasa and al-Qatif) from the 15th century to the 18th century, and a ...
.
During the Ottoman era, most of the tribe settled into sedentary life and took up agriculture in southern and western Iraq. During the Ottoman era, from the late eighteenth century onwards, al-Muntafiq converted to Shia Islam.
The city of
Nasiriya
Nasiriyah ( ar, ٱلنَّاصِرِيَّة; BGN: ''An Nāşirīyah''; also spelled ''Nassiriya'' or ''Nasiriya'') is a city in Iraq. It is on the lower Euphrates, about south-southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. ...
in southern Iraq was named after one of the tribe's sheikhs, and the surrounding province was known as "Al-Muntafiq Province" until 1976.
Those who were herders of small animals such as
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...
and
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
, rather than
camels, and this made them less mobile and less competent as a fighting force compared to the camel-herding tribes of inner Arabia.
Although the tribe's nominal leaders, the Al Saadun, are
Sunnis, most of the tribe's members follow the
Shi'ite
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
sect of
Islam. After many decades of sedentarization, the tribal bond has weakened and the leadership of the Al Saadun is largely nominal.
Many stateless
Bedoon
The Bedoon or Bidoon (fully Bidoon jinsiya, ar, بدون ''Bidūn'' ar, بدون جنسية, 'without nationality') are stateless people in several Middle Eastern countries, but particularly in Kuwait, where there is a large population of state ...
in
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
belong to the Muntafiq tribal confederation.
Division
* Bani Malik:
# Al Ibrahim
# Al Wadai
# Al Majid
# Al Diwan
# Al Taughiyah
* Al Ajwad :
# Al Bdour
# Al Juwarin
# Al Ghazzi
# Al Shuraifat
* Bani Huchaim:
# Al Zayyad
# Al Ghazalat
# Bani Salamah
* Albu Salah:
# Al Shamlah
# Al Safaa
# Al Abada
# Al Araithib
* Albu Salah:
# Al Aunan
# Al Rufiat
# Al Zuaba
See also
*
Bedoon
The Bedoon or Bidoon (fully Bidoon jinsiya, ar, بدون ''Bidūn'' ar, بدون جنسية, 'without nationality') are stateless people in several Middle Eastern countries, but particularly in Kuwait, where there is a large population of state ...
Sources
* Levi Della Vida, G.; Sluglett, P. "al- Muntafiḳ ."
Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online
Christiane Thompson, Iranian Tentacles into Iraq, 200
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muntafiq
Tribes of Arabia
Tribes of Iraq
Tribes of Kuwait
Banu Uqayl
History of Kuwait