Banu Awd () is a Qahtanite Arab tribe that historically inhabited
Yemen in the south of the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
.
History and origins
The Banu Awd are descendants of Awd ibn Sa'd al-'Ashirah ibn
Madh'hij. A Qahtanite tribe that mostly settled in Yemen in the pre-Islamic period. Awd is recorded to have two sons: Munabbah and Ka'b.
Although Arabic history books scarcely mention Banu Awd, they are recorded in most of the Arabic genealogist works. Banu Awd is recorded to have participated in the
Battle of Siffin on the side of
Ali's army. A man from Banu Awd named 'Amr ibn Aws was among the captives from the battle. They were delivered to
Muawiya I
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
to determine their fate. General
Amr ibn al-'As
( ar, عمرو بن العاص السهمي; 664) was the Arab commander who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in and was assigned impor ...
suggested to the caliph to kill all them, the captive Amr ibn Aws interrupted and said to Muawiya: "You are my maternal uncle so do not kill me" The Banu Awd came from
Kufa and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
to ask the caliph to release their fellow tribesman. Muawiya then asserted that if the man was telling the truth and that he was indeed this man's uncle he would release him without the need for the tribe to intervene. Amr ibn Aws proceeded to explain to the caliph that he is the son of
Umm Habiba
Umm Ḥabība Ramla bint Abī Sufyān ( ar, أم حبيبة رملة بنت أبي سفيان; 589 or 594–665) was a wife of Muhammad and therefore a Mother of the Believers.
Early life
She was the daughter of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and Safiyyah ...
h Muawiya's sister and the wife of the Prophet (The wives of the prophet were given the honorific title ''Mother of the Believers'') Muawiya, astonished at the man's words said: "Among these there is nobody who would have thought of it other than he! (meaning Amr ibn Aws)" And he set him free.
A notable member of Banu Awd known as
Zaynab of Banu Awd was a prominent physician in pre-Islamic period.
See also
*
Tribes of Arabia
*
Muhammad's wives
References
Yemeni tribes
Tribes of Arabia
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