Rabīʿa ibn Nizar () is the patriarch of one of two main branches of the "North Arabian" (

Adnanite The Adnanites () were a tribal confederation of the Ishmaelites, Ishmaelite Arabs who originate from the Hejaz. They trace their lineage back to Ishmael in Islam, Ishmael, son of the Islamic prophet and patriarch Abraham in Islam, Abraham and hi ...

) tribes, the other branch being founded by Mudhar.

Branches

According to the classical Arab genealogists, the following are the important branches of Rabīʿa: * Abd al-Qays * Anizah * Anz ibn Wa'il * Banu Bakr, which also included the following sub-tribes ** Banu Hanifa ** Banu Shayban ** Banu Qays ibn Tha'laba ** Taym Allah (or Taym Allat) ** Banu Yashkur * Taghlib * al-Nammir ibn Qasit

Location

Like the rest of the Adnanite Arabs, legend has it that Rabīʿa's original homelands were in the

Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ') is the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in masculine form) was the ancient M ...

region of western

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, from which Rabīʿa migrated northwards and eastwards. Abd al-Qays were one of the inhabitants of the region of

Eastern Arabia Eastern Arabia () is a region stretched from Basra to Khasab along the Persian Gulf coast and included parts of modern-day Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province), and the United Arab ...

, including the modern-day islands of

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, and were mostly sedentary. Bakr's lands stretched from

al-Yamama Al-Yamama () is a historical region in south-eastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Only a handful of centralized states ever arose in the Yamama, but it figured prominently in early Islamic history, becoming a central theater in the Ridd ...

(the region around modern-day

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

) to northwestern

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. The main body of the tribe was

bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

, but a powerful and autonomous sedentary sub-tribe of Bakr also resided in al-Yamama, the Bani Hanifa. Taghlib resided on the eastern banks of the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

, and al-Nammir are said to have been their clients. Anz inhabited southern Arabia, and are said to have been decimated by the plague in the 13th century, though a tribe named "Rabīʿa" in modern-day 'Asir is said to be its descendant.

Anazah Anizah or Anazah (, Najdi Arabic, Najdi pronunciation: ) is an Arabian tribe in the Arabian Peninsula, Upper Mesopotamia, and the Levant. Genealogy and origins Anizah's existence as an autonomous tribal group, like many prominent modern trib ...

was divided into a sedentary section in southern Yamama and a bedouin section further north. Abd al-Qays, Taghlib, al-Nammir, and some sections of Bakr were mostly

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

before Islam, with Taghlib remaining a Christian tribe for some time afterwards as well.

and Bakr are said to have worshiped an idol by the name of al-Sa'eer.

Rabīʿa in Egypt

During the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

era, many members of Bani Hanifa and related tribesmen from Bakr ibn Wa'il migrated from al-Yamama to southern

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 they dominated the gold-mines of Wadi Allaqi near

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city ha ...

. While in Egypt, the tribesmen went by the collective name of "Rabi'a" and inter-married with indigenous tribes in the area such as the

Beja people The Beja people (, , ) are a Cushitic-speaking peoples, Cushitic Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Eastern Desert, inhabiting a coastal area from southeastern Egypt through eastern Sudan and into northwestern Eritrea. They are descended from ...

s. Among their descendants are the tribe of Banu Kanz (also known as the Kunooz), who take their name from Kanz al-Dawlah of Bani Hanifa, the leader of Rabi'a in Egypt during the

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

era.

Some Notable people

Amr ibn Kulthum ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm ibn Mālik ibn ʿAttāb ʾAbū Al-ʾAswad al-Taghlibi (; 526–584) was a poet and chieftain of the Taghlib tribe in pre-Islamic Arabia. One of his poems was included in the ''Mu'allaqat''. He is the grandson of the poet Abu L ...

* Suhayb al-Rumi *

Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha al-Shaybani () was a Muslim Arabs, Arab General officer, general in the Rashidun army, army of the Rashidun Caliphate. Career Al-Muthanna was a commander of the Muslim Arabs in al-Hira, from which they were conducting raid ...

* Abu Layla al-Muhalhel *

Tarafa Tarafa ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarafah ibn al-‘Abd ibn Sufyān ibn Sa‘d Abū ‘Amr al-Bakrī al-Wā’ilī''; 543–569), was an Arabian poet of the tribe of the Bakr. He is one of the seven poets of the most celebrated anthology of ancient Arabic ...

* Bahira *

Al-A'sha Al-A'sha () or Maymun Ibn Qays Al-A'sha (d.c. 570– 625) was an Arabic Jahiliyyah poet from Al-Yamama, Arabia. He claimed to receive inspiration from a jinni called ''Misḥal''. Although not a Christian himself, his poems prove familiarit ...

* Al-Harith ibn Hilliza al-Yashkuri *

Musaylimah Musaylima (), d.632, was a claimant of prophethood from the Banu Hanifa tribe. Based from Diriyah in present day Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he claimed to be a prophet and was an enemy of Islam in 7th-century Arabia. He was a leader of the enemies of ...

* Qatada ibn Di'ama * Malik ibn Tawk * Khalid ibn Yazid al-Shaybani *

Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani (; died 801) was an Arab general and governor who served the Abbasid Caliphate. Biography Yazid was member of the Shayban tribe, dominant in the region of Diyar Bakr in the northern Jazira. The first member of his ...

* Ma'n ibn Za'ida al-Shaybani * Abu Dulaf al-Ijli *

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 ...

* Al-Akhtal * Abu al-Atahiya *

Harith al-Muhasibi Al-Muḥāsibī () (781–857 CE) was a Muslim Arabs, Arab, Mutakallim, theologian, philosopher and Asceticism, ascetic. He is considered to be the founder of the Baghdad School of Islamic philosophy which combined Kalam and Sufism, and a teach ...

* Haly Abenragel * Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadani *

Abu Firas al-Hamdani Al-Harith ibn Abi’l-ʿAlaʾ Saʿid ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi (932–968), better known by his pen name Abu Firas al-Hamdani (), was an Arab prince and poet. He was a cousin of Sayf al-Dawla and a member of the Hamdanid dynasty, who were rulers in ...

* Awn al-Din ibn Hubayra *

Al-Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī (), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1094) was an Arab Andalusian historian and a geographer of the Muslim West. Life Al-Bakri was born in Huelva, the ...

Ibn 'Abd al-Barr Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Abū ʿUmar al-Namarī al-Andalusī al-Qurṭubī al-Mālikī, commonly known as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr ()

Said al-Andalusi Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī (), in full Abū al-Qāsim Ṣāʿid ibn Abū al-Walīd Aḥmad ibn Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṣāʿid ibn ʿUthmān al-Taghlibi al-Qūrtūbi () (1029July 6, 1070 AD; 4206 Shawwal, 462 AH), was an Arab qadi of ...

* Abdullah bin Ali Al Uyuni *

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

* Abdul-Rahman Al-Sudais * Mohammed bin Ali Aba Al Khail

Royal families which stem from the Rabi'a tribe

* Dulafid dynasty *

Uyunid dynasty The Uyunid dynasty () were an Arab dynasty that ruled Eastern Arabia for 163 years, from the 11th to the 13th centuries. Their sect is disputed; some sources mention they were Shia, others Sunni. They were, like the majority of the people of Ea ...

Hamdanid dynasty The Hamdanid dynasty () was a Shia Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled modern day Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib tribe of Mesopotamia and Arabia. History Origin The Hamdanids hailed ...

. *

Al Saud The House of Saud ( ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State, (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling fac ...

, rulers of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. *

Al Khalifa The House of Khalifa () is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. They profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe. Some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which migrated from Najd in central Arabia to Kuwait, then r ...

, rulers of

* Al Sabah, rulers of

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. *

El Assaad Family El-Assaad or Al As'ad () is an Arabs, Arab feudal political family who originated from Najd and is a main branch of the Anizah tribe. Unrelated to Syrian or Palestinian al-Assads, the El-Assaad dynasty that ruled most of South Lebanon for three ...

* Banu Kanz *

Shirvanshah The Shirvanshahs (Arabic/) were the rulers of Shirvan (in present-day Azerbaijan) from 861 to 1538. The first ruling line were the Yazidids, an originally Arab and later Persianized dynasty, who became known as the Kasranids (also referred t ...

* Taifa of Saltés and Huelva.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabi'a Tribes of Arabia Rabi`ah