The Na'im () (singular
Al Nuaimi ) are an Arab tribe in the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
. The tribe is also present in other gulf countries.
The Na'im are divided into three sections, the
Al Bu Kharaiban, the
Khawatir and the
Al Bu Shamis (singular Al Shamsi). It is from the former section that the current Rulers of the
Emirate of Ajman
The Emirate of Ajman (; ) ( Gulf Arabic: إمارة عيمان emāratʿymān) is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It joined the United Arab Emirates federation on December 2, 1971. It has an area of 259 square kilometers ...
are drawn.
Al Bu Shamis has become virtually independent and is closely associated with the
Al Bu Falasa of
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
.
The traditional heart of Na'im territory was the oasis town of
Buraimi and nearby
Al Ain
Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...
, where Na'im expansion came at the expense of the
Dhawahir
The Dhawahir (; singular ''Al Dhahiri'' ()) is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tribe's main centre was the Al Buraimi Governorate, Buraimi Oasis and the village, then town (now city) of Al Ain. They have long ha ...
tribe, but also rubbed up against the
Bani Yas
The Bani Yas () is a tribe, tribal confederation of Najdi origin in the United Arab Emirates. The tribal coalition, consisting of tribes from Dubai to Khor Al Adaid in southeast Qatar, was called the Bani Yas Coalition (). The House of Nahyan, Al ...
and the allied
Manasir
The Manasir people () constitute one of many Sunni Arab riverine tribes of Northern Sudan. They are not to be confused with the Manasir (tribe), Manasir of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Persian Gulf region in the Arabian Peninsula-based ma ...
. Although the Na'im were linked to the growing
Wahhabi
Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...
influence in the Buraimi area and adopted the doctrine, they allied with other forces to evict the Wahhabis from Buraimi in 1871 and subsequently occupied many of the forts around Buraimi.
However, following the death of
Zayed the Great, the Na'im once again came under Saudi influence, leading to their participation in the
Buraimi dispute.
Origins
In 1818, according to the 'British Assistant Political Agent in Turkish Arabia', Captain Robert Taylor, the Na'im numbered some 20,000 men in Buraimi and 400 in
Ajman
Ajman ( '; Gulf Arabic: عيمان ''ʿYmān'') is the capital of the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. It is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, fifth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain. Loca ...
.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the Na'im were spread across much of the area of the modern-day UAE, with families settled in Ajman,
Dhaid
Dhaid, or Al Dhaid (), is the capital of the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. An oasis town, it has extensive irrigated date palm plantations with water channelled from the nearby Hajar mountains, at least in p ...
,
Hamriyah,
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...
,
Hafit,
Heerah and
Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...
. Some 5,500 Na'im at the time lived in and around the Buraimi oasis. A further 660 houses of Na'im were located at Dhank, in
Dhahirah,
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
. At the time, the Na'im were mostly settled in towns or in pastoral communities, although the Khawatir were
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 ...
s, roaming a ''dar'' consisting of the
Jiri plain and the Hafit area with 800 camels, 1,500 sheep and goats and some 100 cattle.
Masfout
Masfout, a mountainous village in the Wadi Hatta, had long been home to the Na'im. They found themselves under threat in 1905 when the
Bani Qitab
The Bani Qitab (Singular ''Al Qetbi'', ) is an Arab tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. The singular form of the name, ''Al Ketbi'', is a common family name in the Northern UAE today. Consisting of a settled southern section and a n ...
built a fort in the ''
wadi
Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...
'' and started to harass caravans passing through the pass to the Omani
Batina
Batina (, sr-Cyrl, Батина) is a port village on the right bank of the Danube () river in Baranja region, Baranja, Croatia. It developed into the local center of the northeastern part of Baranja, in the part of Bansko brdo hill where the slo ...
coast. Appealing to
Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyah of Abu Dhabi, and following a meeting of the
Trucial Sheikhs in Dubai in April of that year, they gained Zayed's support (against the young and ambitious Sheikh of
Umm Al Quwain
Umm Al Quwain (UAQ; Arabic: أم القيوين, pronounced: /ʔumː alqejˈwejn/, Gulf Arabic: �ʊm͜ː 'æl ge̞ˈwe̞n) is the capital and largest city of the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates. The city is situated on t ...
,
Rashid bin Ahmad Al Mualla, who supported the Bani Qitab) and retained Masfout. The Na'im of Masfout were in almost constant conflict with the people of Hajarain, which later became a dependency of
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
– today known as
Hatta. However, they considered themselves independent of the rulers of Ajman.
In 1948, Masfout was seized from its Nuaimi Sheikh, Saqr bin Sultan Al Hamouda, by
Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi III of
Ajman
Ajman ( '; Gulf Arabic: عيمان ''ʿYmān'') is the capital of the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. It is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, fifth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain. Loca ...
, when Hamouda was unable to raise a force to oppose Rashid.
Masfout has been part of the Emirate of Ajman since, albeit an
exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
.
A period of uncertainty followed as the various Sheikhs of the region attempted to jostle for influence in order to sign petroleum concessions, with the Sultan in
Muscat
Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...
and the
Saudis
Saudis (; local dialects: , suʿūdiyyīn) or Saudi Arabians are the citizen population of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who speak the Arabic language, a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language, and share a common Ancesto ...
paying tribute to the Na'im in Buraimi and other local tribes in the area in return for fealty which often turned out to be short-lived. This activity among the rulers and tribes eventually led to the
Buraimi dispute.
At the turn of the nineteenth century, the Na'im were arguably the dominant force in the area west of the
Hajar Mountains
The Hajar Mountains (, ''The Rock (geology), Rocky Mountains'' or ''The Stone Mountains'') are one of the highest mountain ranges in the Arabian Peninsula, shared between northern Oman and eastern United Arab Emirates. Also known as "Oman Mounta ...
, with some 13,000 members and the ability to raise at least 2,000 fighting men. By the 1940s, this had dropped to just 300–400 rifles and the tribe was split into factions.
Competition for grazing and other resources often spilled over into conflict between the tribes and the Na'im were often involved in disputes and open warfare with other tribes, including the
Bani Kaab, Bani Qitab and Al Bu Falasah. However, the Al Bu Shamis remained generally on good terms with other tribes, particularly the
Duru and Bani Qitab. With the continuing decline of the Na'im tribal federation, the Al Bu Shamis maintained an almost completely separate identity and, in fact, the Al Bu Shamis leader of
Al Heera – Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi was often in strong disagreement, if not war, with the Ruler of Ajman.
Bahrain
The Na'im was one of the several bedouin tribes to move to Bahrain in 1783 after the
Al Khalifa conquered the island.
Qatar
The tribe were reported as being one of the most powerful tribes in Qatar in an 1890 report by the British government. In
J. G. Lorimer's ''
Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf'' published in 1904, he described the Na'im as "a Bedouin tribe who grazed their cattle on pastures surrounding
Zubarah
Zubarah (), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined, ancient town located on the northwestern coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about from the capital Doha. It was founded by Shaikh Muhammed bin Khal ...
in 1873." He stated that 60 or 70 of the tribe's branch in Qatar had a hereditary attachment to the Bahraini emir. In 1937, a dispute over
Zubarah
Zubarah (), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined, ancient town located on the northwestern coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about from the capital Doha. It was founded by Shaikh Muhammed bin Khal ...
took place between Bahrain and Qatar. The Na'im in Qatar split into sections, the Ramzan, who supported the Qatari emir
Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani
Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani (), also known as Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani or Sheikh Abdullah bin Qassim Al Thani, was the Emir of Qatar from 1913 to 1949.
Oil was discovered in Qatar for the first time during his rule. ...
, and the main section, Al Jabr, who had pledged allegiance to the ruler of Bahrain.
In July 1937, Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani reported to the British agency that he was to take action against the Na'im who were residing in
Ath Thaqab over their perceived violation of the country's laws. For their part, the leader of the Na'im claimed that Abdullah Al Thani had "stolen their cattle" and had set fire to the Na'im's houses and villages before and after his decree.
Hostilities came to a boiling point when an armed force sent by Abdullah Al Thani, numbering in the hundreds, confronted around 60 armed men of the Na'im who were encamped inside Ath Thaqab Fort. According to Rashid bin Mohammed, upon encountering the Qatari loyalists, he and his troops surrendered, but four of his men were shot and killed anyway. Abdullah Al Thani's forces continued to capture the fort and occupy the villages of Ath Thaqab,
Freiha
Freiha () is a small deserted village on the north-western coast of the Qatar Peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality. It lies in the Zubarah region, located north of Zubarah town. It was founded by the Al Bin Ali tribe, an Utub tribe, in the firs ...
,
Al-ʽArish and
Al Khuwayr, whose inhabitants were among the Na'im supporters. After the Na'im had conceded defeat, Abdullah Al Thani confiscated most of their weapons, including 40 rifles from the people of Ath Thaqab, and some of their livestock.
As a result of this conflict, about 1,000 members of the Na'im tribe went into exile in Bahrain, with some returning after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2019
Tribes of the United Arab Emirates
Qatari families
Bahraini families