Banu al-Harith
TheBanu al-Harith(Arabic:بَنُو الْحَارِثBanū al-ḤārithorArabic:بَنُو الْحُرَيْثBanū al-Ḥurayth) is an Arabian tribe which once governed the cities ofNajran,Taif,andBisha,now located in southernSaudi Arabia.
History
[edit]Origins and early history
[edit]The Banu Harith descend from theQahtanite people,one of the most prominentArabtribes originating fromYemen.[1]The earliest recorded ancestor of the Qahtanites isJoktan,one of the two sons ofEber.The Qahtanite people are divided into the two factions, theHimyariteandKahlanitribes.[1]The Kahlani tribe can be further broken into smaller sub-groups which include the Banu Harith which was established by Harith bin Ka'b.[1][2]The Banu Harith converted toJudaismduring pre-Islamic times.[3][4][5][6][7]They wore ajambiyaon their belt and worked primarily in goldsmithing and repairing arms.[8]
The Banu Harith allied withBanu Madh'hijin order to launch an attack on Najran and they were able to successfully conquer the city.[9]Banu Harith lived peacefully besideBanu Hamdanand they were the most powerful house which ruled Najran for many centuries. This was brought to an end during the Christian invasion.[9]After the Christian conquest of Najran, a sub-clan of the tribe emigrated to the Dhank region ofOmanwhile another emigrated south and founded the district ofBani Al HarithinSana'a.[10][11]
In 523, the Himyarite kingDhu Nuwas(Dunaan), who had converted to Judaism, massacred the Christians there[where?].[12]
After the rise of Islam
[edit]They were included in Point 31 of theConstitution of Medinaand honored as allies to theMuslims,being as "one nation", but retaining theirJewish religion.[13][14]They were given the same rights asBanu Awfand entered into mutual protection pacts with the Muslim tribes.[5]
The small remnants of Banu Harith continued to live semi-autonomously in the border city of Najran until the 1930s. As a result of theSaudi–Yemeni Warthe Saudis had conquered Najran in 1934. Persecution increased and the governor, Amir Turki bin Mahdi, allowed the Najrani Jews a single day to either evacuate or to convert to Islam. The Banu Harith fled south toSana'aandAden.[15][16][17]Their descendants currently make up a very small component of theYemenite Jewishpopulation which now mostly reside inIsraeltoday.[18][19]
Notable people
[edit]- Harith bin Ka'b, awarriorand the founder of the Banu Harith.
- Dus ibn Milhan, a man who appealed toDhu Nuwasafter two of his sons were brutally murdered by the Christians who had captured Najran. After hearing of his plight, Dhu Nuwas swore to avenge the deaths and to liberate Jews of Najran.[20]
- Thebith ben Chorath, a 12th-centuryastrologistandmathematician.[21]
See also
[edit]- Chorath
- Bani Al Harith District,a Mikhlaf that was founded by a sub-clan of Banu al-Harith
References
[edit]- ^abcDe Lacy O'Leary(2001).Arabia Before Muhammad.p. 18.ISBN9780415244664.
- ^ʻUmāra Ibn-ʻAlī al-Yamanī; Ibn Khaldun; Muhammad Ibn Yaqub Janadi; Henry Cassels Kay (2005).Yaman, its early mediæval history.Mansfield Centre, Conn.: Martino Publ. p. 217.ISBN9781578985340.Originally published: London: Edward Arnold, 1892
- ^"Islamproject.org".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-29.Retrieved2013-10-25.
- ^"Islamicstudy.org".Archived fromthe originalon 29 October 2013.
- ^abCharles Kurzman,Liberal Islam,p. 172
- ^Norman Stillman,The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book,p. 117
- ^Lecker, Michael (1995).Judaism among Kinda and the Ridda of Kinda.
- ^"Najrān".www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.Retrieved4 August2023.
- ^abʻUmāra Ibn-ʻAlī al-Yamanī; Ibn Khaldun; Muhammad Ibn Yaqub Janadi; Henry Cassels Kay (2005).Yaman, its early mediæval history.Mansfield Centre, Conn.: Martino Publ. p. 183.ISBN9781578985340.Originally published: London: Edward Arnold, 1892
- ^Samuel Barrett Miles(1919).The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf.ISBN9781873938560.
- ^Mitsuo Nakamura; Sharon Siddique; Omar Farouk Bajunid (2001).Islam and Civil Society in Southeast Asia.ISBN9789812301116.
- ^Najran JewsArchived2019-11-14 at theWayback MachineatBeit Hatfutsotwebsites.
- ^"Ibn Ishaq's Record of the Constitution of Medina"(PDF).rogerlouismartinez.com.Retrieved4 August2023.
- ^"www.balagh.net".Archived fromthe originalon 24 May 2012.
- ^Gilbert, Martin, "In Ishmael's House", 2000, (p. 5)
- ^Ahroni, Reuben "Jewish emigration from the Yemen, 1951-98", 2001 (p. 27)
- ^Shulewitz, Malka Hillel "The Forgotten Millions", 2000 (p.86)
- ^Norman A. Stillman,The Jews of Arab lands: A history and source book,p. 117
- ^Moshe Gil, "The Origins of the Jews of Yathrib," J.S.A.I. 4 (1984)
- ^The last Himyarite king
- ^Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum.1808.
