Banu Tamim

Banū Tamīm (Arabic: بَنُو تَمِيم‎) or Banī Tamīm (بَنِي تَمِيم) is one of the tribes of Arabia, mainly present in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, and also has a strong presence in Algeria^[2][3] and many other parts of the Arab world. The word Tamim in Arabic means strong and solid.^[4][5] It can also mean perfect.^[6]

History and origin[]

The traditional family tree of Banu Tamim is as follows: Tamim, son of Murr, son of 'Id, son of Amr, son of Ilyas, son of Mudar,^[1] son of Nizar, son of Ma'ad, son of Adnan^[7] - a distant descendant of Isma'il ibn Ibrahim (Ishmael, son of Abraham).^[8]

Tamim is one of the largest Arab tribes. The tribe occupied in the 6th century the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula before playing an important role with the revelation of Islam. They came into contact with Muhammad in the 8th year of Hijrah, but they did not immediately convert to Islam.^{[citation needed]} There are hadiths which praise virtually all of the major Arab tribal groups, and to indicate the extent of this praise, a few examples are listed here:

I have continued to love Banu Tamim after I heard three things concerning them from Allah's Messenger: "They will be the sternest of my Ummah against the Dajjal," one of them was a captive owned by Aisha, and he said: "Free her, for she is a descendant of Ismail," and when their zakat came, he said: "This is the zakat of our people," or "of my people.""

— Abu Hurairah^[9][10]

The tribe traces its lineage to Adnan and Biblical figures Ishmael and Abraham. It has been said that Banu Tamim is the largest Arab tribe. "Had it not been for the coming of Islam, the Tamīm tribe would have consumed the Arabs."^{[This quote needs a citation]}

In Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 18, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib says: "Remember that Bani Tamim is such a clan that their star has not set as yet, amongst them if one great man dies there is another to take his place. Remember that after embracing Islam and even during pre-Islamic days these people were never regarded as mean, jealous or covetous. On the contrary, they had a very high status. Besides they have claims of kinship and friendship with us. If we behave kindly, patiently and sympathetically towards them Allah will reward us. But if we ill treat them we shall be sinning."

Lineage and branches[]

Banu Tamim is a Adnanite tribe, claiming to be descended from .

In the genealogical tradition of the tribe, it is argued that there is a direct line that can be drawn from Ibrahim to Tamim:

• Ibrahim
• Ishmael
• Adnan
• Ma'ad
• Nizar

The tribe is mainly divided into four main branches, namely:

• Bani Sa'd

The tribe was mainly concentrated in Najd before the spread of Islam, but had spread across the Arabian Peninsula after the Islamic conquest of the region, then had spread to areas ruled by subsequent caliphates.

The tribe extends west to Morocco as far east as India.

Dynasties[]

• The Aghlabid dynasty
• Al Thani, ruling family of Qatar (See House of Thani).
• Al ash-Sheikh family of the Grand Muftis of the Emirate of Diriyah, then the Emirate of Najd and now modern day Saudi Arabia (religious dynasty).
• Al Khater – a family of the middle east based primarily in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain
• Al Majali – rulers of tribes of Al-Karak in Jordan in the 19th century.
• Al Muammar - Clan that ruled the Nejd from 850AH - 1173AH , and their lineage goes back to the Anaqir of Bani Saad from the tribe of Banu Tamim
• Al Anagreh : A clan moved from the town of Athithiya in the Najd region to Kufur Jayez in Irbid, Jordan.

Notable people[]

Among the tribe's members are:

• Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.^[11][12]
• Muhammad Ibn al 'Uthaymīn (d. 2001 C.E.) – Saudi Salafi preacher
• Khabbab ibn al-Aratt – a companion of Muhammad^[13]
• Ahnaf ibn Qais, companion of Umar ibn al-Khattab
• Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Sa'id al-Tamimi – physician in Palestine during the 10th century CE
• Abu Al Fazal Abdul Wahid Yemeni Tamimi – Muslim saint Of the Junaidia order
• Abd-Allah ibn Ibadh al-Tamimi^[14] – Founder of the Ibadi sect
• Al-Farazdaq - Classical poet
• Al-Hurr ibn Yazid al Tamimi - A general of the Umayyads who defected to Husayn ibn Ali
• Al-Qa'qa'a ibn Amr at-Tamimi – A general who commanded an army from his tribe and helped conquer Persia under Caliph Umar
• Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi – Shafi'i scholar and mathematician from Baghdad
• Musa ibn Ka'b al-Tamimi Provincial Abbasid Governor in mid 8th century.
• Muhammed ibn Umail al-Tamimi – tenth century alchemist from Al-Andalus
• Ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi al-Tunisi – 13th century Tunisian astronomer and the author of an important zij
• Abdul-Rahman al-Sa'di
• Ubayd Allah al-Anbari
• Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab – Founder of the Aghlabids' vassal, the emirs of Ifriqiya and Sicily from 800 to 909.
• Abdallah ibn Ibrahim, the Emir of Ifriqiya from 812 to his death on 25 June 817.
• Jarīr – classical Arab poet^[15]
• Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani – founder of the State of Qatar.
• Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi – ruler of eastern parts of archaic Arabian peninsula who converted to Islam
• Sheikh Edebali - Sufi Master who served in the foundation of the Ottoman Empire and father-in-law of its founder Osman I
• Qatari ibn al-Fuja'a - Kharjite leader and poet who led an uprising against the Umayyads from Persia
• - The prime minister of India in the era of Shah Jahan
• Munzir ibn Sawa Al-Tamimi
• Bassem al-Tamimi - a militant leader and member of the Palestinian resistance^[16]
• Ahed Tamimi - Bassem Al-Tamimi's daughter, Palestinian activist.
• Ubayd Allah al-Anbari

References[]

External links[]

• Royal Ancestry File
• The life of Mahomet by William Muir