Al Zaghab

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Al Zaghab (الزغب) is an old Arabic tribe who live in the village of Jammain a suburb of the city of Nablus in the West Bank. They belong to the mother tribe of Al Zeitawi. Al Zetawi is an old Arabic tribe that arrived to area after coming from Mecca. It is believed that the Zeitawi tribe are a direct descendants of Muhammad.

Al Zaghab technically means the down ( little feathers on a bird). Hence An Arab Poet who was imprisoned by Omar(the 2nd Caliph) wrote appealing for mercy: (Matha aquool leafrakhen bethee marakhen/ Zoghbo elhawasele la maaun wla shajaru)What can I tell my little chicks whose stomachs are still covered with down and who have no water to drink nor trees to protect them from the sun.

The larger tribe of this family is called Al Zeitawi. The story is as follows: Once upon a time, a holy man was passing by Jammain with his family on his way from Zeita just west of Jammain heading back east to the holy shrines of Islam in Mecca & Madinah in Saudi Arabia.The Feudal landlord in Jammain noticed that this man had a beautiful daughter. The landlord asked for her hand in marriage which was agreed to. Her dowery was a big land to the north of the village given by the landlord. This convinced her father to stay in Jammain instaed of continuing his trip eastward. Hence the name Zeitawi is in reference to the village Zeita.

But what is not debatable is that the new generation of the Zetawi’s distinguished themselves in the village & the immediate surrounding villages by being more studious and by being more educated. They produced the first Ph.D. in the area ,amongst many other advanced degree holders in literature, business, and medicine. They also produced many successful business people who migrated to the Persian Gulf countries (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, & the United Arab Emirates) and to the new world especially in Venezuela. Zaghabs’ of Venezuela are rumored to be the 1st known millionaires in the group.