Adnan

For the name, see Adnan (name). For other uses, see Adnan (disambiguation).

Adnan (Arabic: عدنان‎) is the traditional ancestor of the Adnanite Arabs of Northern, Western and Central Arabia, as opposed to the Qahtani of Southern Arabia who descend from Qahtan.[1]

Origin

The Adnanite Arab family tree, created from "The Life of Mohammad" by Ibn Hisham

According to tradition, Adnan is the father of a group of the Ishmaelite Arabs who inhabited West and Northern Arabia. Adnan is believed by Arab genealogies to be the father of many Ishmaelite tribes along the Western coast of Arabia, Northern Arabia and Iraq.[2][3][4][5]

Many family trees have been presented for Adnan, which did not agree about the number of ancestors between Ishmael and Adnan but agreed perfectly about the names and number of the ancestors between Adnan and the Prophet Muhammad.[6][7]

The overwhelming majority of traditions and Muslim scholars state that Adnan is a descendant of Kedar the son of Ishmael,[8][9][10][11][12] except for Ibn Ishaq who claimed that Adnan was a descendant of Nebaioth,[13] this confusion of Ibn Ishaq can be due to the case of one of the descendants of Kedar was named "Nebaioth".[14]

Most of Muslim scholars refused any attempt to recite the ancestors between Adnan to Ishmael, and condemned some other scholars such as Ibn Ishaq for doing it.[15][16][17][18][2]

In Pre-Islamic Arabia

Adnan was mentioned in various Pre-Islamic poems, such as the Pre-Islamic poets: "Lubayb Ibn Rabi'a" and "Abbas Ibn Mirdas".[19]

Adnan was viewed by Pre-Islamic Arabs as an honorable father among the fathers of Arab tribes, and they used this ancestry to boast against other Qahtani tribes who were a minority among the Adnanites.[20]

"Layla Bent Lukayz", a Pre-Islamic female poet, was captured by a Persian king and forced to marry him, so she composed a poem designated to other Arab tribes, asking for their help and reminding that she and them all belong to Adnan, which makes it a duty for them to rescue her.[21]

In other poems such as the ones composed by the Pre-Islamic poet "Qumma'a Ibn Ilias", it appears that Arabs considered it as a "Honor" to be a descendant of Adnan, and for some reason they appear to have been proud of it.[22]

In North Arabian Inscriptions

The name of Adnan was found many times in various Thamudic inscriptions, but with few details. In some Nabataean inscriptions, Adnan seems to hold some kind of importance or venerability, to the extent that some Nabataean people were named after him as "Abd Adnon" (The Servant/Slave of Adnan). There is no particular indication that he was worshiped, except as an honorable figure, exactly as some other Arabs called some of their sons as "servants" of their fore-fathers.[23][24][25]

Death

Adnan died after Nebuchadnezzar II returned to Babylon, after that his son Ma'ad moved away to the region of Central-Western Hijaz after the destruction of the Qedarite kingdom near Mesopotamia, and the remaining Qedarite Arabs there were displaced from their lands and forced to live in Al-Anbar province and on the banks of the Euphrates river under the rule of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.[26][27][28][29]

Descent from Adnan to Muhammad

According to Islamic tradition, the Islamic prophet Muhammad was descended from Adnan. "The following is the list of chiefs who are said to have ruled the Jazeera and to have been the intraline ancestors of Muhammad."[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Charles Sanford Terry (1911). A Short History of Europe, From the fall of the Roman empire to the fall of the Eastern empire. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1112467356. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 al Mughiri, Abd al-Rahman. The chosen record of the Ancestries of Arab tribes Volume 1. p. 58.
  3. ↑ Al Azzawi, Abbas. Clans of Iraq Volume 1. p. 13.
  4. ↑ Kathir, Ibn. Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya (The Beginning and the End) Volume 2. p. 187.
  5. ↑ Ahmad al-Qalqashandi. Fulfilling the need of Knowing the origins of Arabs Volume 1. p. 118.
  6. ↑ Al-Fusool Fe Sirat Ar-Rasul. p. 87.
  7. ↑ al Mughiri, Abd al-Rahman. The chosen record of the Ancestries of Arab tribes Volume 1. p. 60.
  8. ↑ Ibn Wahaf Al-Qahtani, Dr.Sa'eed. Rahmat-ul-lil'alameen Volume 2. p. 14–17.
  9. ↑ Ahmad al-Qalqashandi. Qala'ed Al-Joman Volume 1. p. 31.
  10. ↑ Ahmad al-Qalqashandi. Fulfilling the need of Knowing the origins of Arabs Volume 1. p. 118.
  11. ↑ Abu Shaba, Dr. Mohammad. Al-Isra'eliyyat Wa Al-Mawdu'at Fe Kutub At-Tafsir. p. 259.
  12. ↑ Ibn Kathir. Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya (The Beginning and the End) Volume 3. p. 203.
  13. ↑ Siratu Rasulillah, Volume 1, Page 1
  14. ↑ Tareekh At-Tabari. p. 517.
  15. ↑ Uyoon Al-Athar Volume 1. p. 33.
  16. ↑ Ibn Kathir. Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya (The Beginning and the End) Part 23. p. 246.
  17. ↑ Ahmad al-Qalqashandi. Qala'ed Al-Juman. p. 14.
  18. ↑ Ibn Kathir. As-Sira An-Nabaweyya Part 1. p. 75.
  19. ↑ Ali, Prof. Jawwad. The Detailed History of Arabs before Islam Volume 1. p. 393.
  20. ↑ Ali, Prof. Jawwad. The Detailed History of Arabs before Islam Volume 1. p. 372.
  21. ↑ Yamit Al-Bayrouti, Bashir (1934). The Arab Female Poets during the "Jahiliyyah" and Islamic eras. p. 33.
  22. ↑ Abu Al-Hasan Al-Maroudi. A'lam An-Nobouwwah. p. 215.
  23. ↑ Mission des PP. Jaussen et Savignac en Arabie "Hedjaz" Vol. 38. 1910. p. 328.
  24. ↑ G. Strenziak (1953). Die Genealogle der Nordaraber nach Ibn Al-Kalbi Vol. 1. p. 210.
  25. ↑ Ali, Prof. Jawwad. The Detailed History of Arabs before Islam Volume 1. p. 380.
  26. ↑ Ali, Prof. Jawwad. The Detailed History of Arabs before Islam Volume 5. p. 160-161.
  27. ↑ Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. The History of Nations and Kings Volume 1. p. 327.
  28. ↑ Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi. The Organized History of Nations Volume 1. p. 408.
  29. ↑ Yaqut Al-Hamawi. The Dictionary of Countries Volume 3. p. 377–380.
  30. ↑ Hughes, Thomas Patrick (1995) [First published 1885]. A Dictionary of Islam: Being a Cyclopaedia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs, Together With the Technical and Theological Terms, of the Muhammadan Religion. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 19. ISBN 978-81-206-0672-2. Retrieved 2010-07-24.