Banu Tamim

The tribe of Banu Tamim (Arabic: بنو تميم‎) is one of the tribes of Arabia.

Today, descendants from the tribe live in the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia,^[1][2] Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.

The word Tamim in Arabic means strong and solid. It can also mean perfect.^[3]

Before the advent of Wahhabism there was very little history of Islamic education amongst Banu Tamim.^[4]

Meaning

The word Tamim in Arabic means strong and solid.

History and origin

The family tree of Banu Tamim is as follows: Tamim son of Mowr son of Ed son of Amr son of Ilyas,son of Mudar^[5] son of Nizar, son of Ma'ad (معد), son of Adnan^[6] son of Ishmael son of Abraham.^[7] Tamim is one of the largest of all Arab tribes. The tribe has appeared in the first century, the ancestor of the tribe Tamim ibn Murr, met a disciple of Jesus Christ. The tribe, occupied the sixth century the eastern part of the peninsula before playing an important role with the revelation of Islam. They came into contact with Muhammad in the year VIII of the Hijra, but they did not immediately convert to Islam. 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:

Abu Hurayra said: ‘I have continued to love Banu Tamim after I heard three things concerning them from Allah’s Messenger (s.w.s.). “They will be the sternest of my Umma against the Dajjal; one of them was a captive owned by ‘A’isha, and he said: ‘Free her, for she is a descendent of Ismail;’ and when their zakat came, he said: ‘This is the zakat of a people,’ or ‘of my people’.”’^[8])

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."

In Nahj ul Balagha Letter 18 Ali 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 & Branches

Banu Tamim are an Adnanite tribe which means they descend from Ishmael through Adnan. Banu Tamim trace their lineage as follows:

• Abraham
• Ishmael
• Adnan (عدنان)
• Ma'ad(معد)
• Nizar
• Mudar ibn Nizar(مضر)
• Ilyas ibn Mudar(إلياس)
• Amr
• Ed
• Mowr
• Tamim

Banu Tamim are an extremely large tribe, with four major branches that differentiate them:

• Amr bin Tamim
• Hanthalah
• Saad
• Al rabbab

They were mostly localized in Najd (Saudi Arabia) in Pre-Islamic times, but have then expanded to all corners of the Arabian Peninsula in pursuit of the Islamic Conquests. Stretching from Morocco to Persia and further to India known as Iraqi Biradari. The Banu Tamim often hold genealogy in high regard, carefully recording birth and family data (especially in the Arabian Peninsula).

Dynasties

• The Aghlabid dynasty
• The Al Thani, ruling family of Qatar. (See House of Thani)
• The 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 prestigious family of the middle east based primarily in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain

Notable people

Among the tribe's members are:

• Talhah companion of Muhammad
• Khabbab ibn al-Aratt – a Sahabi Muhammad^[9]
• 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 -Famous Muslim Saint Of Junaidia order
• Abd-Allah ibn Ibadh^[10] - 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.
• Muhammed ibn Umail al-Tamimi - tenth century alchemist from al-Andalus.
• Ibn Ishaq al-Tunisi - 13th century Tunisian astronomer and the author of an important zij.
• Bassem al-Tamimi - an activist leader and member of the Palestinian^[11]
• Ahed Tamimi - Daughter of Bassem Al-Tamimi, also a Palestinian activist.
• Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab - Founder of the Aghlabids Dynasty, the emirs of Ifriqiya and Sicily from 800-909.
• Jarīr - classical Arab poet^[12]
• Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani - founder of the State of Qatar.
• Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab^[13] - Founder of the Wahhabi sect.
• Muhammad Ibn al 'Uthaymīn (d. 2001 C.E.) - Saudi Arabian Wahhabi preacher
• Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi - ruler of eastern parts of archaic Arabian peninsula who converted to Islam

References

External links

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