Nusaybah clan

The Nuseibeh Clan (Arabic: عائلة نسيبة‎; alternatively spelt Nussaiba, and Nusseibeh) is the oldest Muslim dynasty in Jerusalem.[1] The Nuseibeh family has a long history and tight bonds with the Holy Land, Jerusalem, since the days their first forefathers arrived into Jerusalem in the 7th century.

According to tradition, the Nuseibeh family took its name from a female companion or Sahabah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad named Nuseibeh bint Ka'ab. She was a member of the Ansar who transferred their political power over Medina to the prophet. Nuseibeh fought along with Muhammed in battle and was an early example of women taking leadership roles in Islam. Since the arrival of Islam in Jerusalem in the seventh century, the Sunni Muslim family has held the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre alongside the Joudeh Al-Goudia family (who were added to the original arrangement in the time of Saladin, the Muslim conqueror who seized the holy city from the Crusaders in 1187)[2].[3][4][5] This arrangement emerged during the days of the second Sunni caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab, who hoped to avoid clashes among rival Christian sects for control over the church. Although symbolic, the arrangement has provided the stability the Christians of the city needed, and is a symbol of tolerance and inter-religious harmony, and gave the Nuseibeh family a visible role in Christian activities in Jerusalem, which include pilgrimages and visits by Western Christians.

Family roots

Ancestors of the family arrived in Jerusalem with the arrival of Islam in AD 637. They included two companions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammed — Abdullah bin Nuseibeh and Mu'adh bin Jabal, and many others of the Prophet's companions and maternal uncles, descendents of Salma from Banu Najjar, a clan of the Khazraj, the wife of Hashim, forefather of the Hashemite Family and mother of its renowned leader Abdul Muttalib, grandfather of Muhammed. The Nuseibeh family is a clan of the Khazraj tribe of Medina, known in Islam as al-Ansar, for their support and protection of Prophet Muhammed during his exile from Mecca.[6]

Nusseibeh and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

When the prayer time came, the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Sophronius, invited Umar, to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christianity's holiest site. Umar refused fearing that future Muslim generations would claim the church as their own and turn it into a mosque. Umar instead prayed a few yards away from the church where a mosque is built now. The Mosque of Umar still stands next to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a reminder of the strong Muslim-Christian bond in the Holy Land. Upon entering Jerusalem, Umar signed with the Christians of Jerusalem what became known as the "Covenant of Umar". It guaranteed protection for the Christians to live and worship freely and also protection for the Christian places of worship.

One of the great ancestors of the Nusaybah family was Ubada Ibn Al-Samet who settled in Jerusalem in the 7th century in the wake of the Arab-Islamic capture of Jerusalem, and who was appointed as a governor by Umar. It is said that the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were placed in the custody of the family during this period.

The ancient records and manuscripts kept by the various Christian denominations in their monasteries all record the Nusaybah family’s relationship and that of their ancestral forefathers from the Bani Ghanim al-Khazraj to the Holy Sepulchre, at least since the time of Saladin more than 800 years ago, specifically since 1192, when Sultan Saladin and King Richard the Lionheart concluded an agreement allowing western Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy Sepulchre under certain stipulations. Saladin entrusted the custody of the doors of the Holy Sepulchre to the leading and most renowned Shaikh Ghanim ben Ali ben Hussein al-Ansari al-Khazrajy, the Jerusalemite, and all matters pertaining to it. Ghanim had been born in Burin village near Nablus in AH 562, where his family had taken refuge after the crusader conquest of Jerusalem in (1087) [7]

Notable members

Notable members of the family have included:

  • Ala Amine Nuseibeh the Chief Executive Officer and President of KAN International Petroleum. Also served as an Executive Vice President, Middle East Operations of Son or an Energy Inc. Mr. Nuseibeh has over 20 years of direct oil and gas experience in the Middle East, North Africa and the Caspian Region to Sonoran Energy's Board. Since 2002, he has been Middle East Director or Baron Oil, served as Director of Range Energy Resources Inc. as well as serving as Director of Range Oil & Gas Inc. He served as Director of Range Energy Resources Inc. He served as Director Sonoran Energy Inc. Mr. Ala Amine Nuseibeh graduated from Buckinghamshire College with degrees in Economics and Business Law.
  • Anwar Nusseibeh a former Jordanian minister and diplomat to the UK
  • Bashar Ahmad Nuseibeh (1967–), Professor of Computing at The Open University, UK[8]
  • Ghanem Nuseibeh civil engineer and founder of strategy and management consultancy, Cornerstone Global Associates
  • Hazem Nuseibeh Jordanian foreign minister
  • Isaac Nuseibeh, Consultant in Spinal Injuries and Paralysis at Stoke Mandeville Hospital FRCS, MBCHB, LMSSA, FRCS ed (1936 - ) is a Palestinian refugee from Jerusalem. He became a pioneering senior Consultant in Spinal Injuries and Paralysis at Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he served from 1974–2007. While working at Stoke he was invited by many countries to treat patients and teach doctors. He also lectured at UCL to postgraduates where he was a Director of a special course dedicated to treatment of Paralysis and Rehabilitation and worked extensively with Middle Eastern patients. He was also the Honorary Secretary Of The International Medical Society For Paraplegia and worked with M.A.P. since its establishment and was a Board Member before retiring in 2008
  • Mohammed Zaki Nuseibeh founding chancellor of Alquds University in Jerusalem. He is currently the vice chairman of the Supreme Waqf Council of Jerusalem. He is also the founder of a successful contracting and engineering firm and owns a number of commercial interests including a hotel in the centre of the city.

References

  1. 1 2 "Green investors and right-wing sceptics clash on the meaning of scripture". The Economist. 1 November 2017.
  2. ↑ https://thewire.in/201092/muslim-holds-ancient-key-jesus-tomb-site-jerusalem/
  3. ↑ Nina Strochlic, Christian Monks Square Off at One of Jerusalem’s Holiest Sites, Daily Beast, 07.04.2013
  4. ↑ Oren Liebermann, Two Muslim families entrusted with care of holy Christian site for centuries, CNN, March 27 2016.
  5. ↑ Opening the Doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, JerusalemExperience.com
  6. ↑ Welcome to nusseibeh.org and nuseibeh.org - Home of the Nuseibeh Family
  7. ↑ http://www.nusseibeh.com/
  8. ↑ Bashar Nuseibeh
  9. ↑ The Webpage of Sari Nusseibeh

Further reading

  • Fischbach, Michael R. "Nuseibeh Family." In Encyclopedia of the Palestinians, edited by Philip Mattar. New York: Facts on File, 2000.
  • Heller, Mark, and Nusseibeh, Sari. No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-State Settlement of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict. New York: Hill and Wang, 1991.
  • Muslih, Muhammad Y. The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
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