Adnanites

The Adnanites (Arabic: عَدْنَانِيُّون, romanized: ʿadnāniyyūn) were a tribal confederation of the Ishmaelite Arabs who originate from the Hejaz. They trace their lineage back to Ishmael, son of the Islamic prophet and patriarch Abraham and his wife Hagar, through Adnan. The Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged to the Quraysh tribe of the 'Adnanites'.^[2]

Banu Adnan بنو عدنان
Qedarite branch of the Ishmaelites
View of Kaaba in 1718, which was previously ruled by the Quraysh tribe of 'Adnanites' in Pre-Islamic Arabia
Nisba	al-Adnani (masculine) al-Adnaniyyah (feminine)
Location	Western Arabia, Hejaz region[1] (present-day Saudi Arabia)
Descended from	Adnan
Religion	Islam Pre-Islamic Arabia: Hanif, Indigenous polytheistic Arabian religion Minority: Christianity (Nestorianism), Judaism, Zoroastrianism, later on

According to the Arab tradition, the Adnanites are the Northern Arabs, unlike the Qahtanite Arabs of southern Arabia, who are descended from Qahtan, son of the Islamic prophet Hūdʿ.^[3]

Arab genealogical tradition

See also: Tribes of Arabia

A family tree depicting branches of the Adnanites.

A family tree depicting the descendants of the Banu Adnan.

According to Arab genealogical tradition, the Adnanites are descended from Adnan, who in turn is descended from Ishmael,^[4][5][6] whereas the Qahtanites of Southern Arabia (Yemen) are the original, pure Arabs.^[7][8]

Modern historiography

According to some modern historians, the traditional distinction between Adnanites and Qahtanites lacks evidence and may have developed out of the later faction-fighting during the Umayyad period.^[3]

Further reading

• The dwelling places and wanderings of the Arabian tribes, by Heinrich Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, in German
• Were the Qays and Yemen of the Umayyad Period Political Parties?

See also

• Prophet Muhammad, a member of this group