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Hadharem

Ethnic division of Arabs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hadharem

The Hadharem (Arabic: حضارم, romanized: ḥaḍārim; singular: Hadhrami, Arabic: حضرمي, romanized: ḥaḍramī) are an Arabic-speaking ethnographic group indigenous to the Hadhramaut region in the Arabian Peninsula, which is part of modern-day Yemen. The spoken language of the Hadharem is Hadhrami Arabic.[1] Among the two million inhabitants of Hadhramaut, there are about 1,300 distinct tribes.[2]

Quick Facts الحضارم, Regions with significant populations ...
Hadharem
الحضارم
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Map of Hadhramaut and their diaspora regions
Regions with significant populations
Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, Southeast Asia
Languages
Hadhrami Arabic, historically Hadramautic
Religion
Sunni Islam, mainly Shafi'i
Related ethnic groups
Other Arabs, other Old South Arabian-speaking peoples, Lembas, Chaush, Sri Lankan Moors, Sodagar, Konkani Muslims, Nawayath, Malabar Muslims, Surti Sunni Vohras
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Society

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Flag of Hadhramaut used by Qasimists
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Flag proposed by the "Hadhrami League" during the National Dialogue Conference in May 2013 to represent Hadramout Region as part of the federalization of Yemen.

Hadhramaut was under Muslim rule and converted to the faith during the time of Prophet Muhammad.[3] A religious leader from Iraq introduced the Hadharem to Ibadi Islam in the mid-eighth century until in 951 AD when Sunnis took Hadhramaut and put it under their domain. To this day the Hadharem follow Sunni Islam, specifically the Shafi'i school. Hadharem women have had more freedom and education than women in many other Arab countries.[2]

Social hierarchy

This section is an excerpt from Hadhramaut § Demographics.[edit]

The people of the region are known as the Hadharem, generally belong to the Semitic south Arabians who claim descent from Yarub bin Qahtan. There is, however, a large number of Sada (Hadrami Arabic: سادة, romanized: Sadah; Singular: Sayyid), or descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and of townsmen of northern origin, besides a considerable class of African or mixed descent. The Sada, descendants of Husain ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic Prophet, form a numerous and highly respected aristocracy. They are divided into families, the chiefs of which are known as Munsibs, who are looked on as the religious leaders of the people and are even, in some cases are regarded with great respect as saints. Among the leading families are that of Sheikh Abu Bakar bin Salem (Hadrami Arabic: الشيخ ابو بكر بن سالم) of ʽAynat, al-Aidarus (Hadrami Arabic: العيدروس) of Shihr and Wadi Dawan, Bin Sumayt (Hadrami Arabic: بن سميط) of Shibam and the Sakkaf (Hadrami Arabic: سقاف) of Seiyun. They do not bear arms, nor occupy themselves in trade, nor manual labour, nor even agriculture; though owning a large proportion of the land, they employ labourers to cultivate it. As compared with the other classes, they are well educated and are strict in their observance of religious duties, and owing to the respect due to their descent, they exercise a strong influence both in temporal and spiritual affairs.[4][5]

The Mashayikh (Hadrami Arabic: المشايخ) is another highly regarded group that is second in prestige to the Sada. Like the Sada, they don't bear arms.[6] Men from this group are given the honorific surname Sheikh (Hadrami Arabic: شيخ) and women are given the surname Sheikha (Hadrami Arabic: شيخة) which is different from the term Sheikh (Arabic: شيخ) that is used to refer to a tribal chief or a Muslim scholar.[6] Prominent Mashayikh families include the ‘Amudi (Hadrami Arabic: العمودي), Ba Wazir (Hadrami Arabic: با وزير), and Ba ‘Abbad (Hadrami Arabic: با عبّاد) families.[6]

The Qaba'il (Hadrami Arabic: القبائل) or tribesmen, as in the rest of Arabia, are the predominant class in the population. All the adults carry arms. Some of the tribes have settled towns and villages, others live a bedouin life, keeping however within the territory which is recognised as belonging to the tribe. They are divided into sections or families, each headed by a chief while the head of the tribe is called the muqaddam or sultan. He is the leader in peace and in war, but the tribesmen are not his subjects; he can only rule with their support.[4] Historically, the most powerful tribes in Hadhramaut was the Qu’aiti, a branch of the Yafa'a tribe. Originally invited by the Sada to protect the settled districts against the marauding tribes, they established themselves as rulers of the country, and possessed the coastal districts with the towns of Mukalla and Shihr as well as Shibam in the interior. The family had accumulated great wealth and was in the service of the Nizam of Hyderabad in India as commander of the Arab levy composed of his tribesmen.[4][5]

The townsmen are the free inhabitants of the towns and villages as distinguished from the Sada and the tribesmen; they do not carry arms, but are the working members of the community, merchants, artificers, cultivators, and servants and are entirely dependent on the tribes and chiefs under whose protection they live. The servile class contains a large African element, brought over formerly when the slave trade nourished on this coast; as all Islamic countries they are well treated, and often rise to positions of trust.[4][5]

Language

The Hadharem speak Hadhrami Arabic, a dialect of Arabic, although Hadharem living in the diaspora that have acculturated mainly speak the local language of the region they live in.[7]

Diaspora

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The Hadharem have a long seafaring and trading tradition that predates Semitic cultures. Hadramite influence was later overshadowed by the rise of the Sabaeans, who became the ruling class. This prompted Hadhrami families to emigrate in large numbers around the Indian Ocean basin, including the Horn of Africa, the Swahili Coast, the Malabar Coast, Hyderabad in South India, Sri Lanka, and Maritime Southeast Asia.[8] In the mid 1930s the Hadhrami Diaspora numbered at 110,000, amounting to a third of the total Hadhrami population.[9]

Hadharem in the Arabian Peninsula

Hadharami communities exist in western Yemen, the trading ports of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and on the coast of the Red Sea. The money changers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have historically been of Hadhrami origin.[10]

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Hadhrami immigrants in Surabaya (Indonesia), 1920
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Hadhrami Arab neighborhood in Surabaya, 1880
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Hadharem of Palembang, 22 February 1937

Hadhrami East Africans

The Hadharem have long had a presence in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia), and also comprise a notable part of the Harari population. Hadhrami settlers were instrumental in helping to consolidate the Muslim community in the coastal Benadir province of Somalia, in particular.[11] During the colonial period, disgruntled Hadharem from the tribal wars settled in various Somali towns.[12] They were also frequently recruited into the armies of the Somali Sultanates.[13]

Some Hadhrami communities also reportedly exist in Mozambique, Comoros, and Madagascar.[14]

Hadhrami Jews

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Hadhrami Jewish men in Coastal Hadhrami attire

The vast majority of the Hadhrami Jews now live in Israel.[15]

List of Hadhrami Diaspora

Notable people

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South Semitic Kingdom of Hadramawt in 400 BC

Yemen

Swahili Coast

North Africa

Horn of Africa

Indonesia

East Timor

Malaysia

Singapore

The Hadharem presence in Singapore came from encouragement of Stamford Raffles to trade in his newly established colony of Singapore.[20]

South Asia

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

United Kingdom

See also

References

Further reading

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