Banu Fazara

The Banu Fazāra (Arabic: بنو فزارة)
Ghatafani Arab tribe
Nisba	Al-Fazari
Descended from	Fazāra ibn Dhubyān ibn Baghīd ibn Rayth ibn Ghaṭafān ibn Saʾd ibn Qays ʿAylān ibn Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Ma'add ibn Adnan
Parent tribe	Dhubyan (patrilineal) Jusham (matrilineal)[1]
Branches	Banu Shamkh[2] Banu Uday Banu Mazen Banu Saad Banu Zalim
Religion	Islam (post 630s)

The Banu Fazara or Fazzara or Fezara or Fezzara (Arabic: بنو فزارة, romanized: Banū Fazāra) were an Arab tribe whose original homeland was Najd.

Origins

According to Arab genealogical tradition, the progenitor of the Banu Fazara was Fazāra ibn Dhubyān ibn Baghīd ibn Rayth ibn Ghaṭafān. Thus the tribe belonged to the Dhubyan branch of the Ghatafan tribe, making the Fazara a north Arabian tribe.^[3] Its ancestral pasture grounds were in the Wadi al-Rumma region of the Najd in central Arabia.^[3]

History

In the pre-Islamic period, the Fazara were known for their rivalry with the Banu Abs, another branch of the Ghatafan. The two tribes fought against each other in the war of 'Dahis and Ghabra', so-called after the horses of the tribes' respective chiefs, Qays ibn Zuhayr ibn Jadhima of the Abs and Hudhayfa ibn Badr of the Fazara. According to the story of the war, the Fazara originally bested the Abs due to underhanded acts and the Abs retaliated by killing a brother of Hudhayfa. The latter, then his son Hisn, led the tribe during the long-running war. Peace was eventually established between the brother tribes, after which Fazara, under Hisn's son Uyayna, engaged in feuds with the Banu Amir, the Banu Jusham, and other groups.^[3]

The Fazara under Uyayna participated in the Qurayshite siege of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina in 627. They later raided a Muslim expedition under Zayd ibn Haritha, and in 628, supported the Jews of Khaybar against the Muslims. By 630, Uyayna made peace with Muhammad and participated in the Muslim victories at Mecca and Hunayn. A Fazara delegation submitted to Muhammad, but after his death in 632, broke off allegiance from the Muslims and joined the rebel chief Tulayha in the Ridda Wars. The Muslims defeated them and the Fazara submitted once again to Muslim rule.^[3]

In the modern day, the Fazara section of the Sudanese Arabs are camel-nomadic Arab tribes who live in the pastures of North Kordofan. They include the Shanabla, Majaneen, Bani-Jarrar, and Bani-Dhubian.^[4]

Umm Qirfa

Umm Qirfa Fatima^[5] was a leader of the Banu Fazara Arab tribe from Wadi Al-Qura.^{[citation needed]}

Ancient genealogies described Umm Qirfa as a member of the Banu Fazara.^[6] She married into the Banu Badr.^[6] According to Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari, Umm Qirfa was wealthy.^[6] She was described as being an old woman with high social status and wife of Malik ibn Hudhayfa ibn Badr al-Fazari.^[7][6] After her thirty horsemen were defeated by Zayd ibn Haritha,^[8] Muhammad ordered Qirfa^[9] or her children^[10] to be slaughtered "by putting a rope into her two legs and to two camels and driving them until they rent her in two..."^[11] Two of her limbs were torn in to two by four camels, her severed head was later paraded all over the streets of Medina.^[12][9]

Allah’s Messenger sent Zayd to Wadi Qura, where he encountered the Banu Fazarah. Some of his Companions were killed, and Zayd was carried away wounded. Ward was slain by the Banu Badr. When Zayd returned, he vowed that no washing should touch his head until he had raided the Fazarah. After he recovered, Muhammad sent him with an army against the Fazarah settlement. He met them in Qura and inflicted casualties on them and took Umm Qirfah prisoner. He also took Abdallah bin Mas’adah prisoner. Ziyad bin Harithah ordered Qays to kill Umm Qirfah, and he killed her cruelly. He tied each of her legs with a rope and tied the ropes to two camels, and they split her in two.

— Al-Tabari, Michael Fishbein - The History of al-Tabari, 8 (The Victory of Islam), SUNYP, pp. 95-97, 1997

But the story is transmitted through weak chains of transmission.^[13]

As for the first narration, which was mentioned by al-Tabari, the sequence of its chain of transmission is as follows:^[13]

Muhammad bin Hamid Al-Razi → Ibn Ishaq → Abdullah bin Abi Bakr

There are two problems with the chain. Muhammad ibn Hamid al-Razi considered unreliable transmitter by Al-Nasa'i , Abu Ishaq al-Jawzjani, and others.^[13] Also, Ibn Ishaq narrates it on the authority of Abdullah Ibn Abu Bakr, even though the time difference between them was 69 years.^[13] Ali ibn Naayif Ash-Shahood in his book Al-Mufassal Fi Ar-Radd ‘Ala Shubuhaat A’daa’ Al-Islam states about this matter:^[14]

This narration was reported in Tabaqaat Ibn Sa’d, and Ibn Al-Jawzi reported it from him in his book entitled Al-Muntathim, and the source of the narration is Muhammad ibn ‘Umar Al-Waaqidi, who was accused of lying according to the scholars of Hadeeth. The story was also reported in brief by Ibn Kathir in Al-Bidaayah Wan-Nihaayah, but he did not comment on it at all. Ibn Hishaam mentioned it as well in his book entitled As-Seerah; both of them narrated it from Muhammad ibn Is-haaq who did not mention the chain of narrators of this narration. To conclude, the narration is not authentic so it is not permissible to use it as evidence.

— Ali ibn Naayif Ash-Shahood, Al-Mufassal Fi Ar-Radd ‘Ala Shubuhaat A’daa’ Al-Islam

Al-Waqidi has been condemned as an untrustworthy narrator and has been frequently and severely criticized by scholars, thus his narrations have been abandoned by the majority of hadith scholars.^[15] Yahya ibn Ma'een said: "Al-Waqidi narrated 20,000 false hadith about the prophet". Al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Al-Albani^[16]said: "Al-Waqidi is a liar" while Al-Bukhari said he didn't include a single letter by Al-Waqidi in his hadith works.

On the other hand the story goes against the Prophet Muhammad's orders to merciful killing and forbid mutilation.

Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Fight, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children.

— Sahih_Muslim, Hadith No.1731

Verily Allah has enjoined goodness to everything; so when you kill, kill in a good way and when you slaughter, slaughter in a good way. So every one of you should sharpen his knife, and let the slaughtered animal die comfortably.

— Sahih Muslim, Hadith No.1955

In, Safi-Ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri in his book Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum tells that Umm Qirfa wanted to kill Muhammad:^[17]

An expedition led by Abu Bakr As-Siddiq or Zaid bin Haritha was despatched to Wadi Al-Qura in Ramadan 6 Hijri after Fazara sept had made an attempt at the Prophet’s life. Following the Morning Prayer, the detachment was given orders to raid the enemy. Some of them were killed and others captured. Umm Qira’s attempt at the Prophet’s life recoiled on her, and the thirty horsemen she had gathered and sustained to implement her evil scheme were all killed.

— Sheikh Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarkpuri, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar): Biography of the Prophet, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum: The Sealed Nectar – Biography Of The Noble Prophet [Revised Edition January 2002], page 337

^[13]

References

1. "بنوجشم بن معاوية بن بكر بن هوازن - ..ٌ::ٌ:: النسابون العرب ::ٌ::ٌ".
2. "ص153 - كتاب أنساب الأشراف للبلاذري - نسب بني فزارة بن ذبيان - المكتبة الشاملة الحديثة".
3. Watt 1991, p. 873.
4. MacMichael, Harold (1922). A History of the Arabs in the Sudan And Some Account of the People who Preceded them and of the Tribes Inhabiting Dárfūr. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511696947.
5. Smith, Margaret (30 July 2001). Muslim Women Mystics: The Life and Work of Rabi'a and Other Women Mystics in Islam. Oneworld Publications. p. 151. ISBN 9781851682508.
6. De Premare 1994, p. 23.
7. Ibn 'Abd Rabbih (2012). The Unique Necklace, Volume 3. trans. Issa J. Boullata. UWA Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 9781859642405.
8. Mubarkpuri, Safi-ur-Rahman (5 August 2002). The Sealed Nectar (Biography of the Prophet). Darussalam Publications. p. 152. ISBN 9781591440710.
9. Ibn Isḥāq, Muḥammad; Guillaume, Alfred (5 August 1978). The life of Muhammad: translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. Oxford University Press. p. 664-665. OCLC 29863176.
10. Guillaume, Alfred (February 1956). "A Note on the Sīra of Ibn Isḥāq". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 18 (1): 4. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00122165. ISSN 0041-977X. S2CID 171938473.
11. The History of Al-Tabari: the Victory of Islam. Translated by Michael Fishbein. SUNYP. 1997. pp. 95–97.
12. Al-Jamal, Khalkl Abd al-Karim Manshurat. Al-Nass Al-Muasas wa Mujtamauhu. p. 174.
13. www.ebnmaryam.com Archived October 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
14. "Weakness of narration about the way Umm Qirfah was killed - Islamweb - Fatwas". www.islamweb.net. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
15. Ibn Hisham, 'Abd al-Malik (1995). Al-Sayyid, Majdi Fathi (ed.). Ṣaḥīḥ Sīrah al-Nabawīyah صحيح السيرة النبوية (in Arabic). Vol. 4. Dār al-Ṣaḥābah lil-Turāth. pp. 335–336.
16. Al-Albani, Nasir al-Din. "Hadith#6013". Silsilat al-aḥādīth al-ḍaʻīfah wa-al-mawḍūʻah سلسلة الأحاديث الضعيفة والموضوعة (in Arabic). Vol. 33. p. 13.
17. Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (2002). Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar): Biography of the Prophet. Dar-us-Salam Publications. p. 337. ISBN 9781591440710.

Bibliography

• De Premare, A.-L. (1994). "Umm Qirfa et Salmâ, et le mythe des peuples anéantis". Journal asiatique. 282 (1): 19–35. doi:10.2143/JA.282.1.2006115. ISSN 1783-1504.
• Watt, W. Montgomery (1991) [1965]. "Fazāra". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. II: C–G (new ed.). Leiden and New York: Brill. p. 873. ISBN 90-04-07026-5.