Ba 'Alawi sada

The Ba 'Alawi sadah or Sadat Ba 'Alawi (Arabic: سادة آل باعلوي, romanized: sādat āl-bā'alawiy) are a group of Hadhrami Sayyid families and social group originating in Hadhramaut in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula. They trace their lineage to Ahmad al-Muhajir who was born in 873 (260H). Ahmad al-Muhajir emigrated emigrated from Basra to Hadhramaut in 931 (318H) to avoid sectarian violence, including the invasion of the Qaramite forces into the Abbasid Caliphate. Great classical scholars of Islam such as Ibn Hajar al-Haitami, Yusuf bin Ismail Al-Nabhani and Murtada Al Zabidi have validated the genealogy of the Ba Alawi Sada.
They follow the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah methodology on the Shafi'i school in jurisprudence, and the Ash'ari school in faith, and they have their own way of seeking God, which is the Al-Baalawi Tariqah, one of the Sufi orders spread in the Islamic world.
The Ba 'Alawids are known for preaching Islam. The founder of their order was Muhammad bin Ali Baalawi, known as "Al-Faqih Al-Muqaddam", whom during his time, Sayyid families in Hadhramaut were seen as a threat by other tribes. Due to instability in the region, it was normal during his study that Muhammad bin Ali put a sword on his lap for protection. Muhammad grew tired of the tension and bloodshed in the ranks of the believers thus symbolically broke his sword and announced that his Tariqa and the way of Alawid Sayyids are non-violence and renounced any tariqa that uses violence. It is believed the dissemination of Islam in Southeast Asia was carried out by traders and clerics of Hadhramaut who transited in India since 15th century as the Sufism and its influences can be traced strongly in the region.
They were at the top of the social ladder in Hadhramaut because of their esteemed lineage, significant social and financial contributions, and their influence, spreading the principles of Islam to the people, establishing mosques and religious schools, and advancing knowledge through intellectual centers, which solidified their prominent position in the society.
The origin of the name Ba 'Alawi goes back to one of their ancestors, Alawi bin Ubaidillah bin Ahmad al-Muhajir, the first of al-Muhajir's descendants to be named 'Alawi. The use of the name Ba 'Alawi came after they were influenced by the Hadharem in their way of referring to their fathers, and the meaning of (Ba) among the Hadharem is "children of".
However, the Ba 'Alawids do not use these two surnames except in biographies and genealogies, and a person is usually attributed to his tribe, but there are some individuals from Bani Alawi who are still called Ba 'Alawi because they do not belong to any of the known tribes.
The word Sadah or Sadat (Arabic: سادة) is a plural form of word Sayyid (Arabic: سيد), while the word Ba 'Alawi or Bani 'Alawi means descendants of Alawi. In sum, Ba'alawi are Sayyids who have a blood descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Alawi ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Muhajir. Meanwhile, Alawiyyin (Arabic: العلويّن; al-`alawiyyin), a Sayyid term that is used to describe descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib from Husayn ibn Ali (Sayyids) and Hasan ibn Ali (Sharifs). All people of Ba 'Alawi are Alawiyyin Sayyids through Husayn ibn Ali, but not all people of Alawiyyin family are of Ba 'Alawi.
Imam al-Muhajir's grandson Alawi was the first Sayyid to be born in Hadhramaut, and the only one of Imam al-Muhajir's descendants to produce a continued line in Hadhramaut; the lineages of Imam al-Muhajir's other grandsons, Basri and Jadid, were cut off after several generations. Accordingly, Imam Al-Muhajir's descendants in Hadhramaut hold the name Bā 'Alawi or Bani 'Alawi ("descendants of Alawi").
Ahmad Al-Muhajir's descendants continued to move through the valley's villages, settling in the village of Sumal for a time before moving to the village of Bayt Jubair. In 521 AH, Ali bin Alawi, known as "Khali' Qasam," a descendant of the Al-Muhajir, moved to the city of Tarim and made it his home for himself and his children. Since then, Tarim has become the headquarters of the Bani Alawi to this day.
The Ba 'Alawi Sadah have since been living in Hadhramaut in Southern Yemen, maintaining the Sunni Creed in the fiqh school of Shafi'i. In the beginning, a descendant of Imam Ahmad al-Muhajir who became scholar in Islamic studies was called Imam, then Sheikh, but later called Habib.
It was only since 1700 AD they began to migrate in large numbers out of Hadhramaut across all over the globe, often to practice da'wah (Islamic missionary work). Their travels had also brought them to the Southeast Asia. These Hadhrami immigrants blended with their local societies unusual in the history of diasporas. For example, the House of Jamalullail of Perlis is descended from the Ba 'Alawi. Habib Salih of Lamu, Kenya was also descended from the Ba 'Alawi. In Indonesia, quite a few of these migrants married local women or men, sometimes nobility or even royal families, and their descendants then became sultans or kings, such as in Sultanate of Pontianak or in Sultanate of Siak Indrapura. The Sultanates of Sulu, Lanao, and Maguindanao as well trace their origins to Ba Alawi Sada. These Sultanates follow the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence.
According to Ja'far al-Labani, a historian from Mecca: "Most of the Sayyids living in Mecca and Medina are the Ba'alawis, whose memory spread in Hadhramaut, and then they came from Hadhramaut to Mecca, Medina and other countries of Allah, so these gentlemen are the ones who are handed over to preserve their genealogy, and they are known to the captain of the Sayyids in Mecca and Medina, and the captain of the Sayyids is none other than them, and their births are controlled wherever they are, and their names are enumerated, and their genealogy is preserved in the well-known way. Their genealogies are preserved in the manner known to them, in order to divide their revenues from endowments and the like, and whoever else belongs to the pure lineage, whether Egyptian, Levantine, Roman, or Iraqi, although there are many of them, they are not recognized because their genealogies are not set on a sound basis by the public, but some of them may have evidence that gives some doubt about the truth of their claim." Of course, as all genealogists know, almost none of our conclusions about ancestry/descendancy are 100% proven, especially when they are based at least in part on oral and paper records.
The genealogies of the Ba Alawids were preserved in a large genealogy ledger located in fifteen volumes, compiled by the famous genealogist Abd al-Rahman al-Mashhur, author of "Shams al-Dhahira"(1340 Hijri), which was the approved tree, and is still recorded to this day in the Hejaz, Yemen, southeast Asian countries and East Africa. Its original version was preserved in Tarim in Hadhramaut, and was adopted by the Al-Rabithah Al-Alawiyah (The Association of Alawiyyin) in Jakarta, Indonesia. There is a well-known genealogy ledger reference by al-Musnid 'Idrus ibn 'Umar al-Habshi, and another genealogy ledger reference that was preserved in Mecca and was transcribed by al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Habshi. In addition to these general genealogical tree, there were also specific genealogical trees for many tribes of Bani Alawi, in which they record their genealogy.
Some of the notable books that records their genealogy are:
After the descendants of Ahmad bin Isa al-Muhajir settled in Tarim, some governors asked them to prove their lineage to confirm what they claimed, and that this should be done by a judicial ruling, and Tarim had three hundred muftis at that time, so Ali bin Muhammad bin Jadid, who died in 620 AH, traveled to Iraq and proved the lineage to the judges there and witnessed it. Then these witnesses met the Hadhramaut pilgrims in Mecca and testified to them. When these Hadhrami pilgrims came to Hadhramaut and testified to the proof, the people recognized their lineage, and the sheikhs and scholars unanimously agreed on this.
When Ahmad al-Muhajir arrived in Hadhramaut, he still had family and relatives in Basra. His son Muhammad remained in Basra to manage their property, along with his other sons, Ali and Hussein. His grandson, Jadid bin 'Ubaydillah (his diminutive real name of Abdullah) went to see those properties and visit relatives. Al-Muhajir's children and grandchildren invested in Hadhramaut for many years from the proceeds of their money in Iraq. They maintained contact with their ancestral homeland and cousins for a few generations, receiving news and stories that kept their heritage and history alive.
Centuries later, some questioned the lineage, citing a genealogy book published in the 20th century attributed to Al-Fakhr al-Razi. This book did not mention a son named 'Ubaydillah for Ahmad bin Isa, recording only three sons: Muhammad, Ali, and Hussein.
In 2000, FamilyTreeDNA was established and initiated a global project to identify human origins through DNA analysis with the aim of reconnecting the Jewish diaspora around the world. The company classified the results of the analysis samples sent to it into different genetic lines based on the male (Y) chromosome and by comparison with other samples that had been examined and classified. When some members of the Ba Alawi performed this genetic analysis, some of their results revealed the haplogroup G lineage, which is predominantly found in the Caucasus region. A few doubt that their lineage to the Prophet's Household is authentic, claiming that the lineage in which Arabs predominate is the haplogroup J1 lineage. However, this opinion is contested as there is no evidence to support the DNA patterns of the true descendants of Prophet Muhammad. Many other prominent branches claiming descent from Muhammad, such as Idrissids, Jaylanis, Rifais, Rizvis, Naqvis and others, also exhibit similar discrepancies.
According to historical sources, many genealogists and historians, such as: Ibn Tabataba, Baha al-Din al-Janadi, Ibn Inabah, Muhammad al-Kadhim Al-Yamani, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Amid al-Din al-Najafi, Siraj al-Din al-Rifai, Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Ibn Shadqam, Al-Muhibbi, Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din, the family lineage is connected to Muhammad.
Some authoritative Muslim scholars such as former Mufti of Egypt Shaikh Ali Jum'ah, Sheikh Usamah Al-Azhari of Al-Azhar University in Egypt, Iranian Ayatollah Sayyid Mahdi Rajai, Muhammad Said Ramadhan Al-Bouti, Saudi Arabian genealogists Sharif Ibrahim bin Manshur ِAl-Hashimi Al-Amir and Sharif Anas bin Ya'qub Al-Kutbi, have asserted their opinion that Ba 'Alawi sada family lineage is connected to Muhammad.
Some of the family names are as follows:
Like other branches of the Sayyid lineage, the Ba Alawi lineage is not immune to criticism. Some individuals in Indonesia, following a controversial preacher Imaduddin Utsman al Bantani who started the dispute, reject the validity of Ba 'Alawi sada linkage to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This controversy arises from a conjecture that 'Ubaydillah figure who is asserted to be a son of Ahmad al-Muhajir, was not mentioned in books until about three centuries after his lifetime. This argument is based on a 20th-century book titled "Al-Sajarah Al-Mubarakah fi Ansaab Al-Thalibiyya", attributed to Fakhru ad-Din al-Razi. Although the book is said to be compiled in late 6th century Hijri, the attribution to Fakhru ad-Din al-Razi is questionable and criticized, as some manuscripts suggest it was written at a later time by different person. The book states that Ahmad bin Isa had only three children: Muhammad, Ali, and Hussein. The muhaqqiq (researcher) who supervised the publication of the book, Mahdi Rajai confirmed the Ba Alawi lineage to the Prophet Muhammad
Furthermore, their argument is also based on the results of Y-DNA tests conducted on some individuals who claimed of the Ba Alawi clan, which do not show correspondence with the haplogroup of those who claim descent from Banu Hashim. The study indicates that this discrepancy is also found in many other sayyid groups. Many Indonesians firmly reject Imaduddin's controversial theory and have even barred him from speaking at forums.
Currently there is no agreement between those who deny and those who support the Ba 'Alawi lineage in Indonesia. According to the Ba 'Alawi side, their claim is recognized by virtually all Niqaba of Muslim countries, notably in Yemen, the Levant, the Maghreb, Egypt, Iran, South Asia and the Middle East.
The vast majority of scholars criticize the method used by these deniers, which requires that the lineage be mentioned in a book contemporary to the questionable person (Ubaidillah). The reasons are based on the conventions accepted by scholars of 'ilm al-Ansaab (genealogy) worldwide. The requirement for a book to mention a person's name at the time it was written, or very close to it, will invalidate the lineages of many widely accepted sayyid groups. As described in the book "رسائل فى علم النسب" (The summary of Genealogy science):
A recent finding of the manuscript of Imam Tirmidhi written in around 589 H, hence a contemporary book debunking the deniers' claim, mentioned a person as a Sharief from Husain bin Ali bin Abi Thalib lineage named Muhammad Sahib Mirbath from Ba'alawi family. A Genealogy scholar in 8th Hijri, Bahaudin Al-Janadi in his book, "As-Suluk Fi Tabaqatil Ulama Wal Muluk" said:
Another rebuttal to the deniers arises from the fact that 'Ubaydillah name also appears in a hadith chain from a non-Ba'alawi source, connecting to Ahmad bin Isa in the book of 40 hadiths compiled by Sheikh Yasin Al Fadani.
There is no consensus among scholars regarding the use of DNA testing to trace distant lineage. Islamic genealogists and Ulama, such as Mufti of Egypt Shaikh Shauqi 'Allam permits the use of DNA testing to establish lineage but rejects its use to negate lineage. (He is referring to close lineage between father and child in this context.) Similarly, the Indonesian's Nahdlatul Ulama conference in 2004 permitted the use of DNA testing solely to refute close lineage between a father and a son. Another scholar from Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim bin Manshur Al-Hashimi Al-Amir states that DNA testing cannot be used to establish distant lineage, especially if that lineage has already been established through legal recognition based on the Fame and Popularity (الشهرة والاستفاضة, Arabic pronunciation: [ʃuhrah wa al-Istifadˤah]) as in the case of Ba 'Alawi. However, it can be used to deny close lineage between father and child. Some scholars disagree with the application of DNA tracing to determine distant lineage for some reasons described by Zainab Al-Muthairy, Ph.D, a scholar in molecular DNA at the Prince Shatham Abd Aziz in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Ba 'Alawi project on the Family Tree DNA website, those participating in the project exhibit a diverse range of different Ashraf branches and haplogroups. People from the Al-Habshi (from Indonesia), Jamalul Lail, Al-Hadi (from Indonesia), and Al-Saqqaf families affiliated with the haplogroup G, while some other Al-Saqqaf and other families are in haplogroup J. In contrast, according to the same source, the Quraysh is believed to have patterns that is associated with haplogroup J1. This finding suggests that some prominent Ashraf lineage do not descend directly from the Prophet Muhammad, but rather has a genetically distinct line of ancestry. Due to ongoing research and the complexity of determining Arab and Hashemi haplogroups, along with cases of DNA-testing companies overly simplify scientific claims by DNA-testing companies, many genetic genealogists have relied on traditional, non-DNA-based genealogy for decades. Other genealogists use DNA testing when documentary records become thin or non-existent. DNA alone cannot prove anything and only supports genealogy. This requires an in-depth analysis of the many specific issues and aspects that arise when utilizing DNA, and this is something with which genealogists are still struggling.