page_title: Al Fadl
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Al Fadl / History / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: Genealogy of the Banu Tayy of Syria and its sub-tribes The green line depicts the Jarrahids The yellow line depicts the Banu Rabi'ah The blue line depicts the Al Fadl The magenta line depicts the Al Mira The burgundy line depicts the Al Ali The following sources were used for this genealogy map: Canard, Marius (1991) &#91;1965&#93; D̲j̲arrāḥids, Leiden and New York&#58; &#32;BRILL, pp.&#160;482-484 ISBN&#58; 90-04-07026-5.&#32; Bakhit, Muhammad Adnan (1982) The Ottoman Province of Damascus in the Sixteenth Century, Librairie du Liban &#32;(1975).&#32;"The Origins and Development of the Amīrate of the Arabs during the Seventh/Thirteenth and Eighth/Fourteenth Centuries". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies&#32;38&#32;(3). &#32;(1948).&#32;"The Tribes of Syria in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies&#32;12&#32;(3/4).
context_page_description: Al Fadl were an Arab tribe that dominated the Syrian Desert and steppe during the Middle Ages, and whose modern-day descendants largely live in southern Syria and eastern Lebanon. The Al Fadl's progenitor, Fadl ibn Rabi'ah, was a descendant of the Banu Tayy through his ancestor, Mufarrij al-Jarrah. The tribe rose to prominence by assisting the Burids and Zengids against the Crusaders. The Ayyubids often appointed them to the office of Amir al-ʿarab, giving the Al Fadl emirs command over the Bedouin tribes of northern Syria. Their function was often to serve as auxiliary troops.
  Starting with Emir Isa ibn Muhanna, the Al Fadl became the hereditary holders of the office by order of the Mamluk sultans and were given substantial iqtaʿat in Salamiyah, Palmyra and other places in the steppe. By then their tribal territory spanned the region between Homs in the west and Qal'at Ja'bar to east, and between the Euphrates valley in the north to central Arabia in the south. Isa's sons and successors Muhanna and Fadl vacillated between the Mamluks and the latter's Mongol enemies, but generally they were highly favored by Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad.
context_section_description: The Al Fadl were one of the two main branches (the other being Al Mira) of the Banu Rabi'ah, a tribe belonging to the Banu Tayy (also known as the Tayyids). The Banu Rabi'ah were the offspring of the tribe's namesake, Rabi'ah ibn Hazim ibn Ali ibn Mufarrij ibn Daghfal ibn al-Jarrah. The Banu Rabi'ah were descendants of the 10th-century Jarrahid rulers of Palestine, and became prominent in Syria as a result of their participation in the Muslim war effort against the Crusaders, who conquered the Syrian (Levantine) coastal regions in 1099. The Banu Rabi'ah's branches Al Fadl and Al Mira (also spelled Al Murrah) were the descendants of Rabi'ah's sons, Fadl and Mira, respectively.
  Fadl was noted in Muslim chronicles as an emir (prince) of the tribe by 1107. He and his brothers Mira, Thabit and Daghfal, and their father Rabi'ah, provided and commanded mounted auxiliary troops for Tughtekin (r. 1104-1128), the Burid ruler of Damascus, and his Zengid successors. By the time the Zengids gained control of the Syrian interior in the mid-12th century, the Banu Rabi'ah had become the dominant tribe in the Syrian Desert. Relations between the tribes and the various Muslim states were not always cooperative. During periods of strained relations the tribes would plunder the villages of the countryside and Hajj pilgrimage caravans.
  The Tayyid roots of the tribe are supported and verified by Muslim historians. However, members of the Al Fadl have claimed fictitious lineages in the past, which have been dismissed by both medieval and modern historians. Among these legends was that the tribe descended from the Barmakids, a Persian household that held high office in the Abbasid government in Baghdad. That claim was disparaged by 14th-century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun. Some modern-era tribesmen have claimed descent from al-Abbas, the Abbasids' namesake and ancestor, and through him trace their lineage to the Quraysh tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In another story, descent is claimed from Abbasa, a sister of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid.
caption: Genealogy of the Banu Tayy tribe of Syria. The Al Fadl branch is depicted by the blue line
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