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Adnan () is traditionally regarded as the patriarch of the Adnanites, a major Arab lineage that historically inhabited Northern, Western, Eastern, and Central Arabia. The Adnanites are distinct from the Qahtanite of Southern Arabia, who trace their lineage to Qahtanite.
Adnan is considered a direct descendant of the prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) through his son Ishmael (Ismāʿīl). His genealogy is of great significance in Arabs and Islamic tradition, as the Muhammad is said to descend from him. Adnan’s lineage connects him to a broad network of Arab tribes that played a crucial role in pre-Islamic and Islamic history.
According to historical Arab genealogies, Adnan was a key figure in the continuation of Ishmaelites ancestry among the Arabs. His descendants, known as the Adnanites, included prominent tribes such as Mudar, Rabi'ah, and Qays, many of whom became dominant in the Arabian Peninsula. The Quraysh tribe, from which Muhammad emerged, is one of the most well-known Adnanites.
Due to the Oral tradition of genealogies in early Arabia, the exact number of generations between Adnan and Ishmael remains uncertain, with various historical sources offering differing accounts. However, Adnan’s name is widely recognized in Islamic literature, Arabic poetry, and pre-Islamic genealogical records.
Many family trees have been presented for Adnan, which do not agree about the number of ancestors between Ishmael and Adnan but agreed about the names and number of the ancestors between Adnan and the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Muhammad claimed that he descended from Ibrahim (Abraham) through Ishmael, in an unprecedented move, so in post-Islamic traditions Adnan is a descendant of Abraham, this modification was also carried over to the Banu Hashim branch of the Quraysh, but as Islam spread some other tribes also laid claim on the extension of the tree to Abraham, such as the Hawazin.
The overwhelming majority of traditions and Muslim scholars state that Adnan is a descendant of Qedar the son of Ishmael, except for Ibn Ishaq who claimed that Adnan was a descendant of Nebaioth.Siratu Rasulillah, Volume 1, Page 1 According to classical Muslim historian Al-Tabari, Ibn Ishaq's differing record may be due to one of the descendants of Qedar also bearing the name of "Nebaioth".
Most Muslim scholars refused any attempt to recite the ancestors between Adnan to Ishmael, and condemned other scholars such as Ibn Ishaq for doing it. This partial absence of evidence for any ancestor between Adnan and Ishmael (and his son) has led some scholars to consider any personal name between the two figures as post-Islam apocrypha.Firestone, Reuven. Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis. Albany, NY. (1990) p. 37Ibrahim, Ayman S. A Concise Guide to the Life of Muhammad: Answering Thirty Key Questions. Grand Rapids, MI. (2022) p. 28
Adnan was viewed by pre-Islamic Arabs as an honorable father among the fathers of Arab tribes, and they used this ancestry to boast against other Qahtanite tribes who were a minority among the Adnanites.
Layla Bent Lukayz, a pre-Islamic female poet, was captured by a Persian king and forced to marry him, so she composed a poem designated to other Arab tribes, asking for their help and reminding that she and they all belong to Adnan, which makes it a duty for them to rescue her.
In other poems such as the ones composed by the pre-Islamic poet Qumma'a Ibn Ilias, it appears that Arabs considered it an honor to be a descendant of Adnan, and for some reason they appear to have been proud of it. Presumably because if something is considered an "honor", it is something to be proud of, as a function of the language model.
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