Wiki: Hadharem - upcScavenger

The Hadharem (; singular: Hadhrami, ) are an Arabs-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. Among the two million inhabitants of Hadhramaut, there are about 1,300 distinct tribes.

Society

Hadhramaut was under Muslim rule and converted to the faith during the time of Muhammad. 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.

Social hierarchy

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.

Diaspora

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.

Engseng Ho (2025). 9780520244535, University of California Press. ISBN 9780520244535

In the mid 1930s the Hadhrami Diaspora numbered at 110,000, amounting to a third of the total Hadhrami population.

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.

Jean-François Seznec (1987). 9780709954040, Croom Helm. ISBN 9780709954040

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 people population. Hadhrami settlers were instrumental in helping to consolidate the Muslim community in the coastal Benadir province of Somalia, in particular. During the colonial period, disgruntled Hadharem from the tribal wars settled in various Somali towns.

R. J. Gavin (1975). 9780903983143, Hurst. . ISBN 9780903983143

They were also frequently recruited into the armies of the Somali Sultanates.

(1993). 9780844407753, The Division. . ISBN 9780844407753

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

Francoise Le Guennec (1997). 9789004107717, Brill Publishers. ISBN 9789004107717

Hadhrami Jews

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

List of Hadhrami Diaspora

Sri Lankan Moors
Arab Filipino
Arab Indonesian
Arab Malaysian
Arab Singaporean
Chaush, India
Sodagar (Gujarati Shaikh)
Konkani Muslims of the Konkan division of Maharashtra
Omar Khalidi (1996). 9788171545797, Popular Prakashan. ISBN 9788171545797
(partially)
André Wink (1991). 9789004092495, Brill Publishers. . ISBN 9789004092495
Nawayath, of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, India; Barkas, Hyderabad, India
Mappila of Kerala, India
Hadhrami Jews in Israel and abroad
The Surti Sunni Vohra Community in Gujarat that are partially of Hadhrami descent
Lemba people who are of paternal Yemeni ancestry via Hadhramautic settlers in South East Africa; These Hadhrami settlers were primarily from the city of Sana.

Notable people

Yemen

Mohammed A. Al-Hadhrami, former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Yemen (2019-2020)
Abd Al-Rahman Ali Al-Jifri, politician
Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf, human-rights activist
Faisal Bin Shamlan, politician
Habib Ali al-Jifri, Islamic scholar
Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Islamic scholar
Imam al-Haddad, Sufi saint
Imam Muhammad al-Faqih Muqaddam, founder of Ba'alawi Sufi order
Sayyid Abu Bakr Al-Aidarus (saint)

Swahili Coast

Awadh Saleh Sherman, Kenya, businessman
Najib Balala, Kenya, former Minister of Tourism
Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, former President of Comoros
Habib Salih, Lamu, Kenya, religious scholar
Khadija Abdalla Bajaber, Mombasa, Kenya, poet and novelist

North Africa

Artega tribe, Sudan

Horn of Africa

Mohammed Al Amoudi, Ethiopia, businessman

Indonesia

Abdurrahman Baswedan, Journalist
Abdurrahman Shihab, Academic and Politician
Najwa Shihab, Journalist and tv presenter
Abu Bakar Bashir, founder of Jamaah Islamiyah
Ali Alatas, former Foreign Minister
Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Saqqaf, novelist and poet
Alwi Shihab, former Foreign Minister, special envoy to Middle East and OIC
Anies Baswedan, scholar, former Education Minister, Governor of Jakarta (2017-2022)
Nadiem Anwar Makarim, Minister of Education and Culture and former CEO of Gojek
Fadel Muhammad, former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Fuad Hassan, Minister of Education and Culture
Hamid Algadri, a figure in Indonesian National Revolution and member of parliament
Sultan Hamid II, Pontianak Sultanate
Habib Abdoe'r Rahman Alzahier, religious leader
Habib Ali al-Habshi of Kwitang, religious leader
Habib Munzir Al-Musawa, Islamic cleric
Habib Rizieq Shihab, founder of FPI
Habib Usman bin Yahya, Mufti of Batavia
Jafar Umar Thalib, founder of Laskar Jihad
Sultan Badaruddin II, Sultan of Palembang
Munir Said Thalib Al-Kathiri, human rights activist
Nuruddin ar-Raniri, Islamic scholar
Quraish Shihab, Islamic scholar
Raden Saleh, Artist/painter
Said Naum, a philanthropist
Sayyid Abdullah Al-Aidarus, religious leader
Andi Soraya, Actress
Ahmad Albar, Musician