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Banu Fazara

The Banu FazaraorFazzaraorFezaraorFezzara (Arabic: بنو فزارة, romanized: Banū Fazāra) were an Arab tribe whose original homeland was Najd.

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]

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 MuhammadinMedina 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]

A prominent leader of the tribe was Umm Qirfa.

• 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.