- The Hashemite Dynasty
Hashemite, also Hashimite, is the Latinate version of the Arabic: هاشمي, transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the , or “clan of Hashim”, an Arabian clan within the larger Quraysh trib. It also refers to an Arab dynasty whose original strength stemmed from the network of tribal alliances and blood loyalties in the Hejaz region of Arabia, along the Red Sea.
The Hashemites[1] trace their ancestry from Hashim ibn ‘Abd Manaf (died c. 511 AD), the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, although the definition today mainly refers to the descendants of Muhammad’s daughter, Fatimah.[2] The early history of the Hashemites saw them in a continuous struggle against the Umayyads for control over who would be the Caliph or successor to Muhammad. The Umayyads were of the same tribe as the Hashemites, but a different clan. After the overthrow of the Umayyads, the Abbasids would present themselves as representatives of the Hashemites, as they claimed descent from Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, an uncle of Muhammad. Muhammad’s father had died before he was born, and his mother died while he was a child, so Muhammad was raised by his uncle Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, chief of the Hashemites.
From the 10th century onwards, the Sharif (religious leader) of Mecca and its Emir was, by traditional agreement, a Hashemite. Before World War I, Hussein bin Ali of the Hashemite Dhawu-‘Awn clan ruled the Hejaz on behalf of the Ottoman sultan. For some time it had been the practice of the Sublime Porte to appoint the Emir of Mecca from among a select group of candidates. In 1908, Hussein bin Ali was appointed to the Emirate of Mecca. He found himself increasingly at odds with the Young Turks in control at Istanbul, while he strove to secure his family’s position as hereditary Emirs.
DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR I
Sharif Hussein bin Ali rebelled against the rule of the Ottomans during the Arab Revolt of 1916. Between 1917 and 1924, after the collapse of Ottoman power, Hussein bin Ali ruled an independent Hejaz, of which he proclaimed himself king, with the tacit support of the British Foreign Office. His supporters are sometimes referred to as “Sharifians” or the “Sharifian party”. His chief rival in the Arabian Peninsula was the king of the Najd (highlands) named Ibn Saud, who annexed the Hejaz in 1925 and set his own son, Faysal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as governor. The region was later incorporated into Saudi Arabia.
Hussein bin Ali had five sons:
- Ali, who briefly succeeded to the throne of Hejaz before its loss to the Saud family
- Abdullah, later became the king of Transjordan, and whose descendantsrule the kingdom, that has been known ever since as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- Faisal, was briefly proclaimed King of Arab Kingdom of Syria, and ended up becoming King of Iraq.
- Prince Zeid bin Hussein, who moved to Jordan when his brother’s grandson, King Faisal II of Iraq, was overthrown and murdered in a coup in 1958.
- Hassan, died at a young age.
OTHER HASHEMITES TODAY
Today Hashemites have spread in many places where Muslims have ruled, namely Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Somalia, Yemen, Djibouti, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Northern Sudan, and Turkey. Some Hashemites in these countries carry the title Sayyid. Many members of the Banu Hashim have spread out across the world but so far there has been no attempt to register them all under one record. The Royal family of Morocco also claims ancestry from Ali (Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib) but they do not use Hashemite as their dynastic name.
Hashemite Family Tree
| Last Hashemite Ruler of Hejaz (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) | ||
| King Hussein -Grand Sharif Hussein bin Ali, born in 1853, was destined from birth to lead his people.
For more than 700 years his Hashemite ancestors had been the hereditary guardians of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the surrounding Arabian lands of the Hejaz. It was an unbroken line of succession.Claiming direct descent from the Prophet, the Grand Sharif was highly respected in the Islamic world. Hussein was to be the last Hashemite Emir of Mecca and King of the Hejaz. Hussein’s dream – the catalyst of the Arab Revolt – was to establish a single independent and unified Arab state stretching from Syria in the north to Yemen in the South. Hussein was an influential leader and shared with his fellow Arabs a strong dislike for his Ottoman overlord |
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