Hashemites

House of Hashim
, File:Al-Hasani Hashemite Family Tree.jpg Seyyed Dr Al-Hasani
Parent house	Banu Hashim, a branch of the Quraish tribe.
Country	Kingdom of Hejaz (Saudi Arabia), Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq
Founded	1916
Founder	Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
Current head	King Abdullah II (Jordan) Ra'ad bin Zeid (Iraq) Ageel bin Muhammad al-Badr (Yemen)
Final ruler	Faisal II in Iraq, Jordanian branch is extant.
Titles	Sharif of Mecca, King of Jordan, King of Iraq, King of Hejaz, King of Syria, Imam of Yemen
Estate(s)	Hejaz, Jordan, Iraq and India
Dissolution	1958 in Iraq (14 July Revolution)

Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: هاشمي, transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe. 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 Saudi Arabia, along the Red Sea.

History

The Hashemites trace their ancestry from Hashim ibn Abd al-Manaf (died c. 510 AD), the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, although the definition today mainly refers to the descendants of the prophet's daughter, Fatimah. 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, 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 Emir 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 highlanders on the highland of Najd named Ibn Saud, who annexed the Hejaz in 1925 and set his own son, Faysal bin Abdelaziz 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 descendants rule the kingdom, that has been known ever since as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
• Faisal, was briefly proclaimed King of Syria, and ended up becoming King of Iraq.
• Prince Zeid, 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, Pakistan, India, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Djibouti, Northern Sudan, and Turkey. Most 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 Imam Ali but they do not use Hashemite as their dynastic name.

See also

• Hejaz
• Sayyid
• Hallaur
• Hashemite University
• Abbasi
• List of Kings of Jordan
• Line of succession to the Jordanian throne
• List of Kings of Iraq
• Line of succession to the Iraqi throne

External links

• Hashemite Lineage