Quda'a ibn Ma'ad: Proving Adnani Origin and Deconstructing Yemeni Affiliation: A Historical-Sociological Study

Abstract

The lineage of the Quda'a tribe stands among the most contested genealogical problems in the Arabic heritage corpus, with two competing narratives remaining methodologically unresolved: the Adnani narrative placing Quda'a as the firstborn son of Ma'add ibn Adnan, and the Yamani narrative affiliating it with Himyarite origins. This study aims to bridge this scholarly gap through a multi-level analytical methodology combining source criticism, sociological analysis, historical geography, and poetic discourse analysis, drawing upon primary sources including al-Tabari, Ibn Hazm, al-Baladhuri, Ibn Abd al-Barr, and Ibn al-Athir.
The findings demonstrate that this narrative conflict did not arise from genealogical fact but from documented political manipulation. An exceptional historical record preserved by Ibn Abd al-Barr - in which Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Mu'awiya explicitly urged his maternal kinsmen: "you will thereby gain leverage against the Marwanids" — establishes the politically engineered nature of the Yamani claim. This is corroborated by tribal chief Zuhayr ibn Janab's acknowledgment of his Ma'addi affiliation in verse, alongside geographical evidence including Quda'a's settlement in the Hijaz and the naming of Jeddah after one of its descendants near the Holy Mosque.
The study contends that the identity shift among some Quda'a notables was a psychological response to the pre-Islamic Adnani lack of political centrality contrasted with Yamani civilizational prestige - a pattern this research frames as a recurring human phenomenon extending beyond Arabian genealogy into broader dynamics of collective identity under political pressure.