Banu Hashim

Banū Hāshim (Hashmi or Hashemi/Syed hashmi) (Arabic: بنو هاشم) is a clan in the Quraysh tribe with a unique maternal bloodline of Israelite ancestry through Salma bint Amr of Banu Najjar. This makes Banu Hashim both an Ishmaelite and Israelite tribe. The Islamic prophet, Muhammad was a member of this Arab tribe; his great-grandfather was Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, for whom the tribe is named. Members of this clan are referred to as Hashemites. Descendants of Muhammed usually carry the titles Sayyid, Syed or Sharif, or are the Ashraf clan (synonymous to Ahl al-Bayt). Descendants of Muhammed through their mothers side usually carry the title Mirza.

Today, two sovereign monarchs - Abdullah II of Jordan and Muhammad VI of Morocco are considered to be a part of Banu Hashim.

History

Amongst pre-Islamic Arabs, people classified themselves according to their tribe, their clan, and then their house/family. There were two major tribal kinds: the Adnanites (descended from Adnan, traditional ancestor of the Arabs of northern, central and western Arabia) and the Qahtanites (originating from Qahtan, the traditional ancestor of the Arabs of southern and south eastern Arabia). Banu Hashim is one of the clans of the Quraysh tribe, and is an Adnanite tribe. It derives its name from Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, the great-grandfather of Muhammad, and along with the Banu Abd Shams, Banu Al-Muttalib, and Banu Nawfal clans comprises the Banu Abd al-Manaf section of the Quraysh.