u/Arabian_Home_Roots

This book, written by Moroccan historian Nabil Mouline, shows that the Saadian military was heavily Arab in composition.

The dynasty’s military core included the Banu Maʿqil, while Arab tribes also served within the Ahl Sous and Cheraga corps.

The ʿArab al-Dawla, or “Arabs of the State,” alone could mobilize around 29,000–30,000 cavalrymen out of a fully assembled Saadian army of roughly 50,000–60,000 troops.

This means that the Bedouin Arab forces of the ʿArab al-Dawla by themselves accounted for approximately half, and possibly close to three-fifths, of the entire mobilized army.

The overall Arab proportion was higher though once the Arab contingents serving within the Ahl Sous and Cheraga formations are included.

El-Sayed wants to abolish ICE, give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, “defund the police” in some respects, and make college tuition free.

El-Sayed wants to abolish ICE, give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, “defund the police” in some respects, and make college tuition free.

El-Sayed wants to abolish ICE, give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, “defund the police” in some respects, and make college tuition free.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail\_Ibn\_Sharif

The main character traits of Moulay Ismail, according to the chronicles and legends of his period, were his "tendency to order and authority, as well as his iron will." He put his strength and power at the service of this unyielding will, "If God gave me the kingship, man cannot take it from me," he is reported to have said. This will was always apparent in his actions and decisions.[37] According to Dominique Busnot, the colour of his clothes was linked to his mood,

Green is the sweetest colour; white is a good sign for those appealing to him; but when he is dressed in yellow, all the world trembles and flees his presence because it is the colour that he chooses on the days of his bloodiest executions.

— Dominique Busnot Histoire du regne de Mouley Ismael roy de Moroc, Fez, Tafilet, Soutz etc (1704) p.38.

According to contemporary Europeans, Moulay Ismail was considered cruel, greedy, merciless, and duplicitous. It was his cruelty and viciousness that particularly attracted their attention. Legends of the ease with which Ismail could behead or torture laborers or servants he thought to be lazy are numerous. According to a Christian slave, Moulay Ismail had more than 36,000 people killed over a 26-year period of his reign. According to François Pidou de Saint Olon, Moulay Ismail had 20,000 people assassinated over a twenty-year period of his reign. He was described by many authors, including Dominique Busnot, as a "bloodthirsty monster". However, researchers such as Richard Bordeaux Parker opined that frequently-told stories about the ten of thousands of Christian slaves' forced labours and the large dungeons where they were kept were exaggerated from the accounts of European ambassadors who visited Isma'il's court. Bordeaux Parker and Jonathan M. Bloom found the number of Christian slaves was likely closer to a few thousand at most and the chambers which suspected as slave prisons were actually storage rooms for grain and food supplies. The urban legends about Qara Prison holding thousands of them are disputed by Marianne Barrucand as she opined it is largely for food silos.

Moulay Ismail was also a very good horseman, with great physical strength, agility, and extraordinary cleverness, which he maintained even in his old age. "One of his normal entertainments was to draw his sword as he mounted his horse and decapitate the slave who held the stirrup."

His physical appearance is almost always described in the same way by the Europeans. He had "a long face, more black than white, i.e. very mulatto," according to Saint-Amans, ambassador of Louis XIV, who added that "he is the strongest and most vigorous man of his State." He was of average height and he inherited the colour of his face from his mother, who had been a black slave.

According to Germain Moüette, a French captive who lived in Morocco until 1682:

"He is a vigorous man, well-built, quite tall but rather slender... his face is a clear brown colour, rather long, and its features are all quite well-formed. He has a long beard that is slightly forked. His expression, which seems quite soft, is not a sign of his humanity – on the contrary, he is very cruel..."

— Germain Moüette Relation de la captivité du Sr. Mouette dans les royaumes de Fez et de Maroc, p.150

"A faithful and pious follower of his religion", he attempted to convert King James II of England to Islam, sending him letters whose sincerity and religious feeling are inarguable. Dominique Busnot, who was generally critical of Ismail, asserted that "he had a great attachment to his Law and publicly practiced all the ceremonies, ablutions, prayers, fasts, and feasts with scrupulous precision."

He enjoyed debating theology with the Trinitarians in Morocco on points of controversy. On many occasions when returning from the mosque on Fridays, he asked for Trinitarians to be brought into his court. During a debate with the fathers of Mercy, he said this:

"I have said enough for a man who uses reason; if you are stubborn, that is too bad. We are all children of Adam and therefore brothers; it is the only religion that creates a difference between us. It is, therefore, as a brother and in obedience to the commandments of my law that I charitably advise you that the true religion is that of Muhammad, which is the only one in which one can find salvation. I give you this advice for the sake of my conscience and to be justified in charging you on the day of judgment."

— Moulay Ismail

Moulay Ismail was a serial polygamist.[

According to the writings of the French Trinitarian priest Father Dominique Busnot, Moulay Ismail had at least 500 concubines and at least 600 living children in 1704, which did not include his daughters by his four principal wives. Busot reports the rumor that any others were ordered to be strangled at birth. Historian Abd al-Rahman Ibn Zaydan recorded children of around 68 wedded wives and eight unnamed slave concubines from the royal birth registers kept during the reign of Sidi Mohammed III. He specifies that upon Ismail's death the full number of his wives and harem slave concubines was 700. The final total is uncertain: the Guinness Book of Records claims 1,042, with no source. Based on Busnot's 1704 figures, Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Karl Grammer of the University of Vienna calculated Ismail could have fathered approximately 1,171 children in a 32-year reproductive span. The historian Al Zayani, who was in charge of royal protocol under Sultan Sidi Mohammed III, recounts that with his own eyes he saw the exhaustive list of Moulay Ismail's children and that his descendants occupied 500 houses in Sijilmasa. He also specified that the list to which he had access did not contain the names of Moulay Ismail's children who had no descendants.

A partial restoration of Moulay Ismail's descent through his wives and slave concubines is listed below. His first recorded marriage was in 1670; the order of his nuptials are unclear after his first recorded spouse. Posterity did not remember many of the full names of his wives, and following Muslim traditions, slave concubines do not have a last name, and are renamed at the time of their conversion to Islam. Their birth names were not subject to meticulous safeguarding, which is why few of these women are identifiable by their birth name. The descendants of his wives who have a full name or biography are listed first, then those of his wives who do not have a full name, then a partial list of his descendants through his slave concubines:

- A daughter of a Saadi prince, married on 5 April 1670, at Dar Ben Chegra in Fez. According to Al Zayani it was during the month of Shawwal, while Ahmad ibn Khalid an-Nasiri states it took place 14 of Dhu al-Qadah 1080 in Islamic calendar. The wedding probably took place between the two dates thus March to 5 April 1670, AD, as royalty often had a seven-days wedding. Whether they had issue is not stated.

- A daughter of Shaykh Al-Lawati who was the widow of his half-brother Sultan Moulay Rashid. She was from the oriental Rif region, her father was Cheick of his Arab Maqil or Berber tribe. The wedding happened after 9 April 1672, but his date of marriage is unclear. Whether they had issue is not stated.

- Lalla Aisha Mubarka. The origins of this lady are unclear, initially, she was a jarya (slave concubine) of Sultan Moulay Rashid. Sources claim that Moulay Ismail brought her from his brother in the early 1670s and ended up marrying her. Lalla Aisha Mubarka (or Zaydana after her firstborn son Zaydan) was one of Moulay Ismail's much-esteemed wives. She was described as a woman of great intuition. About her, Moulay Ismail was quoted saying that: "she was wiser than most men". She had substantial influence over Ismail and sought to get her son Moulay Zaydan enthroned for many years before he was finally secretly executed by his father in 1708. They had several children among them Moulay Zaydan, Sultan Moulay Ahmad al-Dhahbi and Sultan Moulay Ali.

- Lalla Ma'azuza Malika. In the late 1720s John Braithwaite member of the British consulate in Morocco explains that Ma'azuza was not so much in the favors of Moulay Ismail. Their sons were Sultan Moulay Abdalmalik, Moulay Abd al Rahman and Moulay Hussein.

- Lalla Khanatha bint Bakkar, married in 1678. She was from the Mghafra tribe of the Awlad Hassān, the aristocratic caste of the Beidane. Khnata bint Bakkar, daughter of the Grand Sheikh Bakkar al-Mghafri, was famous for her beauty, intelligence, and learning. Her family seat is in the region of Sbouya, commonly referred to as Oued Noun. Her children with Moulay Ismail are Moulay Mohammed, Moulay Hafiz, Moulay Mehrez, Moulay Mohammed al-Mutais and Sultan Moulay Abdallah.

- Lalla Alwa Benabiz. They had ten children seven sons and three daughters, one of whom was Moulay Ṣafā (Muley Spha), he was Thomas Pellow's first master.

Lalla Aouda Doukalia, date of wedding unknown. Her surname might suggest origins from the Doukkala tribe. Their children were Sultan Al-Mustadi, Moulay Bi'nassir, another Moulay Hussein, and other unnamed children.

Princess Nassira el-Salwi bint Mohammed el-Heyba originally from Brakna, married the latter either in 1678/9 or in 1690. Whether they had descendants is not indicated.

Lalla Halima Al Sufyaniyah, married around 1707 (Thomas Pellow accounts of her favorite son aged 8 circa 1715). She was from the Doukkala region and is the daughter of Cheikh Ali bin Hussein of Bani Sweid, from the Sufiyan tribe of Hilali Arab origins. Her son was Moulay Zeydan Seghir (born c. 1707).

- Lalla Um'el'Iz Tabba'a, date of wedding and origins unknown. Her son was another Moulay Abdallah.

Abhar Doukalia, she was the mother of Mussa al-Hadi.

Fatima Ouardighiya, her son is a third son named Abdallah.

- Zahra al-Malikiya. she was the mother of Al-Ishwa and Al-Cheick Saghir.

- Mask'al'Juyub Soufiyania, she was the mother of Abd al-Malik.

- Rahma al Salaouia. she was a native of Salé, her son is Mohammed.

- Fidah Doukalia, she was the mother of Abdallah Boumnad.

- Maria al-Aljaa, she was the mother of Moulay Binaser and Al-Mu'atamid.

- Sounah al-Dir'iyah, she was the mother of Al-Walid al Mouthalath.

- Ruqiya al-Saidiya (not Sa'adiya), she was the mother of Mohammed.

- Um'el'Saad Malikiya, her sons are Al Harran and Mehrez.

Jamila al-Malikiya, She was the mother of Moulay Moustada.

Thhe name Chaouia means an origin from Chaouia, a geographical area which can also be a tribe. A large number of Moulay Ismail's wives were designated as "Chaouia".

• Al-Bukhari: Born in Bukhara, Central Asia. He was of local Iranian or Central Asian ancestry and was a mawla of Banu Juʿfi.
• Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj: Born in Nishapur, Iran. He was an Arab from Banu Qushayr.
• Abu Dawud: Born in Sijistan. He was an Arab from the Azd tribe.
• Al-Tirmidhi: Born near Tirmidh, Central Asia. He was traditionally identified as an Arab from Banu Sulaym.
• Al-Nasaʾi: Born in Nasa, Khurasan. His exact ancestry is unknown, and there is no solid proof that he was Persian.
• Ibn Majah: Born in Qazvin, Iran. He was likely of local Iranian ancestry and was a mawla of Rabiʿa.

What does Mawla mean: A mawla was a client or affiliate attached to an Arab tribe without being related by blood, often a freed slave or non-Arab convert under the tribe’s protection.

(They were not always non-Arab, but after the Arab-Islamic conquests, many mawali were non-Arabs from the conquered Islamic regions.)

Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was one of the greatest military commanders in African history. His sixteenth-century campaigns conquered 2/3 of the Abyssinian Empire and permanently reshaped the Horn of Africa.

His ancestry is often discussed, but contrary to what is often repeated online, the contemporary sources the FUTUH AL HABASHA written by Yemeni writer, does not identify him as one of the East African ethnicities (Somali, Oromo, Amhara) which many have claimed.

Among the first people to join him were figures who carried Balaw titles, and even his own wife bore the Balaw title Bati.

In fact Somalis were among the first to join Sultan Abu Bakr ( of the stock of Sa'ad Din) in killing Garad Abun, the Imam’s brother.

After Garad Abun’s death the region fell into alcohol, corruption and other haram practices, which the Imam hated. He then took the remaining soldiers from his brother’s (Garad Abun) army and used them to launch the first campaigns and the Jihad from Hubat.

Later the Gerri Somalis made peace and started joining him, but he still had to force other Somali tribes like the Habr Maqdi and Marehan to join because they refused at first.

Modern academics lean towards the fact that he was a Balaw, a bedouin group that was Beja-ized and of Arab ancestry.

You can read the Futuh al Habasha here: https://everythingharar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Futuh-al-Habasha.pdf

here is link to academic paper:
https://eajsh.haramayajournals.org/index.php/eajsh/article/download/475/335

Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was one of the greatest military commanders in African history. His sixteenth-century campaigns conquered 2/3 of the Abyssinian Empire and permanently reshaped the Horn of Africa.

His ancestry is often discussed, but contrary to what is often repeated online, the contemporary sources the FUTUH AL HABASHA written by Yemeni writer, does not identify him as one of the East African ethnicities (Somali, Oromo, Amhara) which many have claimed.

Among the first people to join him were figures who carried Balaw titles, and even his own wife bore the Balaw title Bati.

In fact Somalis were among the first to join Sultan Abu Bakr ( of the stock of Sa'ad Din) in killing Garad Abun, the Imam’s brother.

After Garad Abun’s death the region fell into alcohol, corruption and other haram practices, which the Imam hated. He then took the remaining soldiers from his brother’s (Garad Abun) army and used them to launch the first campaigns and the Jihad from Hubat.

Later the Gerri Somalis made peace and started joining him, but he still had to force other Somali tribes like the Habr Maqdi and Marehan to join because they refused at first.

Modern academics lean towards the fact that he was a Balaw, a bedouin group that was Beja-ized and of Arab ancestry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaw

You can read the Futuh al Habasha here: https://everythingharar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Futuh-al-Habasha.pdf

here is link to academic paper:
https://eajsh.haramayajournals.org/index.php/eajsh/article/download/475/335

Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was one of the greatest military commanders in African history. His sixteenth-century campaigns conquered 2/3 of the Abyssinian Empire and permanently reshaped the Horn of Africa.

His ancestry is often discussed, but contrary to what is often repeated online, the contemporary sources the FUTUH AL HABASHA written by Yemeni writer, does not identify him as one of the East African ethnicities (Somali, Oromo, Amhara) which many have claimed.

Among the first people to join him were figures who carried Balaw titles, and even his own wife bore the Balaw title Bati.

In fact Somalis were among the first to join Sultan Abu Bakr ( of the stock of Sa'ad Din) in killing Garad Abun, the Imam’s brother.

After Garad Abun’s death the region fell into alcohol, corruption and other haram practices, which the Imam hated. He then took the remaining soldiers from his brother’s (Garad Abun) army and used them to launch the first campaigns and the Jihad from Hubat.

Later the Gerri Somalis made peace and started joining him, but he still had to force other Somali tribes like the Habr Maqdi and Marehan to join because they refused at first.

Modern academics lean towards the fact that he was a Balaw, a bedouin group that was Beja-ized and of Arab ancestry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaw

You can read the Futuh al Habasha here: https://everythingharar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Futuh-al-Habasha.pdf

here is link to academic paper:
https://eajsh.haramayajournals.org/index.php/eajsh/article/download/475/335

Redoing this post with text and clarification, since many have allergy for AI.

First of all I would like to begin that they can not remove the Arab from the name and aren't able to since they are too litle ,but some naive among us want to argue in their favour.

Why I don't think Syria should remove "Arab" from its official name

I fully support a democratic Syria that guarantees equal rights, citizenship, language rights and cultural protection for every minority, but I don't believe protecting minorities requires removing "Arab" from the country's historic name.

1: Many countries are named after ethnic group or dominant ethnic group or historical one.

Many countries are named after the majority of their people or a historic ethnocultural identity. France is named after the Franks, England after the Angles, Scotland after the Scoti, Somalia after the Somalis, Turkey after the Turks, Afghanistan after the Afghans (Pashtuns), Kazakhstan after the Kazakhs, Uzbekistan after the Uzbeks, Turkmenistan after the Turkmens, Tajikistan after the Tajiks, Mongolia after the Mongols and Botswana after the Tswana.

No one argues some of these countries should abandon their names simply because they contain minorities.

2: They promote ethnic dominant names in their original regions.

Why don't the Kurds or Turkmen ask Turkey to remove Turk from it's name or Turkmenistan or Kurdistan, All of these regions house sizable group of minorities. Why should Syria be treated differently?

3. Historical naming

Many Turks argue that Turkey is a fitting name because medieval European writers and cartographers described Turkish-ruled Anatolia as Turchia, Turquia or Turkia. By that same logic, many ancient writers and official documents described parts of present-day Syria, or broader regions overlapping Syria, as Arabia:

• Herodotus recorded Arabian rule over territory in southern Syria-Palestine.

• Strabo described Arab-controlled and Arab-inhabited districts extending into Syria.

• Pliny the Elder described Arabia as reaching Mount Amanus (in modern borders of Turkey)

• Ptolemy placed Bostra and Adra, both in present-day Syria, within Arabia Petraea.

• The Roman province of Arabia, created in 106 AD, included southern Syria, with Bosra as its capital.

• The Notitia Dignitatum and later Byzantine records continued to recognize an official province called Arabia covering parts of southern Syria.

• Al-Muqaddasi classified Syria as part of the broader Arab domain, although he distinguished it geographically from the Arabian Peninsula.

4: Some of them argue , the name reminds them of Assad family. Which is also a weak argument.

The name Syrian Arab Republic also predates the Assad family. It was adopted before Hafez al-Assad came to power, so removing it would not simply be removing an Assad-era symbol.

5: Some even dare to argue that Arabs only arrived in Levant or Syria post-Islamic. I'll dismantle this argument too.

Arab presence in al-Sham, the Levant, long predates Islam. The Islamic conquest did not introduce Arabs into Syria. It expanded Arab political power and eventually accelerated Arabic linguistic and cultural dominance, but Arabs, Arab kingdoms and Arab Christian communities had already existed in and around Syria for centuries. And they were a sizable group.

- Apollodorus of Damascus was Arab.

- Iamblichus was Arab.

- The Emesene dynasty was Arab.

- The Abgarid dynasty was Arab.

- King Herod was a Jewish convert of Arab ancestry, who rebuilt the Second Temple,.

- The Nabataeans were Arabs and ruled southern Syria, with Bosra as one of their main cities.

- The Ghassanids were Arab Christians who ruled large parts of Byzantine Syria.

- Some of the oldest (if not the oldest) known Arabic inscriptions were found in the Levant, including the Bāyir inscription in Jordan,dating to around 1000 BC.

So yes, Islam increased Arab political power and migration, but Arabs were already a sizeable component of the region long before the seventh century.

6: They do not have the numers to change the name.

According to the reported parliamentary figures, Kurdish and Turkmen representatives together hold 17 out of 210 seats. Their voices deserve to be heard and their rights protected, but a constitutional change of this magnitude can't be done by them alone.

Hope that was understandable, also my post merely serves to raise awareness.

Redoing this post with text and clarification, since many have allergy for AI.

First of all I would like to begin that they can not remove the Arab from the name and aren't able to since they are too litle ,but some naive among us want to argue in their favour.

Why I don't think Syria should remove "Arab" from its official name

I fully support a democratic Syria that guarantees equal rights, citizenship, language rights and cultural protection for every minority, but I don't believe protecting minorities requires removing "Arab" from the country's historic name.

1: Many countries are named after ethnic group or dominant ethnic group or historical one.

Many countries are named after the majority of their people or a historic ethnocultural identity. France is named after the Franks, England after the Angles, Scotland after the Scoti, Somalia after the Somalis, Turkey after the Turks, Afghanistan after the Afghans (Pashtuns), Kazakhstan after the Kazakhs, Uzbekistan after the Uzbeks, Turkmenistan after the Turkmens, Tajikistan after the Tajiks, Mongolia after the Mongols and Botswana after the Tswana.

No one argues some of these countries should abandon their names simply because they contain minorities.

2: They promote ethnic dominant names in their original regions.

Why don't the Kurds or Turkmen ask Turkey to remove Turk from it's name or Turkmenistan or Kurdistan, All of these regions house sizable group of minorities. Why should Syria be treated differently?

3. Historical naming

Many Turks argue that Turkey is a fitting name because medieval European writers and cartographers described Turkish-ruled Anatolia as Turchia, Turquia or Turkia. By that same logic, many ancient writers and official documents described parts of present-day Syria, or broader regions overlapping Syria, as Arabia:

• Herodotus recorded Arabian rule over territory in southern Syria-Palestine.

• Strabo described Arab-controlled and Arab-inhabited districts extending into Syria.

• Pliny the Elder described Arabia as reaching Mount Amanus (in modern borders of Turkey)

• Ptolemy placed Bostra and Adra, both in present-day Syria, within Arabia Petraea.

• The Roman province of Arabia, created in 106 AD, included southern Syria, with Bosra as its capital.

• The Notitia Dignitatum and later Byzantine records continued to recognize an official province called Arabia covering parts of southern Syria.

• Al-Muqaddasi classified Syria as part of the broader Arab domain, although he distinguished it geographically from the Arabian Peninsula.

4: Some of them argue , the name reminds them of Assad family. Which is also a weak argument.

The name Syrian Arab Republic also predates the Assad family. It was adopted before Hafez al-Assad came to power, so removing it would not simply be removing an Assad-era symbol.

5: Some even dare to argue that Arabs only arrived in Levant or Syria post-Islamic. I'll dismantle this argument too.

Arab presence in al-Sham, the Levant, long predates Islam. The Islamic conquest did not introduce Arabs into Syria. It expanded Arab political power and eventually accelerated Arabic linguistic and cultural dominance, but Arabs, Arab kingdoms and Arab Christian communities had already existed in and around Syria for centuries. And they were a sizable group.

- Apollodorus of Damascus was Arab.

- Iamblichus was Arab.

- The Emesene dynasty was Arab.

- The Abgarid dynasty was Arab.

- King Herod was a Jewish convert of Arab ancestry, who rebuilt the Second Temple,.

- The Nabataeans were Arabs and ruled southern Syria, with Bosra as one of their main cities.

- The Ghassanids were Arab Christians who ruled large parts of Byzantine Syria.

- Some of the oldest (if not the oldest) known Arabic inscriptions were found in the Levant, including the Bāyir inscription in Jordan,dating to around 1000 BC.

So yes, Islam increased Arab political power and migration, but Arabs were already a sizeable component of the region long before the seventh century.

6: They do not have the numers to change the name.

According to the reported parliamentary figures, Kurdish and Turkmen representatives together hold 17 out of 210 seats. Their voices deserve to be heard and their rights protected, but a constitutional change of this magnitude can't be done by them alone.

________________________

Hope that was understandable, also my post merely serves to raise awareness.