Al-Ribāb

Overview

Al-Ribāb is the standing example of a ḥilf: a name that belongs to an alliance and not to an ancestor. Under it the genealogists list Taym, ʿAdī, ʿUkl and Thawr — recorded as sons of ʿAbd Manāt ibn Udd — with Ḍabba ibn Udd counted among them or set beside them, and they differ over the number and over who is inside it. The lexicographers differ over the name as well: some derive it from the oath, since those who swore it are said to have tied themselves to one another (tarābbū); some from rubb, the thickened juice into which the confederates are said to have dipped their hands; some from rubba, meaning a band or company. What the lexicon holds constant is the sense: tribes that gathered until they became one hand. For a reader tracing a family the shape of the thing is what matters — al-Ribāb is a name shared by groups the sources do not give a single father, and they say so plainly. This page describes a historical confederation and makes no statement about any modern family.

On lineage

Branch lists and affiliations here are given as reported by the classical genealogists, who themselves disagree. Nothing on this page establishes any living family's descent: a shared name may reflect descent, alliance (ḥilf) or clientage (walāʾ), and the sources usually say which only when they know.