Ajay Kumar at 19:24, 28 September 2023

2023-09-28T19:24:03Z

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{{short description|Arab tribe of al-Medina}}
{{Infobox tribe
| name = Banu Aws ({{lang-ar|بنو أوس‎}})
| type = [[Zahran tribe|Banu Zahran]] of the [[Azd|Banu Azd]]
| image =
| image_size = 100 px
| alt =
| caption =
| nisba = Awsi
| location = [[Medina]], [[Hejaz]]
| descended = [[Zahran tribe]]
| branches =
| religion =
}}
The '''Banū Aws''' ({{lang-ar|بنو أوس}}  {{IPA-ar|ˈbanuː ʔaws|pron}}, "Sons of Aws") or simply '''Aws''' ({{lang-ar|أوس}}, also romanised as '''Aus''') was one of the main [[Arabian tribes|Arab tribes]] of [[Medina]]. The other was [[Khazraj]], and the two, constituted the [[Ansar (Islam)|Ansar]] ("Helpers of Muhammad”) after the [[Hijra (Islam)|Hijra]].<ref name="Watt1986p771">{{Harvnb|Watt|1986|p=771}}.</ref><ref name="JE-BanuAus">{{Harvnb|Gottheil|Hirschfeld|}}</ref><ref name="JE-Medina">{{Harvnb|Jacobs|Montgomery|}}</ref>

The Aws tribe descend from the ancient tribe [[Azd|al-Azd]], a branch of the [[Qahtanite]] [[Arabs]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OrCo4VyvGkC&pg=PA193|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|last=Peters|first=Francis E.|date=1994|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791418758|language=en}}</ref> Aws and Khazraj were known as ''Banū Qayla'' ({{lang|ar|بنو قيلة}}  {{IPA-ar|ˈbænuː ˈqɑjlæ|}}) in pre-Islamic era.<ref name="Watt1986p771" />

==Etymology==
The word ''al-Aws'' means "the gift", probably a contraction for ''Aws Manāt'' ({{lang-ar|أوس مناة}}, "the gift of [[Manāt]]"). The name was changed in Islamic times to ''Aws [[Allah|Allāh]]'' ({{lang-ar|أوس الله}}).<ref name="Watt1986p771" />

==Early history==
About AD 300,<ref>{{Harvnb|Muir|1858|p=ccxxx}}.</ref> Thaʻlaba bin ʻAmr, grand father of al-Aws, separated from his tribe and settled in [[Medina|Yathrib]] (Medina),<ref>{{Harvnb|Al Mubarakpuri|2002|pp=24–25}}.</ref> which was then controlled by Jewish [[clans]], and the Banu Qayla were subordinate to the Jews for some time, until [[Mālik bin Ajlān of Khazraj]] asserts independence of the Jews so Aws and Khazraj obtained a share of palm trees and strongholds.<ref name="Watt1986p771" /> Thus, about the 5th century, the Banu Qayla took control of [[Yathrib]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Muir|1858|p=ccxxxi}}.</ref> and Jews retired into the background for about a century.<ref name="JE-Medina" />

During the period before the Hijra, Abu Qays al-Aslat of the clan of Wāʼil, the leader of Aws, gave away the leadership to Ḥuḍayr bin Simāk of ʻAbd al-Ashhal. After a serious defeat, ʻAbd al-Ashhal and Ẓafar were withdrawn from Yathrib. The opposing leader, ʻAmr bin Nuʻmān, of the Khazrajite clan of Bayāḍa, drove the Jewish tribes of [[Banu Qurayza]] and [[Banu Nadir]] into alliance of the two.<ref name="Watt1986p771" /> Nomads of Muzayna joined them too. Most of the Khazraj except [[ʻAbd Allāh bin Ubayy]] and another Khazraj leader,<ref name="Bosworth1986p1283">{{Harvnb|Bosworth|1986|p=1283}}.</ref> as well as the Jewish tribe [[Banū Qaynuqāʻ]]<ref name="JE-Medina" /> and the nomadic Juhayna and Ashjaʻ, supported ‘Amr bin Nu‘mān. The Awsite clan of Ḥāritha remained neutral. Then, in about 617, the [[Battle of Buʻāth]] began: the Aws forced back at first but finally defeated their opponents. The leaders of both sides were killed.<ref name="Bosworth1986p1283" />

[[Shi'a]] sources say they were Jews,<ref name="balagh.net">[http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/the_message/27.htm The Message] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524053521/http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/the_message/27.htm |date=May 24, 2012 }}</ref> But a Jewish source says that they and the [[Banu Khazraj]] were [[Arab]] tribes from Yemen who came to Medina in the fourth century. The Jewish source says that the two tribes took the power of Medina from the Jews in the 5th century by "calling in outside assistance and treacherously massacring at a banquet".<ref name="JE-Medina" />

A [[Shi'a]] source says that they had been fighting for 120 years and were enemies.<ref name="balagh.net" /> The Jewish source states that they went to war against each other in the [[Battle of Bu'ath]] a few years before the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] migrated to Medina.<ref name="JE-Medina" />

There were many Jewish tribes in Medina: [[Banu Nadir]], [[Banu Qurayza]], [[Banu Qaynuqa]] and so [[many others]]. During the battle, the [[Banu Nadir]] and the [[Banu Qurayza]] fought with the Banu Aws, and the [[Banu Qaynuqa]] were allied with the [[Banu Khazraj]]. The latter were defeated after a long and desperate battle.<ref name="JE-Medina" />

==Hijrah==
Muhammad came to Medina as a mediator, invited to resolve the feud between the Banu Aws and the Banu Khazraj. He ultimately did so by absorbing both factions into his Muslim community and forbidding bloodshed among Muslims.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

The Banu Aws were included in the [[Constitution of Medina]] as allies to the Muslims, "one nation/community with the Believers".<ref name="balagh.net" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina |title=Medina Charter - Wikisource |website=en.wikisource.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627022522/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina |archive-date=2006-06-27}} </ref> Then, Banu Aws and others became known as the Ansar.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}

==Banu Qurayza==
The Banu Qurayza were a Jewish tribe who lived in Medina. The tribe's men, apart from a few who converted to Islam, were sentenced to death in 627 in retaliation for Banu Qurayza treachery and subversion in aiding the Meccan pagan enemies who had launched a ferocious attack on Madinah, in order to eliminate the Muslims and their allies during the [[Battle of the Trench]].

Since the Banu Qurayza had been an ally of the Banu Aus during the Battle of Bu'ath, they choose [[Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh]], the chief of the Banu Aus<ref name="inter-islam.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.inter-islam.org/Seerah/RelationswiththeJewsL2P1.html |title=Relations with the JewsLevel2P1 |access-date=2006-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628035018/http://www.inter-islam.org/Seerah/RelationswiththeJewsL2P1.html |archive-date=2014-06-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> as their judge. He condemned the men to death and the women and children to slavery.<ref name="JE-Medina" /> Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh himself died shortly after the event from injuries that he had received during the Battle of the Trench.

==People==
*[[Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh]] - head<ref name="inter-islam.org" />
*[[Bashir ibn Sa'ad]] leader<ref name="Vicegerency">Imamate: The Vicegerency of the Prophet
[http://www.al-islam.org/ Al-islam.org] [http://www.al-islam.org/imamate/3.htm]</ref>
*Usaid bin Hudair bin Sammak<ref name=sunnipath2>[[The Sealed Nectar]] [http://www.sunnipath.com/Resources/PrintMedia/Books/B0033P0017.aspx The Second ‘Aqabah Pledge] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128120537/http://www.sunnipath.com/Resources/PrintMedia/Books/B0033P0017.aspx |date=2006-11-28 }} on SunniPath.</ref>
*Sa‘d bin Khaithamah bin Al-Harith<ref name=sunnipath2/>
*Rifa‘a bin ‘Abdul Mundhir bin Zubair<ref name=sunnipath2/>

==See also==
*[[Islam]]
*[[List of expeditions of Muhammad]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last= Al Mubarakpuri |first= Safi ur Rahman |chapter= Arab Tribes |title= The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=r_80rJHIaOMC |access-date= 2011-11-11 |year= 2002 |publisher= Darussalam |isbn= 9960-899-55-1 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last= Bosworth |first= Clifford Edmund |author-link= Clifford Edmund Bosworth |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |title= BUʿĀTH |edition= 2nd |year= 1986 |location= Leiden |publisher= [[E. J. Brill]] |volume= I |isbn= 90-04-08114-3 |page= 1283 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1= Jacobs |first1= Joseph |author-link= Joseph Jacobs |last2= Montgomery |first2= Mary W. |encyclopedia= [[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |title= MEDINA |url= http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=326&letter=M |access-date= 2011-11-11 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1= Gottheil |first1= Richard |author-link= Richard James Horatio Gottheil |last2= Hirschfeld |first2= Hartwig |author2-link= Hartwig Hirschfeld |encyclopedia= [[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |title= BANU AUS |url= http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2450-banu-aus |access-date= 2011-11-11 }}
* {{cite book |last= Muir |first= William (sir.) |author-link= William Muir |chapter= Yathreb or Medîna |title= The Life of Mahomet |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XjwBAAAAQAAJ |access-date= 2011-11-11 |year= 1858 |publisher= Smith }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last= Watt |first= William Montgomery |author-link= William Montgomery Watt |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |title= AL-AWS |edition= 2nd |year= 1986 |location= Leiden |publisher= [[E. J. Brill]] |volume= I |isbn= 90-04-08114-3 |pages= 771–72 }}

{{Characters and names in the Quran}}
{{Historical Arab tribes}}

[[Category:Tribes of Arabia]]
[[Category:Tribes of Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Azd]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam]]

Banu Aws - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 19:24, 28 September 2023