Jurhum
Definition
Jurhum was an ancient Arab tribe from Yemen that was drawn to the valley of Makkah by the spring of Zamzam after it burst from the earth beneath the infant Ismail. They asked Hajar's permission to settle near the water, she agreed, and Ismail grew up among them as their neighbor and eventually their kinsman. Ibn Kathir notes that Ismail learned Arabic from the Jurhum — making Arabic, rather than his father's Chaldean or his mother's Egyptian, his native language. He married from among them, establishing the line of descent through which the Arab prophetic lineage would eventually produce Muhammad ﷺ. The Jurhum are thus the bridge between Ibrahim's mission and the Arab world.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Jurhum.
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"sons, Napt and Qadhar. After Ismail, the chief and ruler in Mecca, overseeing the affairs of the house and Zamzam, was Napt ibn Ismail, who was related to the Jurhum tribe. Eventually, the Jurhum tribe took control of the house, ruling in Mecca and its surroundings instead of the descendants of Ismail for a long time. The first to take charge after Napt was Mudar ibn Amr ibn Sa'd ibn al-Rakib ibn Aybar ibn Napt ibn Jurhum."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 2 — From the Israelite Prophets to Pre-Islamic Arabia
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"The Arabs before Ismail, peace be upon him, are known as the pure Arabs. They include numerous tribes such as Ad, Thamud, Jurhum, Tasim, Jadis, Amim, Midian, Imlik, Abil, Jasim, Qahtan, the descendants of Yaqtan, and others. As for the Arabized Arabs, they are from the descendants of Ismail ibn Ibrahim, the friend of Allah. Ismail, peace be upon them, was the first to speak eloquent Arabic. He learned the language from the people of Jurhum, who settled near his mother Hagar in the Haram. Allah endowed him with the highest eloquence and articulation. Likewise, the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, articulated it."
— Ibn Kathir, Hud, Salih & the Destroyed Nations
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"in which the sons of Ismail distanced themselves from both sides. Huza'ah prevailed. They were the sons of Bakr ibn Abmanat and Gubshan, and they expelled Jurhum from the house. Amr ibn al-Harith ibn Mudar, the chief of Jurhum, then took the treasures of the Kaaba, which included gold and the black stone, along with adorned swords and other items, and buried them in Zamzam."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 2 — From the Israelite Prophets to Pre-Islamic Arabia
Appears in
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