Children Nizar ibn Maadd ibn Adnan Grandparents Abraham, Keturah, Udad Great-grandparents Terah, Amathlaah | Parents Adnan, Jokshan Uncle Medan | |
Known for Islamic prophet Muhammad Spouse(s) Mu'ana bint Jawsham ibn Julhuma ibn 'Amru Relatives al-Dith ibn Adnan (brother) Similar Adnan, Midian, Keturah | ||
Ma'ad ibn Adnan is an ancient ancestor of Qusai ibn Kilab and his descendant the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is featured in ancient Arabic literature.
Contents
Origin
According to traditions, Ma'ad is the son of Adnan, the father of a group of the Ishmaelite Arabs who inhabited West and Northern Arabia. Adnan is believed by Arab genealogies to be the father of many Ishmaelite tribes along the Western coast of Arabia, Northern Arabia and Iraq.
As it was reported, Ma'ad was first born of Adnan He Is Born 598 BCE .
Family
Ma'ad was the father of four sons: Nizar, Quda'a, Qunus and Iyad. Quda'a was the first-born and so Ma'ad ibn Adnan was known by his Kunya "Abu Quda'a."
In Pre-Islamic Arabia
From the poems composed by Pre-Islamic poets, and from their statements, it can be concluded that Ma'ad was more venerated and more important than his father Adnan, evidenced by the number of times when he was mentioned in Pre-Islamic poetries, and how he was described and honored by his descendants's tribes when boasting against other tribes, some other poets even considered it as "disgrace" not to be a descendant of Adnan and Ma'ad.
Some other poems also celebrated and honored the victory of the people of Ma'ad against the Ghassanids and the kingdom of "Mazhaj" in South Arabia.
When the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II attacked the Qedarite Arabs during the time of Adnan, Ma'ad was sent away by his father, and after the defeat of the Qedarite and the death of both Adnan and Nebuchadnezzar II, many of the people of Adnan who were not forced to live in Mesopotamia have fled away to Yemen, but Ma'ad, as the successor of his father, ordered them to come back to Hijaz and Northern Arabia.
The defeat and displacement of the people of Ma'ad seemed to be viewed by Pre-Islamic Arabs as a disastrous event, so that it was used as a proverbial measure in describing the horror of their later defeats.
In Pre-Islamic Poetry
Ma'ad, unlike his father, was mentioned countless times by Pre-Islamic Arab poets across the whole Arabian Peninsula, including Ghassanid and Christian poets, even in the famous Seven Mu'allaqat.
From those poems, it can be seen that Ma'ad was venerated by Pre-Islamic Arabs, and for some reason, they believed that all the glories throughout the whole Arab history is considered nothing when compared to the glory of Ma'ad.
From some other poems, it appears that the nation of Ma'ad presented a large majority among Pre-Islamic Arabs.
In Nabataean Inscriptions
Ma'ad was mentioned by name in the Namara inscription as a nation that was conquered by the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr, along with other Arab nation from North, Central-West and South Arabia.
From some of the reports of about the relations between the Lakhmids and the nation of Ma'ad, it can be concluded that the kings of the Northern Arab kingdoms feared them and viewed them as mighty opponent because of their powerful war tactics, even when they conquered them, they treated their kings with high respect as important people, and gave them large conquered colonies to rule, as reported in the Namara inscription. Such views are also supported by the Classical Arabic writings.
In Roman-Byzantine Writings
The nation of Ma'ad was mentioned by the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (c. AD 500 – c. AD 565) in his historical record of wars in during his lifetime "Wars of Justinian".
He mentioned that a Saracen nation named "Maddeni" (Ma'ad) were subjects with the kingdom of the "Homeritae" (Himyarites), and that the Byzantine emperor Justinian sent a letter to the Himyarite king ordering him to assemble an army of Himyarite soldiers and from Ma'ad under the leadership of a king of the nation of Ma'ad named "Kaisus" (Qays) in order to attack the borders of the Sasanian Empire, and then approved the leader of Ma'ad as a king on the region.