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47-648: The Maalouf family belongs to the group of tribes known as Ghassanids that emigrated from Yemen to Houran in modern Syria prior to the collapse of the Marib Dam ( Arabic : سد مأرب ) around 102 AD . The clan governed Houran and large surrounding regions for nearly 500 years until the Islamic conquest in 637 AD. After the arrival of Islam , some members converted to Islam while most remained Christian mainly Antiochian Eastern-Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic . Several prominent leaders are said to have received

94-671: A Byzantine vassal, the Ghassanids participated in the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars , fighting against the Sasanian -allied Lakhmids , who were also an Arabian tribe, but adhered to the non-Chalcedonian Church of the East . The lands of the Ghassanids also acted as a buffer zone protecting lands that had been annexed by the Romans against raids by Bedouins . After just over 400 years of existence,

141-559: A branch of the Azd tribe of South Arabia / Yemen . In this genealogical scheme, their ancestor was Jafnah , a son of Amr Muzayqiya ibn Amir ibn Haritha ibn Imru’ al Qais ibn Tha’labah ibn Mazin ibn Azd , through whom the Ghassanids were purportedly linked with the Ansar (the Aws and Khazraj tribes of Medina ), who were the descendants of Jafna's brother Tha'laba. According to the historian Brian Ulrich ,

188-547: A buffer zone against the Lakhmids . In addition, as kings of their own people, they were also phylarchs , native rulers of client frontier states. The capital was at Jabiyah in the Golan Heights . Geographically, it occupied much of the eastern Levant , and its authority extended via tribal alliances with other Azdi tribes all the way to the northern Hijaz as far south as Yathrib ( Medina ). The Ghassanids fought alongside

235-682: A chosen successor amid the Second Muslim Civil War in 684, Umayyad rule was on the verge of collapse in Syria, having already collapsed throughout the caliphate, where the supporters of a rival caliph, the Mecca -based Ibn al-Zubayr , took charge. The Ghassan, along with their tribal allies in Syria, especially the Kalb, supported continued Umayyad rule to secure their interests under the dynasty, and nominated Mu'awiya's distant cousin, Marwan I , as caliph during

282-452: A few dozen old homes built on terraced mountainsides lined with grape vineyards and many varieties of fruit trees. The population swells during the summer as people leave the heat of the Lebanese coastline for the freshness of the mountains. Its weather is moderate, with temperatures ranging near 70 °F (21 °C) in the summer, and near 30 °F (−1 °C) in the winter season. Snowfall

329-554: A poem attributed to him, Marwan lauds the Ghassan, as well as the Kalb, Kinda , and Tanukh of Syria, for supporting him. The above tribes thereafter formed the Yaman faction, in opposition to the Qays tribes which backed Dahhak and Ibn al-Zubayr. The Qays–Yaman rivalry contributed to the downfall of Umayyad rule, with each faction supporting different Umayyad dynasts and governors in what became

376-653: A summit of the Syrian tribes in the old Ghassanid capital of Jabiyah . Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri , the governor of Damascus, meanwhile, threw his backing behind Ibn al-Zubayr. During the Battle of Marj Rahit , which pitted Marwan against Dahhak in a meadow north of Damascus, the scion of the Ghassanid family in Damascus, Yazid ibn Abi al-Nims, led a revolt there and secured control of the city for Marwan, who routed Dahhak and assumed office. In

423-558: A view of the snow-capped Lebanon mountains to the east, and the Mediterranean sea and the city of Beirut to the west. The village sits at an elevation about 3,600 ft (1,100 m) just below the village of Baskinta and the towering Mount Sannine . Its distance to Beirut is approximately 40 km, or approximately 1 hour of driving. Its GPS coordinates are 33°56′49″N 35°44′28″E  /  33.94694°N 35.74111°E  / 33.94694; 35.74111 From Kfarakab,

470-462: Is common in the winter, with snow accumulations reaching 3 to 4 feet (0.91 to 1.22 meters). The population follows the Christian faith, divided between Antiochian Eastern-Orthodox , Antiochian Oriental-Orthodox and Melkite . The local St. Mary church is separated into two halves, one for each faith. The scenic view is perhaps the most notable aspect of this red terra cotta rooftop cluster - including

517-573: Is the francophone spelling of the name of a village in the mountains of Lebanon . In Arabic, it means the home (Kfar: كفر) of the hawk (Akab: عقاب). The village, which is located in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate , is of particular significance because it is one of the various historic points of origin of the Maalouf family. It was founded c. 1560 AD when three families of

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564-637: The Jafnids , were an Arabian tribe . Originally from South Arabia , they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian kingdom under the aegis of the Byzantine Empire , as their society merged with local Chalcedonian Christianity and was largely Hellenized . However, some of the Ghassanids may have already adhered to Christianity before they emigrated from South Arabia to escape religious persecution. As

611-538: The Maalouf clan, living at the time across the valley in the village of Mhaydse, received permission from the ruling emir to establish the village. The family history is traced back to the beginnings of Christianity in the Middle East beginning with the Ghassanid tribe, which converted to Christianity nearly 2,000 years ago. The family name is now widespread worldwide. The village is of no great size, consisting of only

658-644: The Ottoman Empire . The family crossed ash-Shām and the plains of Damascus , over the Anti-Lebanon mountain range, and at first settled for a few years in the village of Seriin ( سرعين ) to the northwest of the town of Zahlé in the Bekaa Valley . However, this stay was short lived due to conflicts with existing residents. In 1526 AD, Ibrahim decided to move from the Bekaa Valley to Bsharri ( بشري ) in

705-748: The Third Muslim Civil War . The Ghassanid Shabib ibn Abi Malik was a leader of the Yaman in Damascus and conspired to assassinate the pro-Qaysi Caliph al-Walid II ( r.  743–744 ). After the latter was killed, the Ghassan marched on Damascus to help install his successor, the Yamani-backed Yazid III ( r.  744–744 ). The toppling of the Umayyads and the advent of the Iraq-based Abbasid Caliphate in 750 "was disastrous for

752-902: The "Scattering of Azd" story, the Ghassanids eventually settled within the Roman limes . The tradition of Ghassanid migration finds support in the Geography of Ptolemy , which locates a tribe called the Kassanitai south of the Kinaidokolpitai and the river Baitios (probably the wadi Baysh ). These are probably the people called Casani in Pliny the Elder , Gasandoi in Diodorus Siculus and Kasandreis in Photios I of Constantinople (relying on older sources). The date of

799-618: The Abbasid dynasts, an Umayyad, Abu al-Umaytir al-Sufyani , took power in Syria in 811, in a bid to reestablish the Umayyad Caliphate. Abu Mushir, whose grandfather was killed by the Abbasids in 750, disdained the Iraqis represented by the Abbasids and supported the restoration of Umayyad rule. He served as Abu al-Umaytir's qadi (chief jurist), but was imprisoned by the Abbasids in the years following

846-485: The Arabs on the eastern fringes of Syria, as evidenced by a spread of urbanization and the sponsorship of several churches, monasteries and other buildings. The surviving descriptions of the Ghassanid courts impart an image of luxury and an active cultural life, with patronage of the arts, music and especially Arab-language poetry. In the words of Ball, "the Ghassanid courts were the most important centres for Arabic poetry before

893-642: The Byzantine Empire against the Persian Sasanians and Arab Lakhmids. The lands of the Ghassanids also continually acted as a buffer zone, protecting Byzantine lands against raids by Bedouin tribes. Among their Arab allies were the Banu Judham and Banu Amilah . The Byzantines were focused more on the East and a long war with the Sasanians was always their main concern. The Ghassanids maintained their rule as

940-928: The Byzantine Empire being related. The Rasulid Sultans ruled from the 13th until the 15th century in Yemen, while the Burji Mamluk Sultans did likewise in Egypt from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The last rulers to claim the titles of Royal Ghassanid successors were the Christian Sheikhs Al-Chemor in Mount Lebanon ruling the small sovereign principality of Akoura (from 1211 until 1641) and Zgharta-Zwaiya (from 1643 until 1747) from Lebanon . Kfarakab Kafarakab ( Arabic : كفرعقاب ) (also spelled Kfarakab or Kfar Akab and pronounced "Kfara-ab" in Arabic )

987-589: The Byzantines, especially against their enemies the Lakhmids, and secured Byzantium's southern flank and its political and commercial interests in Arabia proper. On the other hand, the Ghassanids remained fervently dedicated to Miaphysitism , which brought about their break with Byzantium and Mundhir's own downfall and exile, which was followed after 586 by the dissolution of the Ghassanid federation. The Ghassanids' patronage of

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1034-522: The Damascene elite into the mid-9th century. Abu Mushir's grandfather, Abd al-A'la, was a hadith scholar and Abu Mushir studied under the famous Syrian scholar Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Tanukhi. He became a prominent hadith scholar in Damascus, with special interest in the administrative history of Syria, its local elite's genealogies and local scholars. During the Fourth Muslim Civil War between

1081-553: The Ghassan of Syria. The last phylarch of the Ghassan, Jabala ibn al-Ayham , stories of whom are shrouded in legend, led his tribesmen and those of Byzantium's other allied Arab tribes in the Byzantine army that was routed by the Muslims at the Battle of Yarmouk in c.  636 . After supposedly embracing Islam, Jabala left the faith and ultimately withdrew with his tribesmen from Syria to Byzantine-held Anatolia in 639, by which time

1128-613: The Ghassanid kingdom fell to the Rashidun Caliphate during the Muslim conquest of the Levant . A few of the tribe's members then converted to Islam , while most dispersed themselves amongst Melkites and Syriacs in what is now Jordan , Israel , Syria , Palestine , and Lebanon . In the Arab genealogical tradition which developed during the early Islamic period, the Ghassanids were considered

1175-474: The Islamic empire in general. Significant remnants of the Ghassan remained in Syria, residing in Damascus and the city's Ghouta countryside. At least nominally and probably gradually, many of these Ghassanids embraced Islam, especially under Mu'awiya's rule. According to the historian Nancy Khalek, they consequently became an "indispensable" group of Muslim society in early Islamic Syria. Mu'awiya actively sought

1222-618: The Lakhmids of al-Hirah in Lower Mesopotamia , prospered economically and engaged in much religious and public building; they also patronized the arts and at one time entertained the Arab poets al-Nabighah and Hassan ibn Thabit at their courts. The nascent Muslim state in Medina , first under the Islamic prophet Muhammad (d. 632) and lastly under the second caliph , Umar ( r.  634–644 ), made abortive attempts to contact or win over

1269-482: The Miaphysite Syrian Church was crucial for its survival and revival, and even its spread, through missionary activities, south into Arabia. According to the historian Warwick Ball , the Ghassanids' promotion of a simpler and more rigidly monotheistic form of Christianity in a specifically Arab context can be said to have anticipated Islam . Ghassanid rule also brought a period of considerable prosperity for

1316-523: The Muslims had conquered most of Byzantine Syria. Unable to make headway with the Ghassan, the Muslim administration in Syria under its governor Mu'awiya succeeded in allying with the Ghassan's old-established Syrian allies, the Banu Kalb . The latter became the cornerstone of Mu'awiya's military power in Syria, and later, when he became head of the Syria-based Umayyad Caliphate in 661, of

1363-455: The Nehme branch. The first four branches settled in the village of Mhaydse ( المحيدثة ) in 1550 AD and lived peacefully for several years. From their homes, they observed across a deep ravine an attractive, protected and forested ridge which they often used as a hunting ground. After receiving permission from the ruling emir, the families of Issa, Medlej and Farah relocated their homes and built

1410-407: The guardian of trade routes, policed Lakhmid tribes and was a source of troops for the imperial army. The Ghassanid king al-Harith ibn Jabalah (reigned 529–569) supported the Byzantines against the Sasanians and was given in 529 by the emperor Justinian I , the highest imperial title that was ever bestowed upon a foreign ruler; also the status of patricians. In addition to that, al-Harith ibn Jabalah

1457-577: The high mountains of northern Lebanon . The route to Bsharri was difficult, and when the family stumbled onto an abandoned mountain village, they decided to resettle it. After rebuilding the structures, the village was named Douma ( دوما ) in commemoration of the original Maalouf village in Houran. A church named for Saint Sarkis, venerated by the Christians of Houran, was also built in the village. The stay in Douma

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1504-623: The high mountains of the Keserwan District , while the families of Nasser and Nehme would head to Vayelet Damasc , while the family of Semaan would stay on the coast near Antelias . The families of Issa, Medlej and Farah retained the surname of Maalouf, whereas the other branches adopted other surnames, notably Klink for the Hanna branch, Kreidy for the Semaan branch, Laham for the Nasser branch, and Najjar for

1551-593: The late 1800s, settling in the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Australia. The Maalouf family is now prominent in several Lebanese towns and villages, most notably Zahlé where a neighborhood is named after the family, Niha , and Chlifa, in the Beqaa Valley . The Maalouf family's rich history is marked by a dedication to culture and education. The family contributed to Al-Nahda . Ghassanids The Ghassanids , also known as

1598-518: The links between Ghassan, the Ansar, and the wider Azd are historically tenuous, as these groups are almost always counted separately from each other in sources other than post-8th-century genealogical works and the story of the 'Scattering of Azd'. In the latter story, the Azd migrate northward from Yemen and different groups of the tribe split off in different directions, with the Ghassan being one such group. Per

1645-439: The migration to the Levant is unclear, but they are believed to have first arrived in the region of Syria between 250 and 300, with later waves of migration circa 400. Their earliest appearance in records is dated to 473, when their chief, Amorkesos, signed a treaty with the Byzantine Empire acknowledging their status as foederati controlling parts of Palestine . He apparently became a Chalcedonian Christian at this time. By

1692-517: The militarily and administratively experienced Syrian Christians, including the Ghassanids, and members of the tribe served him and later Umayyad caliphs as governors, commanders of the shurta (select troops), scribes, and chamberlains. Several descendants of the tribe's Tha'laba and Imru al-Qays branches are listed in the sources as Umayyad court poets, jurists, and officials in the eastern provinces of Khurasan , Adharbayjan and Armenia . When Mu'awiya's grandson, Caliph Mu'awiya II , died without

1739-677: The power, wealth and status of the Arab tribes in Syria", including the Ghassan, according to the historian Hugh N. Kennedy . By the 9th century, the tribe had adopted a settled life, being recorded by the geographer al-Ya'qubi (d. 890) to be living in the Ghouta gardens region of Damascus and in Gharandal in Transjordan . Two Damascene Ghassanid families in particular achieved prominence in early Islamic Syria, those of Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani (d. 750s) and Abu Mushir al-Ghassani (d. 833). The former

1786-479: The rebellion's suppression in 813. His great-grandsons Abd al-Rabb ibn Muhammad and Amr ibn Abd al-A'la also attained fame as Damascene scholars. Medieval Arabic authors used the term Jafnids for the Ghassanids, a term modern scholars prefer at least for the ruling stratum of Ghassanid society. Earlier kings are traditional, actual dates highly uncertain. The Ghassanids reached their peak under al-Harith V and al-Mundhir III. Both were militarily successful allies of

1833-623: The rise of the Caliphal courts under Islam", and their court culture, including their penchant for desert palaces like Qasr ibn Wardan , provided the model for the Umayyad caliphs and their court. After the fall of the first kingdom in the 7th century, several dynasties, both Christian and Muslim, ruled claiming to be a continuation of the House of Ghassan. Besides the claim of the Phocid or Nikephorian Dynasty of

1880-419: The special appellation of Maayuf ( معيوف ) meaning “exempted” or “protected.” When the ruling government subsequently rescinded this appellation, many clan members retained it in the form of a surname Maalouf, or Al-Maalouf. However, that version of the origin of the family name is disputed. Ibrahim Maalouf nicknamed "Abi Rajih" ( Arabic : ابي راجح ) reflecting his wisdom was a prominent and rich landowner in

1927-472: The town or village of Upper Damia in Houran . He had seven sons: Issa ( عيسى ), Medlej ( مدلج ), Farah ( فرح ), Hanna ( حنا ), Nasser ( ناصر ), Nehme ( نعمة ), and Semaan ( سمعان ). For political, social and religious reasons, and as a result of a conflict that his family engaged in with neighboring clans in 1519 AD, Ibrahim decided to sell his land and leave Houran for the mountains of Lebanon , an area that became known for its rule of law under

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1974-486: The transmissions from Muhammad's Damascus-based companion, Abu Darda . Among some traditions sourced to Yahya ibn Yahya by later Muslim scholars are those regarding the discovery of John the Baptist 's head in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus and others which praise the mosque's splendor and the Umayyad dynasty in general. Yahya ibn Yahya's sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and great-great-grandsons continued their ancestor's interests in hadith scholarship and remained part of

2021-441: The village of Kfarakab ( كفر عقاب ) in 1560 AD and the main church in 1570 AD The family of Hanna remained in Mhaidsse. Kfarakab become the core settlement of the Maalouf clan and gave the family the opportunity to play an integral role in the social, economical, political and military developments in Lebanon. From Kfarakab , thousands of descendants migrated across Lebanon, and later, internationally, especially since

2068-401: The year 510, the Ghassanids were no longer Miaphysites , but Chalcedonian. The "Assanite Saracen" chief Podosaces that fought alongside the Sasanians during Julian's Persian expedition in 363 might have been a Ghassanid. After originally settling in the Levant, the Ghassanids became a client state to the Byzantine Empire . The Romans found a powerful ally in the Ghassanids who acted as

2115-461: Was given the rule over all the Arab allies of the Byzantine Empire. Al-Harith was a Miaphysite Christian; he helped to revive the Syrian Miaphysite (Jacobite) Church and supported Miaphysite development despite Orthodox Byzantium regarding it as heretical . Later Byzantine mistrust and persecution of such religious unorthodoxy brought down his successors, Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Harith (reigned 569–582). The Ghassanids, who had successfully opposed

2162-417: Was pleasant as the clan developed friendly relations with their neighbors and the ruling emir . However the murder of a ruler of Tripoli over his desire to marry one of the Maalouf daughters forced them to depart to the safety of Keserwan District that was ruled by an emir friendly to the family. Upon arrival at Antelias , the clan decided that the families of Issa, Medlej, Farah and Hanna would settle in

2209-440: Was the son of Caliph Marwan's head of the shurta , Yahya ibn Qays. Upon returning to Damascus after his stint as a governor of Mosul for the Umayyad caliph Umar II ( r.  717–720 ), Yahya ibn Yahya took up scholarship and became known as the sayyid ahl Dimashq (leader of the people of Damascus), transmitting purported hadiths (traditions and utterances) of Muhammad, which he derived from his uncle Sulayman, who received

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