Adnan

views updated

ADNAN

Eponymous ancestor of the Arabs of the northern parts of the Arabian peninsula, among whom two groups may be distinguished: the Rabiʾa and the Mudar. Before Islam, most of the northern tribes were designated by the word "Maʾad," considered to be the name of one of the sons of Adnan, while in fact the Arabs seem to be rather descended from two eponymous ancestors: Qahtan, for the Arabs of the north, and Adnan for those of the south.