Qudwa
Encyclopedia
Al-Qudwa, also spelled al-Qidwa, or al-Qudwah / al-Qidwah, is a famous family of notables in the city of Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

 in the Palestinian Territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

 of the Ashraf class  . The family is also sometimes known as "Arafat" , or Arafat al-Qudwa.

History and Background

House of Al-Qudwa family members were prominent figures since the late seventeenth century. The family traces its origins to two brothers, Sayed Mohammad bin Yusef al-Qudwa and Sayed Arafat al-Qudwa (the first), who settled in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

 in 1658 AD. They had moved from Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

 , Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 where the family was also known as "al-Nabhani" and where branches still exist in that city till today, and known as "al-Nabhani al-Qudwa al-Hussieni" since 1200 AD. The family very quickly established itself as notables in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

 through extensive endowments made by Sayed Mohammad bin Arafat al-Qudwa around 1688 AD, and then later by his descendants. The Qudwas were always known as notables by belonging to the Ashraf class, the highest hereditary title of nobility to the highest social/political class in the Muslim World; also known in pre-modern society as the Hashemites- belonging to the Quraish tribe, Hashim branch/Al-Hussieni line ( Al-Hussien is the second son of Sayedah Fatimah daughter of prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali the Fourth Caliph in Islam; both are Hashimites)]]. A Hashemite is the Latinate version of the (Arabic: هاشمي‎, transliteration: Hāšimī) and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe. It also refers to an Arab dynasty whose original strength stemmed from being the direct descendants of prophet Ishmael the son of prophet Ibrahim in the Hejaz region of Arabia, along the Red Sea. The Hashemites trace their ancestry from Sayed Hashim ibn Abd Manaf (died and buried in Gaza around 510 AD), the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, although the definition today mainly refers to the descendants of the prophet's daughter, Sayedah Fatimah, the more accurate definition is the descendants of Sayed Hashim ibn Abd Manaf.

According to the Islamic court registers and many historical accounts, the first few Qudwas in Gaza were traders and businessmen, and it seemed that they were well-off, managing enormous wealth in terms of endowments, farmland, assets, and luxurious dwellings in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

. Family fortunes later included homes and farmland in the vicinity of Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...

 and Jerusalem. In fact, in the mid 18th century their assets extended to include endowments and property still owned in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, where a leading Qudwa, Sayed Mohammad bin Arafat (the third), and his two sons, Sayed Abdullah and Sayed Mustafa, had lived (for part of their life times) and managed their vast business. Sayed Mohammad bin Arafat died in 1774 in Egypt, and his two sons returned to Gaza.

In Gaza, Sayed Mustafa Arafat Al Qudwa served as Naqeeb al-Ashraf, (equal to Archduke: The son or male-line grandson of a sovereign nobleman), of the Hashimites nobility, or the head of the Ashraf class, descendents of Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 in the late 18th century. This prestigious post, held only by very few Hashimities families in history; and in fact, this post has been in this family since 1000 AD, held by Al Shareef Al Sayed Solaiman bin AlHassan, the great grand father of the Qudwas, in Iraq during the The Abbasid Caliphate (Arabic: العبّاسيّون‎, al-‘Abbāsīyūn), the Noble post was handed down to the son of Sayed Mustafa Arafat al-Qudwa, Sayed Ahmad al-Qudwa, who held the post till his death. The post of Naqeeb al-Ashraf was inherited by Ahmad's son, Sayed Yusuf, who remained as Naqeeb until he died sometime around 1828. The office was then filled by his son, Sayed Hussiein al-Qudwa, who was only 12 years old at that time, attesting to the influence and prestige that family had wielded at that time. He was probably the youngest Naqeeb in history. Sayed Hussien held the position till 1844, the year he was removed. This position, later on, was occupied by a relative, Sayed Dawood al-Qudwa in 1883, who is the grandfather of the Palestinian president Sayed Muhammad Yasser Arafat Al-Qudwa Al-Hussieni commonly known as Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

. Sayed Dawood died in 1911.

Other influential positions, such as civil administrative offices, were occupied by leading Qudwas. Sayed Suleiman bin Mohammad bin Naqeeb Mustafa al-Qudwa was elected member of the Gaza city municipality council. He died in Egypt after 1846, which meant that the family had retained business ties in Egypt. Sayed Suleiman's wife was Princess Quoot AlQuloob daughter of Prince Najem Eldeen Basha Altomertash ( Chief Justice under the Egyption monorchy in 1766 ) . Sayed Suleiman left several sons, one of whom, Sheikh Sayed Abdul-Razzaq, was also elected to the city municipality council. Sheikh Sayed Abdul-Razzaq was also a traditionally-trained Islamic scholar who had studied under scholars (Ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...

) at the famous al-Azahar mosques (University) in Egypt, he died in 1872. Sayed Mahmood (d. 1942), the son of Sayed Abdul-Razzaq, was also a prominent figure in the post-Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 period. He served on the council of Awqaf (Endowments), and managed the huge Qudwa endowment.

The most notorious member of the family is the late Palestinian president and PLO leader, Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

.

See also see prominent members

  • Yasser Arafat al-Qudwa, President of Palestinian National Authority, Chairman of PLO, and Laureate of the Nobel Prize
  • Fathi Arafat al-Qudwa, founder and chairman of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, and member of the Palestinian National Council.
  • Moussa Arafat al-Qudwa
    Moussa Arafat
    "Major General" Moussa Arafat al-Qudwa was a cousin of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.In July 2004, Arafat was appointed head of the Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip...

     head of the Palestinian Public Security Service in the Gaza Strip
    Gaza Strip
    thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

    .
  • Nasser Arafat al-Qudwa Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
  • Ahmad Arafat al-Qudwa Joint chief of the Military (PLO), Founder and Chairman of The Palestinian Olympic Committee, and Chairman of Palestinian Boys Scouts. and many more members who currently hold positions of governors, ambassadors, and Generals ...
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