Banu Hanifa

Banu Hanifa (Arabic: بنو حنيفة‎‎) were an ancient Arab tribe inhabiting the area of al-Yamama in the central region of modern-day Saudi Arabia. The tribe belonged to the great Rabi'ah branch of North Arabian tribes, which also included 'Anizzah, Abdul Qays, Bakr, and Taghlib. Though counted by the classical Arab genealogists as a Christian branch of Bani Bakr, they led an independent existence prior to Islam.

The tribe's members appear to have been mostly sedentary farmers at the dawn of Islam, living in small settlements along the wadis of eastern Nejd (known back then as al-Yamama), particularly the valley of Al-'Irdh, which later came to bear their name (see Wadi Hanifa). Sources such as Yaqut's 13th century encyclopedia credit them with the founding of the towns of Hadjr (the predecessor of today's Riyadh) and Manfuha, and being responsible for the granaries of Al-Kharj. According to legend, the tribe had moved to al-Yamamah from the Hejaz after the region's original inhabitants, the extinct people of Tasm and Jadis were decimated by war.

During the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's era the Banu Hanifa tribe were involved in military conflict with him. Muhammad ordered the Expedition of Muhammad ibn Maslamah in July, 627AD in Muharram, 6AH.

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