Banu GhifarThe Banu Ghifar (Arabic: بنو غفار, romanized: Banū Ghifār) was an Arab tribe that belonged to the Banu Damra ibn Bakr, a branch of the large Kinana tribe in the Hejaz region of Arabia.[1][2] They were sometimes derided as brigands and robbers by other Arabs in the region.[3] The formerly-polytheistic tribe converted to Islam in the time of Muhammad, with Abu Dhar al-Ghifari being among the first of the Banu Ghifar to convert.[4][5] The Banu Ghifar had at least two sub-clans, the Banu al-Nar and Banu Huraq, who lived near the city of Medina.[6] The tribe joined the early Islamic conquests after their conversion, and some of them moved into Medina itself in later years.[1] A number of the Banu Ghifar supported the rebellion of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya against the Abbasid caliphate.[2] References
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