Element in Arabic names
InArabic names, anisba (Arabic:نسبةnisbah, "attribution"), also rendered asnesba ornesbat, is an adjectivesurname indicating the person's place of origin, ancestral tribe, or ancestry, used at the end of the name and occasionally ending in thesuffix-iyy for males and-iyyah for females.[1]
Nisba, originally an Arabic word, has been passed to many other languages such asTurkish,Persian,Bengali,Hindi andUrdu.
In Persian, Turkish, and Urdu usage, it is always pronounced and written asnisbat. InArabic usage, that pronunciation occurs when the word is uttered in itsconstruct state only.
The practice has been adopted in South Asian Muslim names. Thenisba to a tribe, profession or a town is the most common form ofsurname in Arabic.
Anisba "relation" is a grammatical term referring to the suffixation of masculine -iyy, feminine-iyyah to a word to make it an adjective. As an example, the word‘Arabiyy (عربي) means "Arab, related to Arabic, Arabian".Nisba forms are very common in Arabic names.
Traditional Arabic names arepatronymics (nasab), where the full name of the person is followed by the name of his father, usually linked byibn orbin ('son'). Patronymics may be long as they may include all known forefathers. When a name is simplified to one or two ancestors, it may become confusing to distinguish from other similar names; in such cases, thenisba may be added as an additional specifier.
Anisba is usually prefixed by the definite article 'al-' and can take a number of forms:
- Al-Afghani, related to or fromAfghanistan
- Al-Albani, related to or fromAlbania e.g.Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani.
- Al-Almani, related to or fromGermany
- Al-Amriki, related to or fromAmerica
- Al-Andalusi, related to or from the region ofAl-Andalus (modern dayIberia) e.g.Said al-Andalusi, Abū ʿAbdallāh Yaʿīsh ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf ibn Simāk al-Andalusī al-Umawī
- Al-Armani, related to or fromGreater Armenia or Armenians
- al-Astarabadi – fromAstarabad (modern Gorgan), Persia
- al-Baghdadi, related to or from the city ofBaghdad, e.g.Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi,Junayd al-Baghdadi.
- al-Bakkaniy - from the Royal Town ofPekan in the state ofPahang inMalaysia, Mohammad Faeez Harith al-Bakkaniy
- al-Bangali - from the region ofBengal or aBengali descent (mainly fromBangladesh)
- al-Bantani - from the province ofBanten inIndonesia e.g. Syeikh Abdur Rauf al-Bantani
- al-Basri - fromBasra, e.g.Ibn Sa'd
- al-Britani, related to or from theUnited Kingdom
- al-Busnawi, related to or fromBosnia, e.g.Matrakçı Nasuh al-Busnawi.
- al-Buthuni - from the island ofButon inIndonesia e.g. Haji Abdul Ghaniu al-Buthuni
- al-Daylami - fromDaylam, northern Iran
- al-Dahlawi - fromDelhi, India
- al-Dimashqi, related to or from the city ofDamascus e.g.Al-Dimashqi (geographer),Abu al-Fadl Ja'far ibn 'Ali al-Dimashqi
- al-Falembani - from a capital city in the province of South Sumatera in Indonesia, e.g.Abdul Samad Al-Falimbani
- al-Fansuri - from the town of Pancur in theCentral Tapanuli Regency inNorth Sumatera Indonesia e.g. Hamzah al-Fansuri
- al-Farsi, related to or from the region ofPars (Fars) or the country ofPersia; e.g.Salman al-Farsi,Saud Al-Farsi
- al-Fatani - from the province ofPattani inThailand e.g.Syeikh Daud al-Fatani
- al-Filfulani - from the state ofPenang inMalaysia e.g. Syeikh Zubeir al-Filfulani
- al-Filisṭīnī, related to or from the region ofPalestine e.g.Abu Qatada al-Filistini.
- al-Ghari - Literally means cave in Arabic. From the district ofGua Musang (literally meaning Fox Cave inMalay) in the state ofKelantan inMalaysia, e.g.Zamihan al-Ghari
- al-Hadrami, related to or from the region ofHadhramaut e.g.Al-Ala al-Hadhrami,Ahmed Al-Hadrami,Imam al-Hadrami.
- al-Hamadani, fromHamadan, Persia
- al-Hijazi, related to or from the region ofHijaz e.g.Amal Hijazi,Farouk Hijazi,Abu'l Abbas al-Hijazi
- al-Himsi, related to or from the city of Homs e.g.Qustaki al-Himsi,Ibn Na'ima al-Himsi.
- al-Harari related to or from the city ofHarar
- al-Iraqi, related to or from the country ofIraq e.g.Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi,Abdul Hadi al Iraqi,Abu Ayoub al-Iraqi
- al-Isfahani – fromIsfahan, Persia
- al-Jaza'iri - related to or from the country ofAlgeria e.g.Emir Abdelkader al-Jaza'iri,Abu Bakr al-Jaza'iri
- al-Jannabi - from Jannaba port city,Arrajan province of Persia
- al-Johori - from the state ofJohor inMalaysia e.g. Ahmad bin Ya'kob al-Johori
- al-Jurjani – fromJurjan
- al-Juzjani – fromJuzjan
- al-Kairouani, related to or from the city ofKairouan inTunisia.
- al-Kalantani - from the state ofKelantan inMalaysia e.g. Syeikh Ismail bin Abdul Majid al-Kalantani, Syeikh Wan Ali bin Abdul Rahman al-Kalantani
- al-Kedahi - from the state ofKedah inMalaysia e.g. Syeikh Mahmud al-Kedahi
- al-Khwarizmi, related to or from the region ofKhwarazm, e.g.Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi.
- al-Kuwaiti, related to or from the country ofKuwait e.g.Abu Omar al-Kuwaiti,Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, Jandal al-Kuwaiti.
- Lahori, related to or from the city of Lahore, in Punjab, Pakistan e.g.Ustad Ahmad Lahori
- al-Lubnani, related to or from the country ofLebanon e.g.Bilal al-Berjawi al-Lubnani.
- al-Lusunji - from Losong, inKuala Terengganu,Malaysia, e.g. Afif al-Lusunji
- al-Maghrebi, related to or from the region ofMaghreb e.g.Ibn Yaḥyā al-Maghribī al-Samawʾal,Mahmud Sulayman al-Maghribi,Yusuf al-Maghribi.
- al-Maqassari from the city ofMakassar inIndonesia e.g.Muhammad Yusuf al-Maqassari
- al-Masri, related to or fromEgypt. e.g.Taher al-Masri,Abu Hamza al-Masri.
- al-Nahawandi, al-Nihawandi - fromNahavand, Iran
- al-Najdi, related to or from the region ofNajd inSaudi Arabia e.g. Qutaybah al-Najdi
- al-Nisaburi,al-Naysaburi - fromNishapur, Iran
- al-Qazwini – fromQazvin
- al-Quhistani - fromQuhistan
- al-Qumisi, al-Kumisi - fromQumis, Iran
- al-Razi – fromRay, Iran
- al-Rûmi, fromRome
- al-Shami, related to or from the region ofLevant or from the country ofSyria e.g.Nasser al-Shami,Husayn al-Shami,Abu Anas al-Shami,Abu Humam al-Shami.
- al-Shinqiti, related to or from the city ofChinguetti or Bilād Šinqīṭ (Bilad Chinguetti, modern-dayMauritania) e.g.Ahmad ibn al-Amin al-Shinqiti
- al-Shirazi – fromShiraz, Fars, Persia
- al-Sindhi, related to or from the region ofSindh e.g.Mohammad Hayyat al-Sindhi
- al-Sinkili - from the town ofSingkel in the province ofAceh inIndonesiaAbd al-Rauf ibn Ali al-Fansuri al-Sinkili
- al-Sistani,al-Sijistani,al-Sajistani,al-Sijzi – fromSistan, Persia orGreater Iran
- al-Tabari – fromTabaristan, Persia
- al-Tantawi - fromTanta, Egypt, e.g.Nasrudin Hasan Tantawi
- al-Tiflisi, fromTiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia
- al-Tihami, related to or from the region ofTihamah inSaudi Arabia.
- al-Tikriti, related to or from the city ofTikrit, e.g.Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti,Abu Raita al-Takriti,Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti
- al-Tunisi, related to or from the country ofTunisia e.g.Abu Nasr al-Tunisi,Abu Osama al-Tunisi,Ali ibn Ziyad at-Tarabulsi al-Tunisi al-'Absi,Nabilah al-Tunisi
- al-Turki, related to or from the country of Turkey e.g.Abu Yusuf Al-Turki,Azjur al-Turki,Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki,Hussain Al-Turki
- al-Tusi – fromTus, Khurasan, Persia
- al-Yemeni, related to or from the country of Yemen
- al-Yrifani, related to or fromYerevan
- al-Zayla'i, related to or fromZeila region andZeila town inHorn of Africa e.g.Abd Al-Rahman al-Zayla'i
- ar-Raniri - from the town ofRander, inSurat district in the state ofGujarat, India. e.g.Nuruddin ar-Raniri
- as-Sambasi - from the regency ofSambas inIndonesia e.g. Muhammad Jabir as-Sambasi
- as-Sarawaki - from the state ofSarawak inMalaysia, e.g. Muhtar Suhaili As-Sarawaki
- as-Sembilani - from the state ofNegeri Sembilan inMalaysia, e.g. Muhammad Musa al-Hafiz as-Sembilani
- as-Subanji - from the city ofSubang Jaya in the state ofSelangor inMalaysia e.g. Kamarul Afiq as-Subanji
- as-Sumatrani - from the island ofSumatera inIndonesia e.g.Syeikh Syamsuddin as-Sumatrani
- as-Sumbawi - from the island ofSumbawa inIndonesia Syeikh Muhammad Zainuddin as-Sumbawi
- at-Tranjanuwi - from the state ofTerengganu inMalaysia e.g. Iskandar at-Tranjanuwi
- al Bukhari - fromBukhara, Uzbekistan
- al-Darbandi,Darbandi - fromDerbent, Persia
- El Djezairi, related to or fromAlgeria e.g.Abdelkader El Djezairi.
- Faridi, related to or from the region ofGreater Faridpur in Bangladesh e.g.Abdul Haque Faridi
- al-Khurasani – from Khurasan e.g.Abu Muslim,Abdallah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani
- Islamabadi, related to or from the city ofChittagong (previously known as Islamabad) e.g.Maniruzzaman Islamabadi
- Maneri - fromManer Sharif, India, e.g.Makhdoom Yahya Maneri.
- al-Marwazi, fromMarw, Khurasan
- al-Rûmi – fromRûm (The Balkans andAsia Minor)
- Siraji, related to or from the district ofSirajganj in Bangladesh e.g.Ismail Hossain Siraji
Tribes, clans or families
[edit]- al-Tamimi, from the tribe or clan ofBani Tamim. e.g. Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi, Talib al-Suhail al-Tamimi,Alaa al-Tamimi.
- al-Qurashi, from the tribe or clan ofQuraish. e.g.ibn Kathir al-Qurashi,Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi.
- Al-Hashemi, from the clan ofBanu Hashim. Members of theHashemite dynasty are referred to with the nisba "Al-Hashemi".
- at-Ta'i, from the tribe of Tai'. e.g.Hatem at-Ta'i.
- al-Ishaaqi, from the tribe or clan ofIshaaq inSomaliland
- al-Banjari, from the people ofBanjar ethnicity inIndonesia e.g.Muhammad Arsyad bin Abdullah al-Banjari
- al-Minankabawi - from the people ofMinangkabau ethnicity inIndonesia e.g.Syeikh Ahmad Khatib al-Minankabawi,Syeikh Ismail Khalidi al-Minankabawi
- al-Mandaili - from the people ofMandailing ethnicity inIndonesia e.g. Haji Abdur Rahman al-Mandaili
One can have more than onenisba, one can be related to a city, a clan, a profession and a person at the same time. Examples include:
Thenisba is optional but is quite widespread.
