Al-Ali (Arabic: آل علي) is a group of Arab clans who are not necessarily from a common ancestor but were once rulers of their own Arab state in Southern Persia and are still influential in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates as they are the ruling family in Umm al-Quwain. Many of whom are from an Arab tribe, a branch of Bani Malik from Central Arabia. Bani Malik are named after the renowned army leader, Malik Al-Ashtar Al-Nakha'i,[1] and are a branch of Azd Mecca (the descendants of Khuza'a Ibn Amr). Azd Mecca are one of four branches of Azd (or Al-Azd), a major pre-Islamic tribes, a branch of Kahlan which was one of the branches of Qahtan the other being Himyar.[2][3] Most of Al-Ali tribe migrated by the end of the 16th century from what is now Saudi Arabia to different neighboring countries. Members of Al-Ali tribe live in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan.