Harb (tribe)

Harb (Arabic: حرب) is an Arab tribe^[1] in the Arabian Peninsula. It is originally a Qahtanite tribe. Some sources on Arab tribes' genealogy state that the great-grandfather of the Harb tribe is Harb ibn Saad ibn Saad ibn Khawlan ibn Amr ibn Qadha'ah ibn Himyar ibn Qahtan.^[2] Harb tribal lands extend from the Red Sea coast in Tihamah (Western Part of Saudi Arabia) to the heart of Najd in the central region of Saudi Arabia, and from North the Harbi lands extend from Madinah (a holy city for Muslims) to Al Qunfudhah in the south. The tribe's reach extends to other Arab countries like Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and UAE.

The Harb tribe dates to the 2nd century of the Islamic calendar. When Qahtani tribes emigrated from the south of Arabian Peninsula to Hejaz around 131 AH for water and land space after some battles with their cousins Banu Ar-Rabi'ah bin Saad, this caused several tribal conflicts with the native and mostly Adnani Arab tribes of Hejaz and Tihamah such as Juhaynah, Anazzah, Muzaynah, and Sulaym over land and water. After around three centuries in Hejaz, the Harb tribe became a dominant tribe in the heart of Hejaz with territories surrounding the holy city of Medina. Harb in the 21st century, like many other Arabian tribes, is a federation of tribes and families.

Many tribal members have migrated in recent decades to the three major metropolitan centers of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Jeddah, Al-Qassim and Dammam.