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Ba 'Alawi Arabic: آل باعلوي
Ba 'Alawi Sada people of Indonesia
Parent family	Banu Hashim
Current region	Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Maldives, Comoros, South Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Place of origin	Hadhramaut
Members	see #List of Families
Connected families	al-Rayyan, Thangal, Nuwaythi, Ba Mashkoor, Ba Rumaidaan, Ba Hamaam, al-Amoodi, Ba Naeemi, Ba Hammudi
Traditions	Ba'Alawi tariqa

The Ba 'Alawi sadah or Sadat Ba 'Alawi (Arabic: سادة آل باعلوي, romanized: sādat al-bā'alawiy) are a group of Hadhrami Sayyid families and social group originating in Hadhramaut in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula. They claimed their lineage to Sayyid al-Imam Ahmad al-Muhajir bin Isa al-Rumi born in 873 (260H), who emigrated from Basra to Hadhramaut^[1] in 931 (320H) to avoid sectarian violence, including the invasion of the Qaramite forces into the Abbasid Caliphate.

They follow the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah methodology on the Shafi'i school in jurisprudence, and the Ash'ari school in faith, and they have their own way of seeking God, which is the Al-Baalawi Tariqah, one of the Sufi orders spread in the Islamic world.^[2]

The Ba 'Alawids are known for preaching Islam. The founder of their order was Muhammad bin Ali Baalawi, known as "Al-Faqih Al-Muqaddam", whom during his time, Sayyid families in Hadramaut were seen as a threat by other tribes. Due to instability in the region, it was normal during his study that Muhammad bin Ali put a sword on his lap for protection. Muhammad grew tired of the tension and bloodshed in the ranks of the believers thus symbolically broke his sword and announced that his Tariqa and the way of Alawid Sayyids are non-violence and renounced any tariqa that uses violence.^[3] It is believed the dissemination of Islam in Southeast Asia was carried out by traders and clerics of Hadramaut who transited in India since 15th century as the Sufism and its influences can be traced strongly in the region.^[4][5].

They were at the top of the social ladder in Hadramawt because of their lineage, their social, financial and reformist role among the people, spreading the principles of Islam to the people, establishing mosques and scientific schools, in addition to their advancement in scientific and intellectual centers that made them occupy the top of the society.^[6]

The origin of the name Ba 'Alawi goes back to one of their ancestors, Alawi bin Ubaidullah bin Ahmad al-Muhajir, the first of al-Muhajir's descendants to be named Ba'alawi. The use of the name Ba 'Alawi came after they were influenced by the Hadharem in their way of referring to their fathers, and the meaning of (Ba) among the Hadharem is "son".^[7]

However, the Ba 'Alawids do not use these two surnames except in biographies and genealogies, and a person is usually attributed to his tribe, but there are some individuals from Bani Alawi who are still called Ba 'Alawi because they do not belong to any of the known tribes.^[8]

The word Sadah or Sadat (Arabic: سادة) is a plural form of word Sayyid (Arabic: سيد), while the word Ba 'Alawi or Bani 'Alawi means descendants of Alawi. In sum, Ba'alawi are Sayyids who have a blood descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Alawi ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Muhajir. Meanwhile, Alawiyyin (Arabic: العلويّن; al-`alawiyyin), a Sayyid term that is used to describe descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib from Husayn ibn Ali (Sayyids) and Hasan ibn Ali (Sharifs). All people of Ba 'Alawi are Alawiyyin Sayyids through Husayn ibn Ali, but not all people of Alawiyyin family are of Ba 'Alawi.

Imam al-Muhajir's grandson Alawi was the first Sayyid to be born in Hadhramaut, and the only one of Imam al-Muhajir's descendants to produce a continued line; the lineages of Imam al-Muhajir's other grandsons, Basri and Jadid, were cut off after several generations. Accordingly, Imam Al-Muhajir's descendants in Hadhramaut hold the name Bā 'Alawi ("descendants of Alawi").

The Ba 'Alawi Sadah have since been living in Hadhramaut in Southern Yemen, maintaining the Sunni Creed in the fiqh school of Shafi'i. In the beginning, a descendant of Imam Ahmad al-Muhajir who became scholar in Islamic studies was called Imam, then Sheikh, but later called Habib.

It was only since 1700 AD they began to migrate^[9] in large numbers out of Hadhramaut across all over the globe, often to practice da'wah (Islamic missionary work).^[10] Their travels had also brought them to the Southeast Asia. These hadhrami immigrants blended with their local societies unusual in the history of diasporas. For example, the House of Jamalullail of Perlis is descended from the Ba 'Alawi. Habib Salih of Lamu, Kenya was also descended from the Ba 'Alawi. In Indonesia, quite a few of these migrants married local women or men, sometimes nobility or even royal families, and their descendants then became sultans or kings, such as in Sultanate of Pontianak or in Sultanate of Siak Indrapura.^[11] The Sultanates of Sulu, Lanao, and Maguindanao as well trace their origins to the esteemed lineage of the Ba Alawi Sada. These Sultanates follow the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence.^[12][13]

According to Ja'far al-Labani, a historian from Makkah: "Most of the Sayyids living in Mecca and Medina are the Ba'alawis, whose memory spread in Hadramaut, and then they came from Hadramaut to Mecca, Medina and other countries of Allah, so these gentlemen are the ones who are handed over to preserve their genealogy, and they are known to the captain of the Sayyids in Mecca and Medina, and the captain of the Sayyids is none other than them, and their births are controlled wherever they are, and their names are enumerated, and their genealogy is preserved in the well-known way. Their genealogies are preserved in the manner known to them, in order to divide their revenues from endowments and the like, and whoever else belongs to the pure lineage, whether Egyptian, Levantine, Roman, or Iraqi, although there are many of them, they are not recognized because their genealogies are not set on a sound basis by the public, but some of them may have evidence that gives some doubt about the truth of their claim."^[14]

The genealogies of the Ba Alawids were preserved in a large general tree located in fifteen volumes, compiled by the famous genealogist Abd al-Rahman al-Mashhur, author of "Shams al-Dhahira", which was the approved tree, and is still recorded to this day in the Hejaz, Yemen, southeast Asian countries and east Africa, and its original was preserved in Tarim in Hadramawt, and was adopted by the Association of Alawite Masters in Jakarta, Indonesia.^[15] There is a well-known general cipher by al-Musnid 'Idrus ibn 'Umar al-Habshi, and another general cipher that was preserved in Makkah and was transcribed by al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Habshi. In addition to these public cemeteries, there are private cemeteries for many tribes of Bani Alawi, in which they record their genealogy.^[15]

some of the notable books that records their genealogy are:^[16]

• "Al-Jawahir al-Sunniyya fi al-'Urat al-Husayniyya" by 'Ali bin Abi Bakr al-Sakran
• "Ghurr al-Baha al-Dhawi fi Manaqib Bani Jadid, Bani Basri, and Bani Alawi" by Muhammad bin Ali bin Alawi Khurd
• "The Prophetic Tree in Realizing the Genealogy of the Alawite Sovereigns" by Abdullah bin Sheikh al-Aydarus
• Muhammad bin Abi Bakr al-Shali's "The Prophetic Contract and the Secret of the Mustafawi"
• "The Prophetic Decade and the Mystery of the Mustafawi" by Shaykh bin Abdullah al-Aydarus
• "The Service of the Clan in Summarizing, Refining and Supplementing Shams al-Dhahira" by Ahmad bin Abdullah al-Saqqaf
• "From the Heirs of Muhammad's Immaculate Conception" by Allawi bin Muhammad Balfaqih
• Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Shatari's "Al-Mu'jam al-Latif in the Reasons for Surnames and Nicknames in the Honorable Lineage of Bani Alawi"
• "The Zakia Tree in the Genealogy and Biography of the Household of the Prophet" by Yusuf bin Abdullah Jamal al-Layl
• "Al-Rawd al-Jali in the Genealogy of Bani Alawi" by Murtada al-Zubaidi al-Husseini

After the descendants of al-Muhajir settled in Tarim, some governors asked them to prove their lineage to confirm what they claimed, and that this should be done by a judicial ruling, and Tarim had three hundred muftis at that time, so Ali bin Muhammad bin Jadid, who died in 620 AH, traveled to Iraq and proved the lineage to the judge there and witnessed it. Then these witnesses met the Hadhramaut pilgrims in Mecca and testified to them, and when these Hadhramaut pilgrims came to Hadhramaut and testified to the proof, the people recognized their lineage, and the sheikhs and scholars unanimously agreed on this.^[17]

It is known that when Ahmad al-Muhajir came to Hadramawt, he still had family and relatives in Basra, where his son Muhammad remained on his property, as well as his sons Ali and Hussein, and his grandson Jadid bin Ubaydullah went to see those properties and visit relatives. Al-Muhajir's children and grandchildren invested in Hadramawt for many years from the proceeds of their money in Iraq, so they were in contact with their ancestral homeland and their cousins there, and they had their news and those who came from there reminded them of their biography and history.^[18]

Years and centuries passed, and those who questioned their lineage came and even invalidated it by saying that Al-Fakhr al-Razi did not mention a son named Ubaydullah for Ahmad al-Muhajir and that his descendants were only three sons, Muhammad, Ali, and Hussein.^[19] He also said that the seventy people who migrated with Ahmad al-Muhajir were not identified and had no known descendants.

In 2000, FamilyTreeDNA was established and initiated a global project to identify human origins through DNA analysis with the aim of reconnecting the Jewish diaspora around the world.^[20][21] The company classified the results of the analysis samples sent to it into different genetic lines based on the male (Y) chromosome and by comparison with other samples that had been examined and classified. When members of the Ba Alawi performed this genetic analysis, their results showed the G lineage, which is predominantly found in the Caucasus. Some said that their lineage to the Prophet's Household is invalid, claiming that the lineage in which Arabs predominate is the J lineage.

According to historical sources, many genealogists and historians,^[22] such as: Ibn Tabataba,^[23] Baha al-Din al-Jindi,^[24] Ibn Anba,^[25] Muhammad al-Kadhim,^[26] al-Amidi al-Najafi,^[27] Siraj al-Din al-Rifai,^[28] Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi,^[29] Ibn Hajar al-Haytami,^[30] Ibn Shadqam,^[31] Al-Muhibbi,^[32] Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din^[33], the family lineage is connected to Muhammad.

Some authoritative Muslim scholars such as former Mufti of Egypt Shaikh Ali Jum'ah,^[34] Sayyid Usamah Al-Azhari of Al-Azhar University in Egypt,^[35] Iranian Ayatollah Sayyid Mahdi Rajai,^[36][37] and Saudi Arabian genealogist Sharif Anas bin Yaqub Al-Kutaby,^[38] have asserted their opinion that Ba 'Alawi sada family lineage is connected to Muhammad.

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Some of the family names are as follows:^[39][40]

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Many people^{[dubious – discuss]}{^{[verification needed]} in Indonesia dispute or even reject outright the validity of Ba 'Alawi sada linkage with Islamic prophet Muhammad.^[41]This controversy arises from a conjecture that Ubaydillah figure who is claimed as a descendant of Ahmad al-Muhajir has not been mentioned in books until about five centuries after his lifetime.^[42][43] This argument is based on a book (written in 6th century hijri ) named "Al-Sajarah Al-Mubarakah fi Ansaab Al-Thalibiyya" by Al-Fakhrurazi.^[44][45] The book clearly states that Ahmad bin Isa had only three children: Muhammad, Ali, and Hussein.^[45] Furthermore, their argument is also based on the results of Y-DNA tests conducted on 130 samples of individuals who claimed of the Ba Alawi clan,^[46] which did not show any correspondence with the haplogroup of the Banu Quraysh.^[47]

Other scholars criticize the method used by these deniers, requiring the lineage must be mentioned by a book in the time of the questionable person (Ubaidillah). The reasons^[48] are based on the conventions accepted by scholars of Nasab around the world. As described in the book "رسائل فى علم نسب" (The summary of Genealogy science):^[49]

• The story of Ba'alawi sada spreads widely and is well known in many places and countries.
• It is recorded in many credible books written by credible and trusted experts in the field of lineage.
• Testimonials based on religious authority.
• Recognized at least by one tribe.
• Confession of a sane man that so-and-so is his son.

The name "Ba-Alawi" has been mentioned in some books in 8th centuries. A recent finding of the manuscript of Imam Tirmidhi written in around 589 H, hence a contemporary book debunking the deniers' claim, mentioned a person named Muhammad Sahib Mirbath from Ba'alawi family.^[50][51]. A Genealogy scholar in 8th Hijri, Bahaudin Al-Janadi in his book, "As-Suluk Fi Tabaqatil Ulama Wal Muluk"^[52] said:

Among them (Bait Abi Alawi) is Hasan bin Muhammad bin Ali Ba 'Alawi (who belongs to the Alawi lineage), he is a jurist who memorizes outside the head of the Al-Wajiz book is imam Ghazali" (volume 2, page 463).

There is no consensus among scholars regarding the use of DNA testing to trace distant lineage^[53]. Islamic genealogists, such as Mufti of Egypt Shaikh Shauqi 'Allam permits the use of DNA testing to establish lineage but rejects its use to negate lineage. (He is referring to close lineage between father and child in this context.) ^[54]. Another scholar, Manshur Al-Hashimi Al-Amir states that DNA testing cannot be used to establish distant lineage, especially if that lineage has already been established through legal recognition and benefit based on the Fame and popularity (الشهرة والاستفاضة, Arabic pronunciation: [ʃuhrah wa al-Istifadˤah])^[55] as in the case of Ba 'Alawi^[56][57]. However, it can be used to deny close lineage between father and child [1]. Some scholars disagree with the application of DNA tracing to determine distant lineage for some reasons described by Zainab Al-Muthairy, Ph.D^[58], a scholar in molecular DNA at the Prince Shatham Abd Aziz in Saudi Arabia^[59][60]. On the other side, the Indonesian's Nahdlatul Ulama conference in 2004 permitted the use of DNA testing to refute lineage.^[61]

According to the Ba 'Alawi project on the Family Tree DNA website,^[62] those participating in the project exhibit a diverse range of haplogroups.^[46] People from the Al-Habshi (from Indonesia), Jamalul Lail, Al-Hadi (from Indonesia), and Al-Saqqaf families affiliated with the haplogroup G, while some others of Al-Saqqaf and Al-Mahdaly in haplogroup J.^[46] In contrast, according to the same source, the Quraysh is believed to have patterns that associated with haplogroup J1.^[47] This finding suggests that the Ba Alawi lineage does not descend directly from the Prophet Muhammad, but rather has a genetically distinct line of ancestry.^[63] As it is still an ongoing research^[64] and difficult process to determine what haplogroups of actual Arabs.^[65] As many DNA-testing companies overly simplify scientific claims, many genetic genealogists have done traditional, non-DNA-based genealogy research for decades. Other genealogists use DNA testing when documentary records become thin or non-existent.^[66] DNA alone cannot prove anything and only supports genealogy. This requires an in-depth analysis of the many specific issues and aspects that arise when utilizing DNA, and this is something with which genealogists are still struggling. ^[67]

• Alavi (surname)
• Al-Rabithah al-Alawiyyah
• Alids
• Hadhrami people
• Sayyid
• Sharif

• Ba'alawi.com - The Definitive Resource for Islam and the Alawiyyen Ancestry.
• Saada Ba Alawi of East Africa Facebook page