The family of Al Faiz (; ), also transliterated in a number of other ways, including Al Fa'iz, Al Fa'ez, Al Faez, or Al Fayez, is the oldest Alid family of Karbala, which they have occupied, on some occasions ruled, and held custodianship of its holy sites, since 861. p. 48.
The family traces its lineage to Ibrahim al-Mujab, the 9th-century grandson of Musa al-Kadhim, the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam. Its eponymous ancestor is held to be Muhammad Abu al-Faiz, a twelfth-generation descendant of al-Mujab. In Karbala, the family holds a high prestige where they maintained the authority of the niqaba (supervision) of Karbala's Sayyids and the sidana (custodianship) of Karbala's holy sites numerous times over different periods.
Today, the wider family is represented by several branches, and they are Al Tumah, Al Nasrallah, Al Dhiya al-Din, Al Tajir, Al Awj, and Al Sayyid Amin.
History
Alid settlement in Karbala Following the assassination of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil in 861, the Alids experienced a period of relative security under his son and successor, al-Muntasir, who is reported to have shown them favour and afforded them protection. The earliest known Alid to settle in Karbala was Ibrahim al-Mujab ibn Muhammad al-Abid ibn Musa al-Kadhim, also known as Taj al-Din Ibrahim al-Mujab.
Sidana and Niqaba Following the settlement of the Alids in Karbala, Ibrahim al-Mujab assumed responsibility for the two holy shrines of Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali. Through this role, he became known as the sādin al-rawḍatayn, meaning the custodian of the two shrines. The office itself came to be known as the sidāna, referring to the custodianship and administration of the holy sanctuaries.
The sidāna was inherited by al-Mujab’s eldest son, Muhammad, who was nicknamed al-Ha'iri owing to the family’s residence in the Ha'ir, another name for Karbala. He assumed the office in 913. The custodianship was then transmitted through the following descendants:
Ahmed Abu al-Tayyib (962–995) Ali al-Majthoor (995–1029) Ahmed al-Ha'iri (1029–1068) Ibrahim al-Ha'iri (1068–1097) After Ibrahim al-Ha'iri, the sidāna passed to a Sayyid from the descendants of Ali Zayn al-Abidin, and subsequently to various other figures. It later returned to the descendants of Ibrahim al-Mujab through Muhammad Abu al-Faiz in 1259.
In the late 10th century, during the Buyid period, the office of naqib al-ashraf was established in Karbala. The naqib al-ashraf was the recognised head or supervisor of the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the institution itself was known as the niqāba. Muhammad al-Husayni, a descendant of Ali Zayn al-Abidin, was appointed to this office and became the first naqib of the Ha'ir.
After al-Husayni, the office passed in around 985 to Sharaf al-Din Ahmad, a descendant of Ibrahim al-Mujab. He was succeeded by his son, Ibrahim al-Ha'iri, who assumed the niqāba in 1001. Following Ibrahim’s death in 1049, the office passed to other Sayyids, before returning to the line of Ibrahim al-Mujab through Muhammad Abu al-Faiz in 1259.
At certain periods in Karbala’s history, the offices of niqāba and sidāna appear to have been merged. In such cases, the holder of the niqāba also served as sādin of the two holy shrines.
Tribal feud By 1317, the Ilkhanate state had begun to disintegrate, leaving the Euphrates region without a stable central authority. In this context, Karbala became divided between two principal factions: Al Faiz and Al Zuhayk. Al Faiz traced their descent to Muhammad al-Abid ibn Musa al-Kadhim, while Al Zuhayk descended from Ibrahim al-Asghar ibn Musa al-Kadhim. The rivalry between the two groups developed into a prolonged feud that continued for nearly half a century. The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta witnessed the unrest during his visit to Karbala in 1326.
Al Faiz were the older-established group in Karbala, owing their presence in the city to Ibrahim al-Mujab, who settled there in 861 during the reign of al-Muntasir. Although numerous branches descended from al-Mujab, Muhammad Abu al-Faiz later emerged as the leading patriarch of the wider family in Karbala. Since the feud began during the latter part of Abu al-Faiz’s life, the faction known as Al Faiz cannot have consisted solely of his direct descendants. Rather, it appears to have included several related branches of his wider kin, united under his name.
Al Zuhayk, by contrast, were named after their patriarch Yahya Zuhayk, a descendant of Abdullah al-Ha'iri, the naqib of the Talibids who had moved to Karbala in the early 11th century. The descendants of Ibrahim al-Asghar appear to have united under the name of their kinsman Yahya Zuhayk. In later generations, Al Zuhayk became represented by several families, including Al Thabit, Al Daraj (later known as Al Naqib) and Al Wahab. The families of Al Eshaiker and Al Jelokhan were also related to Al Zuhayk and became associated with their name.
The dispute centred on the office of the niqāba in Karbala. Al Faiz regarded the office as belonging to them on account of their earlier residence in the city, while Al Zuhayk claimed entitlement to it on the basis that their ancestors had previously held the niqāba of the Talibids of Iraq.
Amid the continuing disorder caused by the feud, and in the absence of effective central authority, a tribe known as Al Muhanna invaded Karbala in 1355, claiming that their intention was to end the unrest. They took control of the city and its holy sites, and Shihab al-Din Al Muhanna declared himself naqib of the Ha'ir.
When Al Faiz and Al Zuhayk realised the extent of Al Muhanna’s control, they set aside their rivalry and joined forces against the invaders. Their revolt succeeded in removing the naqib and expelling him and his tribe from the city. Following this, the two factions formed an alliance and agreed to divide the principal offices of Karbala between them. Muhammad Sharaf al-Din, the grandson of Muhammad Abu al-Faiz, became governor of Karbala and sādin al-rawḍatayn, while Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, the son of Yahya Zuhayk, became naqib. The alliance was further strengthened through intermarriage between the two families.
Attire and distinctive dress In the 9th century, the Alids of Karbala are said to have worn traditional Arab garments, including the turban, thawb, and bisht, in a variety of colours, although green appears to have been especially common. In 1372, Sultan Shaban introduced a form of noble distinction for the Alids by granting them the privilege of wearing green turbans, thereby distinguishing them from the black colour associated with the Abbasids.
With the growing popularity of the fez in Ottoman Iraq during the 19th century, Hassan Nasrallah is said to have imported fezzes from Vienna and green woollen shawls from England. From these, he developed what became known as the kashida: a fez around which a green scarf was wrapped. The kashida, together with the jubba, a long sleeved robe similar to a cassock but without buttons, became the distinctive dress of the Faizids. It was subsequently adopted as the official attire of the sadens and servants of the shrines of Husayn and Abbas in Karbala, before spreading to other shrine cities in Iraq.
The style of the kashida varies between Karbala and other shrine cities. In Karbala, the green scarf is longer and covers approximately half of the fez, with the wrapping arranged in an overlapping manner that gives the front a distinctive appearance. In Najaf, the wrapping is shorter, though it still retains a visible overlap. In Samarra, the wrap is shorter still and lacks the overlapping front, forming instead a more uniform band around the fez.
Figures Epithets It is worthy to note that the notable figures of Al Faiz had the addition of al-Husayni (descendants of Husayn) to their name until the 16th century. This then changed to al-Musawi (descendants of Musa) in the following centuries.
Muhammad Abu al-Faiz He is: Moḥammed Abu al-Faʾiz bin Abu al-Ḥassan ʿAli bin Aḥmed Jalal al-Din bin Abu Jaʿfar Moḥammed bin Abu Jaʿfar Moḥammed bin Abu Jaʿfar Najm al-Din al-Aswad bin Abu Jaʿfar Moḥammed bin ʿAli al-Ghareeq bin Moḥammed al-Khair bin Abu al-Ḥassan ʿAli al-Majthoor bin Abu al-Ṭayyib Aḥmed bin Moḥammed al-Ḥaʾiri bin Ibrahim al-Mujāb bin Moḥammed al-ʿAābid bin Musa al-Kāthim.He is the progenitor of the Tumah, Nasrallah, Dhiya al-Din, Tajir, Awj and Sayyid Amin families. He is reported to have been a valiant and noble man, followed by the majority of the city. He was the one that united all of the branches from the descendants of al-Mujab, that resided in Karbala, under his name. Abu al-Faiz owned vast lands across Karbala and Shfatha. In 1259, under the rule of Hulegu, he was made naqib and ruler of Karbala, at the behest of al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli. He died in c. 1317.
Ahmed Shams al-Din al-Faizi
He was the son of Abu al-Faiz. He was appointed Minister of Ras al-Ayn (Ayn al-Tamr) in 1334 until his death in 1349. pp. 159–60.
Muhammad Sharaf al-Din al-Faizi He was the son of Ahmed Shams al-Din. After the exile of the al-Muhanna tribe in the last third of the 14th-century, Muhammad was made ruler of Karbala. In 1393, when Timur Lang's forces, under the command of his son Miran Shah, defeated Ahmed Jalayir, they entered Karbala, to which they were met with its noblemen, headed by Muhammad who was ruling the city. Just before the Timurid invasion, the , Shaykh Ali al-Khazin, had died, Miran saw that the most appropriate person to hold the sidana was Muhammad, so he appointed him as of the Husayn and Abbas shrines', in 1393.
In 1412, tensions grew between the Alid and non-Alid tribes as to the matters of the shrines'. For this reason Muhammad formed a number of groups, each representing a tribe, and designated a sarkoshk (leading minister) to lead each group.
Tumah I Kamal al-Din al-Faizi He was the son of Ahmed III Abu Tiraas, the son of Yahya Dhiya al-Din, the son of Muhammad Sharaf al-Din. In 1423, Tumah I assumed the niqaba of the ashraf of Karbala, as well as the sidana of the Husayn and Abbas shrines' at the behest of the governor of Baghdad, Shah Muhammad, of the Black Sheep Turcomen tribe. Tumah died in 1442.
Sharaf al-Din al-Faizi He was the son of Tumah I. Sharaf al-Din took the niqaba and sidana after his father, died in 1442, during the Black Sheep monarchy, and carried on during the White Sheep monarchy. He passed down the niqaba and sidana to his son, Yahya, in 1493. He died in 1500. Iraqi historian, Dr. Imad Rauf in his book, al-Usar al-Hakima, mentions he holds a document that has both Sharaf al-Din's name and Sultan Yaqub's, dated from 1455.
Yahya al-Faizi He was the son of Sharaf al-Din. In 1493, Yahya took charge of the niqaba and sidana after his father. He died in 1536.
Taj al-Din al-Faizi He was the son of Tumah I. After the death of his nephew, Yahya in 1536, Taj al-Din took charge of the niqaba and sidana. He was naqib and until his death in 1556.
Alam al-Din al-Faizi He was the son of Tumah II, the son of Sharaf al-Din. In 1573, the Sublime Porte issued a firman, appointing Alam al-Din as the minister of Charitable Endowments of Karbala. In November, 1589, he signed a power of attorney over all of his possessions to his son, Jameel; the document was witnessed by Muhammad-Ali al-Eshaiker and four other noblemen. He died in 1598.
Nasrallah al-Faizi
He was the son of Husayn, the son of Ali, the son of Yunis, the son of Jameel, the son of Alam al-Din. Nasrallah was a senior jurist, teacher, poet, author and annalist. He was the patriarch of the Nasrallah family.
Mehdi al-Faizi He was the son of Hasan, the son of Mansur, the son of Nasir al-Din, the son of Yunis, the son of Jameel, the son of Alam al-Din. He was made of the Husayn shrine in 1752, until his death in 1790.
Muhammad-Ali 'Abu Ridin' al-Faizi