Yemeni Families of Jewish Descent

THE HISTORY OF BA-HASHWAN/ BAHASUAN


The family Bahasuan or Ba-Hashwan (Ba-Hashwan meaned from Aaly Hashwan or Hashwan’s descendant in Hadramout ,its used to say “Bin/Ben” or with the Hadrami’s style “Ba”, its meaned as “descendant” ).Because Ba-Hashwan can not written with “Al” in front of it, because the word’s root is “masdar” (not origin Arab word) but its Ta’rib (Arabised by Arabian).
According most of the sources (oral historical sources) “Ba-Hashwan” meaned from Hashwaien / Hashwaan ( the second month in Jewish calendar), but there is another opinion that mentioned it as the month light from their hometown in Kufah, Iraq and their month light too when they arrived in Hadramaut.
According to Prof Dr.Abdulrahman al-Amoudy from Georgetown University, America he is prefer to regard “Ba-Hashwan” as a family who used two calendars ( Jewish and Arab calendar).

According to Habib Thahir Alhaddad Singapura (ex-Mufti Singapore) Ba-Hashwan’name only recoignized when they just arrived in Hadramaut, so before they came to Hadramout they had a different name. Before Ba-Hashwan arrived in Hadramaut, the others jewish family was already lived there since long time but they were still in Judaism. (read Tarikh Hadramauth by Sayyid Salim Ashatiry and Jewish Emigration from the Yemen 1951-98: Carpet Without Magic (SOAS Centre for Near & Middle Eastern Studies) by Reuben Ahroni).
The Bahasuan/Bahashwan Jewish family came to Yemen together with Imam Ahmad Almuhaajir (the leader of Arab sayyid) because the Jewish got intimidated from barbarism Abbasiyah’s dynasty.

Wikipedia site, free encyclopedia. “History of the Jews in Iraq”,:
“…..The government meanwhile accomplished all it could toward the complete humiliation of the Jews. All non-believers—Magi, Jews, and Christians—were compelled by Al-Mutawakkil to wear a badge; their places of worship were confiscated and turned into mosques; they were excluded from public offices, and compelled to pay to the calif a tax of one-tenth of the value of their houses. An utterance of the calif Al-Mu'tadhel (892-902) ranks the Jews, as state servants, after Christians

We don’t find yet the exact year of the coming this Jewish family (Bahasuan/Bahashwan) to Yemen, but its around of 62 H, Muharrom when Sayidina Husein bin Ali bin Abi Thalib slaughtered.

The Jewish merchants ( Bahasuan-Bahashwan) came to Karbala in the next day after the massacre of Karbala happened. They were so shocked when they saw a group of soldier was showing a man head on a spear, and it made them so curious and they ask to the soldiers “is that a robber’s leader head??” but one of the soldier answered it easily “No..its my prophet’s grandson head!!”
The Jewish merchants (Bahasuan-Bahashwan) shocked with the answer, so they asked again ”are you still in his grandfather religion?”, the soldier said “ Yes,we are ”
One of Jewish merchant said”Now, we are understand that there are two cursed creatures in the world!!..the first is the devil who deny God’s order…and the second is you!!..the Arabs!”.
“You are the worst creature after the Devil..you respect your prophet, but destroy his family in the same time.
In our home town in Yerussalem, there is a tenth descendant of Yoriakh the Yesua’s donkey helper, and we always ask his prays and advices to us,…so we cannot imagine if Yesua got a child or descendant….how big our respect to him?.
(IT'S PROBABLY..one of bene anusim family ??)
It mentioned in some old Arab’s history books that the leader of Jewish merchants (Bahasuan-Bahashwan) was Sameer ben Amran ben Yarkhud.,

In the book of Tarikh Karbala by Dr. Jawad Mughniah, it meantioned that more than 1000 soldiers went home soon to Iraq and regretting to what they have done to Hussein, after their meeting with Bahasuan-Bahashwan.
And the Jewish merchants converted to Moslem and became the followers of Ahlul Bait for centuries until they moved to Yemen together with Imam Ahmad Al-Muhajir!. And there is no proof that Bahasuan-Bahashwan came from a single ancestor..so it meaned they have many ancestors. And from Bahasuan-Bahashwan influences, the sayyid family could be accepted in Yemen.





A source said :
© William Gervase CLARENCE-SMITH,
SOAS, University of London, wc2@soas.ac.uk, “Middle Eastern entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia c1750-c1940”: said:

“…..Not all major Hadhrami ship-owners in Java were Sayyid, for the Ba Hashwan also
possessed several European rigged ships in Gresik and Batavia by 1850 (Broeze 1979: 266). In the
1860s, Muhammad b. c Uthman Ba Hashwan did a flourishing trade in horses, transported from
Sumba to Java in one of his ships (Parimartha 1995: 214). This family was drawn from the Maskin
social stratum, the most lowly in Hadhramaut's free population. That said, the Ba Hashwan
belonged to a 'bourgeois' group, who claimed to have immigrated from Iraq together with the
founder ancestor of Hadhrami Sayyid families (Berg 1886: 49-50).”



There is something that I have to say, in Al-Qur’an and Bible..its said that Jewish people is a choosen people (nahnu syi’ibillah al-mukhtar), that’s why we can see that Bahasuan-Bahashwan family control many business and most of them are the hard workers and intelligent in their job, not like the Arabs.


This is the Society-stratum in Yemenite Moslem since centuries ago:

1). Al-Kathiryah (Noble family) : the family are :
bin Thalib, Al-Katiri, etc.

2). Sayyid (brahmana) Mohammed’s family, from Al-Husein(Husainy) Imam Ahmad Al-Muhajir’s descendant and Al-Hasan(al-Hasny) Hasan Mutsanna’s descendant.: the family are :
Al-Attas, Al-bar, Assegaf, etc.

3). Shuyukh or Mashaa’eh or Mashaayekh (religion’s scholars : the family area :
Al_Baraaja, Al-Abdad, Ba’abad, Albajber, Albawaazier, Albasmeleh, Baaisa , Bafadhal ,etc .

4). Dha’if shared of four groups :
a- Qabily / Qabilah, many of small Arab families: the family are:
Bawazier, Bin Mahfud, etc.

b- Qibsy / Gibsy (nomaden families) many of them came from India such as :Assanaakir ( Bin Sungkar) is sugar Merchants (sukkar) from Hindustan .their tribes are Dahman, Al-Urmie, Hourah, Al-Ghurfie etc.