QaysQays ʿAylān (قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (Kais or Ḳays) were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic era (pre-630). However, by the early Umayyad period (661-750), its constituent tribes consolidated into one of the main tribo-political factions of the caliphate. The major constituent tribes or tribal groupings of the Qays were the Ghatafan, Hawazin, Amir, Thaqif, Sulaym, Ghani, Bahila and Muharib.
HawazinThe Hawazin (هوازن / ALA-LC: Hawāzin) were an Arab tribe originally based in the western Najd and around Ta'if in the Hejaz. They formed part of the larger Qays tribal group. The Hawazin consisted of the subtribes of Banu Sa'd, and Banu Jusham, as well as the powerful Banu Thaqif and Banu Amir, which were both often counted separately from the Hawazin. The tribe often clashed with their one-time patrons, the Ghatafan, and on occasion, sub-tribes of the Hawazin fought each other.
Battle of the TrenchThe Battle of the Trench (Ghazwat al-Khandaq), also known as the Battle of Khandaq (Ma’rakah al-Khandaq) and the Battle of the Confederates (Ghazwat al-Ahzab), was part of the conflict between the Muslims and the Quraysh, where this time the Quraysh took the offensive and advanced on the Muslims, who defended themselves in Medina by digging a trench around their settlement at the suggestion of Salman the Persian. The battle, which took place in 627 and lasted around two weeks, was lightly fought, with the Muslims reported to have suffered five to six casualties and the Quraysh three.
NajdNajd (نَجْدٌ, nad͡ʒd) is the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the House of Saud to bring Arabia under a single polity. Historic Najd was divided into three modern administrative regions still in use today. The Riyadh region, featuring Wadi Hanifa and the Tuwaiq escarpment, which houses easterly Yamama with the Saudi capital, Riyadh since 1824, and the Sudairi region, which has its capital in Majmaah.
QurayshThe Quraysh (قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Quraysh staunchly opposed Muhammad, until converting to Islam en masse in 630 CE. Afterwards, leadership of the Muslim community traditionally passed to a member of the Quraysh, as was the case with the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and purportedly the Fatimid caliphates.
