Hadharem


The Hadharem are an Arab ethnographic group indigenous to the Hadhramaut region in the Arabian Peninsula, which is part of modern-day Yemen and Oman. The spoken language of the Hadharem is Hadhrami Arabic. Among the two million inhabitants of Hadhramaut, there are about 1,300 distinct tribes.

Society

Hadhramaut was under Muslim rule and converted to the faith during the time of Prophet Muhammad. A religious leader from Iraq introduced the Hadharem to Ibadi Islam in the mid-eighth century until in 951 AD when Sunnis took Hadhramaut and put it under their domain. To this day the Hadharem follow Sunni Islam, specifically the Shafi'i school. Hadharem women have had more freedom and education than women in many other Arab countries.

Social hierarchy

Language

The Hadharem speak Hadhrami Arabic, a dialect of Arabic, although Hadharem living in the diaspora that have acculturated mainly speak the local language of the region they live in.

Diaspora

The Hadharem have a long seafaring and trading tradition that predates Semitic cultures. Hadramite influence was later overshadowed by the rise of the Sabaeans, who became the ruling class. This prompted Hadhrami families to emigrate in large numbers around the Indian Ocean basin, including the Horn of Africa, the Swahili Coast, the Malabar Coast, Hyderabad in South India, Sri Lanka, and Maritime Southeast Asia. In the mid 1930s the Hadhrami Diaspora numbered at 110,000, amounting to a third of the total Hadhrami population.

Hadharem in the Arabian Peninsula

Hadharami communities exist in western Yemen, the trading ports of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and on the coast of the Red Sea. The money changers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have historically been of Hadhrami origin.

Hadhrami East Africans

The Hadharem have long had a presence in the Horn of Africa, and also comprise a notable part of the Harari population. Hadhrami settlers were instrumental in helping to consolidate the Muslim community in the coastal Benadir province of Somalia, in particular. During the colonial period, disgruntled Hadharem from the tribal wars settled in various Somali towns. They were also frequently recruited into the armies of the Somali Sultanates.
Some Hadhrami communities also reportedly exist in Mozambique, Comoros, and Madagascar.

Hadhrami Jews

The vast majority of the Hadhrami Jews now live in Israel.

List of Hadhrami Diaspora

Yemen

The Hadharem presence in Singapore came from encouragement of Stamford Raffles to trade in his newly established colony of Singapore.