Ayasrah

Ayasrah (/eɪæsrɑː/ AYA-s-rah; Arabic: عياصرة‎‎), is a noble tribe living in Jordan, originally from the Arabian Peninsula. They trace their lineage back to the Quraysh, as Hashemite descendants of Muhammad.^[1]^[2] They lived in Jordan before about five centuries in a mountain town called Sakib located to the west of the city of Jerash.^[3]^[4]

Some of their famous men are Abdullah Ayasrah, Ahmed Alaysarani and Raja Alayasarani "Abu Shibley" Sheikh & Mukhtar of Sakib in 1913 during Ottoman rule,^[5] and Sheikh Shibley Al-Ayasrah the member of Jerash Local Government in 1920.^[6]

Etymology

They took the name of the village Aysra, which formed the northern part of the old Sakib.^[7]^[8]^[9]

History

The Ayasrah lived in the old Sakib (Aysra, Sakib and Be'na). They played a prominent political rule in the area specially when the name of Jerash was abandoning for Sakib.^[8]^[10]^[11]

In the late 16th century, the total population of the three villages was 33 households, including three Imams.^[8]^[4]^[12] The townspeople were required to pay a tax on both livestock and crops, as well as Waqf (charity due to Muhyiddin Ibn Sharaf al-Din Kharroub), all collected for the army. The total value of these taxes in 1538 for the three villages was 3,800 Akçe (silver coins). This rose to 5,100 Akjh in 1596. This is an average increase of 22½ Akjh per year, indicating strong economic growth.^[8]

Campaign of Prince Ali Fakhr-al-Din II

Al-Ayasrah played a main rule in the campaign of Prince Ali Fakhr-al-Din II in 1612, when he led a military campaign on the orders of his father to pursue Farroukh Sandzak Ajloun to Karak and Nablus. Prince Ali defeated him, after which he set up camp in Sakib and remained there. However, the Levant ruler Hafiz Pasha wrote to the minister Nassouh Pasha that Fakhr al-Din had besieged Damascus. Nassouh Pasha then set out on a major campaign to defeat Fakhr al-Din, who called on the help of his son, Prince Ali.^[8]^[13]

Founding of the modern city of Jerash

Al-Ayasrah in Sakib and other ancient villages in Jerash region were among the founders of the modern city of Jerash in the early nineteenth century. Following the discovery of Jerash by German Orientalist Ulrich Jasper Seetzen in 1806, efforts were made to begin excavations. After the Ottoman-Russian war, a community of Circassians migrated to Jordan from the Caucasus. In addition, a large community of Syrians followed at the beginning of the twentieth century.^[8]^[14]

Saving Christian refugees

The Ayasrah family has made one of the most important steps that show the religious consciousness when the family received Christian refugees from all over the Levant and provided protection to Christians in Transjordan. This triggered the sedition which began in 1860 and continued for many years. Prince Abdelkader El Djazairi is personally credited with saving large numbers of Christians by offering them shelter. The Ayasrah family attitude was to continue the work of Prince Abdelkader.

The Ayasrah tribe declared at that if any form of abuse or assault occur to any Christian, it would be considered an attack on the tribe itself.^[8]

Rev. Klein, who visited Sakib in 1868, noted that some Greek Orthodox Christian families lived in Sakib side-by-side with Muslims, and stated that those Christian families produced tools needed by the farmers in exchange for a certain amount of grain. In 1869 the journal Church Missionary Intelligencer made a mention of Sakib, describing it as a beautiful, densely populated town, but lamenting the fact that there was a single Greek priest to look after the spiritual affairs of Christians in an area of 17 towns including Sakib.^[8]^[15]^[16]^[17]

Defeating Jewish settlements in Transjordan

Jewish settlements in Transjordan were not as fortunate. Sakib witnessed important meetings which intended to eliminate the idea of establishing Jewish settlements on the east bank of Jordan on the banks of the Zarqa River (Jabbok) in late 19th century. The tribes of Jordan held a war council in Sheikh Raja "ِAbu Shibley" Circuit in Sakib, and came to a decision to attack Jewish settlements in Zarqa River, which they went on to eliminate.^[8]

Jerash Local Government

Jerash Local Government was one of seven local governments (Irbid, Ajloun, Salt, Jerash, Karak, Al Taibah, Deir Yousef) founded in the Transjordan after the fall of the Arab government in Damascus following the Battle of Maysaloun. As such it filled the political space in 1920, founded by the Jerash, Alme'rad and Bani Hassan tribal leaders, and played an important role in maintaining security and managing the needs of the population.

Although the government proved to be short-lasting, it actually formed twice: first time it was headed by the mayor of the judiciary in the Covenant Faisaly, Muhammad Ali Al-Mughrabi, and it included Sheikh Shibley Raja Al-Ayasrah (a representative of Sakib), as well as representatives of Jerash and Alme'rad villages, as well as the tribe of the Bani Hassan. Upon the arrival of the English officer Reginald Monckton (1896–1975), following the formation of the British Mandate, there occurred a withdrawal of most of its members because of infighting. The second time the government formed, it was headed by Muhammad Ali Al-Mughrabi, and lasted another short period, until the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan.^[18]^[19]

Martyrs

The Al-Ayasrah tribe provided a large number of martyrs during the resistance of British Mandate & Israel Occupation of Palestine.^[8]

Descent

Wahdan Bik ibn Khalifa Bik ibn Sulaiman Bik ibn Authman Bik ibn Prince Sulaiman ibn Prince Salim Al Abras ibn Prince Muhammed Qaraja ibn Sadr Al Din Ali ibn Abd Al Rahman ibn Mohammed ibn Hasan ibn Muhammed ibn Ismail Al Saleh ibn Sultan Ali ibn Yahya ibn Thabet ibn Ali ibn Ahmed Al Murtada ibn Ali ibn Rifa`a Al Hasan ibn Ali Al Mahdi ibn Muhammed ibn Al Hasan Al Qasim ibn Al Hussain Al Radi ibn Ahmed Al Saleh ibn Musa ibn Ibrahim Al Murtada ibn Musa al-Kadhim ibn Ja'far as-Sadiq ibn Muhammad al-Baqir ibn Zayn al-'Abidin ibn Al Hussain, the grandson of Mohammed ibn Abdullah.^[2]