%0 Electronic Article %A Lecker, Michael %I Oxford University Press %D 2015 %G English %@ 1477-8556 %T Genealogy and Politics: Muḥammad's Family Links with the Khazraj %J Journal of Semitic studies %V 60 %N 1 %P 111-129 %U https://academic.oup.com/jss/article/60/1/111/2607018/Genealogy-and-Politics-Mu-ammad-s-Family-Links %U https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgu034 %X There is rich genealogical evidence about the tribes of Mecca and Medina (Yathrib) around the time of the prophet Muḥammad. The evidence regarding Muḥammad's family links with the Khazraj is of special interest due to the major role played by the Khazraj in Muḥammad's military and political success. The article focuses on three women: 1. The mother of Muḥammad's great-uncles Ṣayfī and Abū Ṣayfī who is said to have been a freeborn woman from the Khazraj (but was probably a slave girl); 2. Muḥammad's great-grandmother Salmā who gave birth to his grandfather ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib. She belonged to the Khazraj branch called Najjār; 3. Muḥammad's wife Sawda whose mother was Salmā's niece. It is argued here that he married her shortly before the hijra. It was a politically-motivated marriage aimed at reinforcing his bond with the Najjār and with the Khazraj in general.