Talk:Khabbab ibn al-Aratt

Sources on Khabbab ibn al-Aratt ethnic background

Here's what Kister 1960–2007 (doi) says:

Tradition is not unanimous about his origin. Some reports state that his father was captured in a raid launched by the Rabīʿa in the Sawād, sent to Mecca and sold as a slave to Sibāʿ b. ʿAbd al-ʿUẓzā al-Khuzāʿī, a confederate (ḥalīf) of the Banū Zuhra; Sibāʿ (who was later killed by Ḥamza in the battle of Uḥud) gave him as a gift to his daughter Umm Anmār who freed him. In a tradition attributed to ʿAlī he is said to have been the first of the Nabaṭ to embrace Islam. Other traditions claim that the mother of Khabbāb, a professional circumciser, also gave birth to Sibāʿ; [...] By virtue of this kinship, Khabbāb claimed to be a confederate of the Zuhra in Mecca. Some reports say that this father was from Kaskar or from the vicinity of al-Kūfa. A quite different tradition states that al-Aratt was a Tamīmī, of the Banū Saʿd, who was captured in a raid and sold in Mecca to Umm Anmār al-Khuzāʿiyya, who freed him. This version, adopted by his descendants, gives his pedigree as follows: Khabbāb b. al-Aratt b. Djandala b. Saʿd b. Khuzayma b. Kaʿb b. Saʿd from Tamīm. Another account records that Khabbāb was a freed slave (mawlā) of Thābit b. Umm Anmār; Thābit, these sources claim, was a mawlā of al-Akhnas b. Sharīḳ al-Thaḳafī, who in his turn was a confederate of the Zuhra. These contradictory traditions do not help to establish exactly his origin and his position in Mecca, but he must have been of a very low status, as he was doubly dependent, being a mawlā of a family which was in turn in a relation of dependence as confederates of the tribal group of Zuhra. [...] The tradition of his Sawādī origin seems preferable because of his father’s incorrect Arabic speech, which is indicated by his nickname al-Aratt; this would seem to point to Arabic not being his native language, and he probably spoke Nabataean, sc. neo-Aramaic.

Here's what Aerts 2022 (doi) says:

Sources disagree on his origins (for details, see Kister, Khabbāb). The most plausible account is that his father was a non-Arabic speaker from the Sawād region in southern Mesopotamia who was sold as a slave in Mecca to a member of the Khuzāʿa tribe (al-Balādhurī, 175). This would explain the laqab (“nickname”) of “al-Aratt,” meaning “one who suffers from a speech impediment” or—more likely—one who has a distinct non-native pronunciation of the Arabic language.

So while various medieval Arabic sources claim that Khabbab ibn al-Aratt's father belonged to the Banu Zuhra or the Banu Tamim, these scholars actually think it more likely that he was a 'Nabataean' (Nabaṭ). It seems that only the tradition which claims him for the Banu Tamim identifies his father as being named al-Aratt ibn Jandala? In any case, given the uncertainty about his background it's not appropriate to mention his father's name in the infobox as if there were a clear and undoubted pedigree.

I have added a summary explanation of these things to the article here.

IAmAtHome, if you would like to add something to this based on another source (e.g. Kandemir 1996 as cited here), could you please also put up a relevant quote from such a source here on the talk page? Thanks, ☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 14:35, 25 January 2024 (UTC)