Aladhadh

The House of Aladhadh is an Arabic house belonging to one of two major tribes in Arabia Shammar and Uniza. The Uniza descendants are of the Aldabra clan and centered in Authal in Saudi Arabia. The Shammar progeny named Aladhadh is of the Alaslam tribe of the Shammar. There is also the House of "Aladhadh" from the Uniza tribe. People with this last name are on both sides of the Iraqi-Saudi border. The contributions of the House of Aladhadh to Iraq's history makes them the focus of this article as opposed to their kin who live sixty miles southeast of Ha'il. They descend from Sheikh Mohamad Ibn Ali Ibn Abdul Aziz Aladhadh who left to Iraq from Najd, later annexed by King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud

History

The House of Aladhadh is first reported to have settled in Najaf for four generations. It is plausible to be the result of the Wahabi movement (1750–1760) and their clashes with the Shammar. Saudi elders of Aladhadh clan deny fleeing was caused by Wahabi invasion and claim that it was an individual move. The Aladhadh family is still based 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Ha'il in modern day Saudi Arabia.

Upon arrival to Najaf city in Iraq, a common commercial destination for the dwellers of Ha'il, they intermarried with the prominent Arab houses such as Alshamsa and Alhabubi. Aladhadh name was etched into Iraq's map when they built a famous agricultural project and an artificial river named after them Aladhadh River "نهر العضاضة".

The House of Aladhadh was one of the main builders of the city of Nasiryah. Although Kamel Aladhadh estimated that they moved around 1889, their ownership of the first registered house in Nasirya places them there before the establishment of the municipal office in 1878. This is supported by their reported alliance with Alsaadon whose emirate in Nasirya lasted 300 years.

Shiekh Mohamad Aladahdh was the city's first elected mayor and founder. Though there is evidence that some Aladhadh clansmen had moved to Alkhmasiya which is located 17 kilometers southwest of Soug Alshiokh, Alkhmasiya was first established in 1881. The population of which reached 5000 by 1912. It is not clear, however, that these reports are not about a separate section of the clan which later returned to Nejd.

Ali Aladahdh, son of sheik Mohammed Aladahdh, owned vast tracts of land on the banks of the Euphrates River, comprising over 100 acres (0.40 km²) of date orchards and other businesses, at a time where only a few families owned land most of the Iraqi branch of this clan is of his lineage.

In 1915, Jawad Aladhadh gave refuge to one of the Iraqi heroes who resisted the British invasion. He is reported to have ailed for over two years at their main house in the city. He was washed and buried in that house. For a national hero, the Aladahdh clan built a shrine to commemorate as valiant efforts for his country. People from all over Iraq came to visit and pay their respects.

In 1920, several members of the Aladhadh family participated in the 1920 revolution against British occupation.

In 1948 Mohamad Aladhadh was a soccer player in one of the city's two teams. In 1958, the Aladhadh family represented the province of Dhi Qar in the Iraqi National Congress the highest legislative body in Iraq under the Hashmite royal Family.

In 1969 the poet Adel Hadi Aladhadh was founder of the first national Colloquial Poetry Festival.

Leadership

Very similar to tribal leadership, the Aladhadh have an Amid. This position is akin to an elected shiekh. The members of the clan tacitly vote on the leadership by appealing to Amid to represent them. The Amid of the clan was Dr. Naim Aladhadh.

A secularist, educated at Caltech and MIT, and well liked, Dr. Naim Aladhadh was considered by many inside and outside of Iraq, particularly in the U.S., to be a suitable replacement for Saddam Hussein. His efforts to topple Saddam's regime resulted in his assassination in 1992. To avoid backlash, the assassination was disguised as a car accident.

Dr. Naim Aladhadh established the Human Rights Foundation in the University of North Wales in 1964. During the late seventies Naim Aladhadh was a leading figure in establishing the National Computer Center in Iraq ("Almarkaz Alqowmi Lilhasibat"). He was also the Cochair of the Council for The Transfer of Technology. His numerous contributions to Iraq's development earned him the fame name "the Doctor".

In 1988, after the end of the Iraq-Iran war, he was transferred to the Ministry of Higher Education as a lecturer in one of his fields of academic speciality, electrical engineering. Later, he joined the UN/ UNESCO, as on Economic development advisor. At that time, he became active in a move to topple Saddam Hussein. He had contacted Dr. Ayad Allawi to help with his revolutionary efforts. Dr. Alawi later became Prime Minister when he foiled Saddam's issued order to assassinate both men. In 1992, on an empty highway between Iraq and Jordan a staged traffic accident took the life of Dr.Aladhadh.

After his death, the leadership was not clearly transferred. It may have been in the hands of Kamel Aladahdh, a UNESCO/U.N Economist living in Qatar. Though his emigration from the country has affected his leadership status, Kamel is still a respected elder of the clan.

After the fall of Hussien's regime, many considered Dr. Ali Aladhadh a candidate to lead the clan. A contributor to Iraq's liberation, Ali Aladhadh and a long time oppose to Saddam's regime. He was ambushed with his pregnant wife on his way to the hospital in 2006 by Iraqi insurgents. Many blame the leadership for notproviding security to such a senior member of the party. His death was another significant loss to the clan.

Representing the Adhamia area of Baghdad is Ryadh Aladhadh. A doctor and a philanthropist, he has spoken against Long term American presence and against violence in Iraq. His life is the centerpiece of the documentary My Country, My Country. He also had to flee the country for fear of assassination.