Banu Sulaym in the context of Converting to Islam

Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares maritime borders with Italy through the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to the north and Malta to the east. It features the archaeological sites of Carthage dating back to the 9th century BC, as well as the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Known for its ancient architecture, souks, and blue coasts, it covers 163,610 km (63,170 sq mi), and has a population of 12.1 million. It contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert; much of its remaining territory is arable land. Its 1,300 km (810 mi) of coastline includes the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin. Tunisia is home to Africa's northernmost point, Cape Angela. Located on the northeastern coast, Tunis is the capital and largest city of the country, which is itself named after Tunis. The official language of Tunisia is Arabic. The vast majority of Tunisia's population is Arab and Muslim. Vernacular Tunisian Arabic is the most spoken language, and French serves as an administrative and educational language in some contexts, but has no official status.

Beginning in early antiquity, Tunisia was inhabited by the indigenous Berbers. The Phoenicians, a Semitic people, began to arrive in the 12th century BC, settling on the coast and establishing several settlements, of which Carthage emerged as the most powerful by the 7th century BC. The descendants of the Phoenician settlers came to be known as the Punic people. Ancient Carthage was a major mercantile empire and a military rival to the Roman Republic until 146 BC when it was defeated by the Romans who occupied Tunisia for most of the next 800 years. The Romans introduced Christianity and left architectural legacies like the Amphitheatre of El Jem. In the 7th century AD, Arab Muslims conquered Tunisia and settled with their tribes and families, bringing Islam and Arab culture. A later large-scale Arab migration of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes in the 11th-12th centuries accelerated this process. By around the 15th century, the region of modern-day Tunisia had already been almost completely Arabized. Then, in 1546, the Ottoman Empire established control, holding sway until 1881, when the French conquered Tunisia. In 1956, Tunisia gained independence as the Tunisian Republic. Today, Tunisia's culture and identity are rooted in this centuries-long intersection of different cultures and ethnicities.

The Arab migrations to the Maghreb involved successive waves of migration and settlement by Arab people in the Maghreb region of Africa, encompassing modern-day Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The process took place over several centuries, lasting from the early 7th century to the 17th century. The Arab migrants hailed from the Middle East, particularly the Arabian Peninsula, with later groups arriving from the Levant and Iraq.

The influx of Arabs to the Maghreb began in the 7th century with the Arab conquest of the Maghreb, when Arab armies conquered the region as part of the early Muslim conquests. This initial wave of Arab migration was followed by subsequent periods of migration and settlement, notably during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and later Arab dynasties. However, the most significant wave of Arab migration occurred in the 11th century with the arrival of more Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula, such as Banu Hilal, Banu Sulaym, and Maqil. The last significant wave of Arab migration to the Maghreb was from Al-Andalus in the 17th century as a result of the Reconquista. These migrants established numerous Arab empires and dynasties in the Maghreb, such as the Aghlabids, Idrisids, Sulaymanids, Salihids, Fatimids, Saadians and 'Alawites.

The Bani Utbah (Arabic: بَنِيّ عُتبَة, romanized: banī ‘utbah, plural Utub; Arabic: الْعُتُوب al-‘utūb, singular Utbi; Arabic: الْعُتبِيّ al-‘utbī) is an Arab tribal confederation in the Arabian Peninsula. The confederation is thought to have been formed when a group of clans from Najd migrated to Eastern Arabia in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Most of the Utub clans and families, such as the Al-Sabah and Al-Khalifa, trace their lineage back to the Anizah tribe, with the exception of some, such as the Al Bin Ali, whose lineage goes back to the Banu Sulaym tribe. The Al Bin Ali along with the current ruling families of Bahrain and Kuwait were the rulers of the federation. The name of the confederation is found in the form Attoobee or Uttoobee in English sources up to the late 19th century.

Beni Ḥassan (Arabic: بني حسان "sons of Ḥassān") is a Bedouin Arab tribe which inhabits Western Sahara, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. It is one of the four sub-tribes of the Banu Maqil who emigrated in the 11th century from South Arabia to the Maghreb with the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym Arab tribes. In the 13th century, they took the Sanhaja territories in the southwest of the Sahara. In Morocco, they first settled, alongside their Maqil relatives, in the area between Tadla and the Moulouya River. The Sous Almohad governor called upon them for help against a rebellion in the Sous, and they resettled in and around that region. They later moved to what is today Mauritania, and from the 16th century onwards, they managed to push back all black peoples southwards to the Senegal Valley river. The Beni Hassan and other warrior Arab tribes dominated the Sanhaja Berber tribes of the area after the Char Bouba war of the 17th century. As a result, Arabs became the dominant ethnic group in Western Sahara and Mauretania. The Bani Hassan dialect of Arabic became used in the region and is still spoken, in the form of Hassaniya Arabic. The hierarchy established by the Beni Hassan tribe gave Mauritania much of its sociological character. That ideology has led to oppression, discrimination and even enslavement of other groups in Mauritania.

The Banu Ma'qil (Arabic: بنو معقل, romanized: Banū Maʿqil) is an Arab nomadic tribe that originated in South Arabia. The tribe emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa with the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes in the 11th century. They mainly settled in and around the Saharan wolds and oases of Morocco; in Tafilalt, Wad Nun (near Guelmim), Draa and Taourirt. With the Ma'qil being a Bedouin tribe that originated in the Arabian Peninsula, like Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, they adapted perfectly to the climatic desert conditions of the Maghreb, discovering the same way of life as in the Arabian Peninsula. The Ma'qil branch of Beni Hassan which came to dominate all of Mauritania, Western Sahara, south Morocco, and south-west Algeria, spread the Hassaniya Arabic dialect, which is very close to classical Arabic.

Libyan Arabic (Arabic: ليبي, romanized: Lībī), also called Sulaimitian Arabic by scholars, is a variety of Arabic spoken in Libya, and neighboring countries. It can be divided into two major dialect areas: the eastern centred in Benghazi and Bayda, and the western centred in Tripoli and Misrata. The Eastern variety extends beyond the borders to the east and share the same dialect with far Western Egypt, Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, with 1 million speakers in Egypt. A distinctive southern variety, centered on Sabha, also exists and is more akin to the western variety. Another Southern dialect is also shared along the borders with Niger with 14,400 speakers in Niger as of 2024.

The Battle of Khazir (Arabic: يوم الخازر, romanized: Yawm Khāzir) took place in August 686 near the Khazir River in Mosul's eastern environs, in modern-day Iraq. The battle occurred during the Second Muslim Civil War and was part of the larger struggle for control of Iraq between the Syria-based Umayyad Caliphate, the Kufa-based pro-Alid forces of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, and the Mecca-based caliphate of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. It ended with the Umayyads being routed and the expansion of Mukhtar's rule into the region of Mosul.

The Muslim civil war left the Umayyad realm restricted to Damascus and its environs after most of their territories came under Ibn al-Zubayr's orbit. However, an Umayyad resurgence began with the accession of Caliph Marwan I, who dispatched an army led by Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad to reconquer Iraq. This army's advance into Mosul precipitated the Battle of Khazir and its commander, Ubayd Allah, was an enemy of Mukhtar's pro-Alid partisans. Thus, Mukhtar quickly moved to halt the Umayyad advance, sending his Persian mawālī-dominated forces led by Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar to confront the predominantly Syrian Arab army of the Umayyads. During the initial combat, part of Ibn al-Ashtar's forces were put to flight, but then regrouped under his command and charged against the Umayyad center. This resulted in heavy casualties on both sides and Ubayd Allah and several of his lieutenants were slain. The Umayyad commander Umayr ibn al-Hubab and his Sulaymi tribesmen deserted while the pro-Alids pursued the remaining Umayyad troops, scores of whom drowned in the Khazir River.

Qays ʿAylān (Arabic: قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (Kais or Ḳays) were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the early Umayyad Caliphate (661-750), its constituent tribes consolidated into one of the main tribal political factions of the caliphate.

The major constituent tribes or tribal groupings of the Qays were the Ghatafan, Hawazin, Amir, Thaqif, Sulaym, Ghani, Bahila and Muharib. Many of these tribes or their clans migrated from the Arabian Peninsula and established themselves in Jund Qinnasrin, the military district of the northern region of Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, which long became their abode. From there they governed on behalf of the caliphs or rebelled against them. The power of the Qays as a unified group diminished with the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, which did not derive its military strength solely from the Arab tribes. Nonetheless, individual Qaysi tribes remained a potent force and some migrated to North Africa and al-Andalus, where they carved out their power.

Ṣafwān ibn al-Muʿaṭṭal al-Sulamī (Arabic: صفوان بن المعطل السلمي; d. 638 or 679) was a sahabi (companion) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Arab commander in the Muslim conquests. He was one of the first members of the Banu Sulaym to embrace Islam. He was accused, allegedly by the poet Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, of having an affair with Muhammad's wife Aisha after the two became separated from a Medina-bound caravan. Later, Safwan became a commander and moved from Medina to Basra during the Muslim conquest of that region. Afterward, he took part in the military campaigns against the Byzantines in al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) and Armenia, where he is said to have been slain. However, other reports mention that he died decades later as governor of Armenia.

Abu al-A'war Amr ibn Sufyan ibn Abd Shams al-Sulami (Arabic: أبو الأعور عمرو بن سُفيان بن عبد شمس السلمي, romanized: ʾAbū al-ʾAʿwar ʿAmr ibn Sufyān ibn ʿAbd Shams al-Sulamī), identified with the Abulathar or Aboubacharos (Greek: Ἀβουλαθάρ, Ἀβουβάχαρος) of the Byzantine sources (fl. 629–669), was an Arab admiral and general, serving in the armies of the Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr (r. 632–634), Umar (r. 634–644) and Uthman (r. 644–656) rejecting the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali (r. 656–661), instead serving Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680).

He was one of the last prominent members of the Banu Sulaym tribe to convert to Islam, and fought against Muhammad at the Battle of Hunayn in 630. After becoming a Muslim, he took part in the conquest of Syria in the 630s and fought at the Yarmuk. Later, he commanded the Arab navy during the campaigns against the Byzantines in the eastern Mediterranean, including the decisive Muslim victory at the Battle of the Masts in 654. His army was also allegedly responsible for the destruction of the colossus of Rhodes. From the First Fitna until his disappearance from the historical record in the 660s, Abu al-A'war served Mu'awiya in a number of capacities, including as a commander and negotiator at the Battle of Siffin, an operative of Amr ibn al-As in Egypt, a tax administrator in Palestine and the governor of Jordan; he had held the latter post since the reign of Uthman.

ʿUmayr ibn al-Ḥubāb al-Sulamī (Arabic: عمير بن الحباب السلمي) (died 689) was a chieftain of the Banu Sulaym tribe, an erstwhile Umayyad general and a main leader of the Qaysi tribes in the factional wars with the Banu Kalb and Taghlib.

The Battle of the Trench (Arabic: غزوة الخندق, romanized: Ghazwat al-Khandaq), also known as the Battle of Khandaq (Arabic: معركة الخندق, romanized: Ma’rakah al-Khandaq) and the Battle of the Confederates (Arabic: غزوة الاحزاب, romanized: Ghazwat al-Ahzab), was part of the conflict between the Muslims and the Quraysh. The Quraysh advanced towards the Muslims, who defended themselves in Medina by digging a trench around their settlement at the suggestion of Salman the Persian. The battle took place in 627 and lasted around two weeks, resulting in five to six casualties reported by the Muslim, and three casualties amongst the Quraysh.

The Quraysh tried to launch an attack, but soon realized they had limited military capability, being primarily merchants. This prompted them to negotiate with the Bedouins in order to get them to join the campaign. The Banu Nadir, whom Muhammad had previously expelled from Medina, were also part of this effort and offered the Bedouins half of their crops in Khaybar to persuade them to participate. They reported to have gathered a confederate force of between 7,500 and 10,000 men, including Banu Ghatafan, Banu Sulaym, and Banu Asad.

The Qays–Yaman rivalry refers to the rivalry between the tribal factions of Qays–Mudar and the Yaman. The history of the rivalry centers mainly within the armies and administrations of the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries, but persisted to varying degrees among the Arabs through Ottoman rule (1517–1918). Membership in either faction was rooted in the genealogical origins of the tribes, real or perceived, which divided them into south Arabian descendants of Qahtan (the Yaman) or north Arabian descendants of Adnan (Qays–Mudar).

The tribes which constituted the Yaman, most prominently the Kalb, Ghassanids, Tanukh and Judham, were well-established throughout the Syria (the Levant) since the pre-Islamic period, while the Qaysi tribes, namely the Sulaym, Banu Amir and Ghatafan migrated to northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia with the Muslim armies in the 7th century. The feud did not effectively take shape until after the reign of Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), who, along with his Sufyanid descendants, were tied to the Kalb, the leading tribe of Yaman, through marriage and military dependence. When the last Sufyanid caliph died in 684, the Kalb and its allies resolved to ensure continued Umayyad rule to maintain their stately privileges, while the Qays backed Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr's bid for the caliphate. That year, the Kalb routed the Qays at the Battle of Marj Rahit, leading to years of revenge-driven, tit-for-tat raids known as ayyam (days) because the battles were typically day-long affairs.

Arabized Berbers are Berbers whose language is a local dialect of Arabic and whose culture is Arab culture, as a result of Arabization.

The widespread language shift from Berber to Arabic happened, at least partially, due to the privileged status that the Arabic language has generally been given in the states of North Africa, from the Arab conquest in 652 up until the French colonialism in the twentieth century, as well as the migration of the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes from Arabia to North Africa. The centuries-long Arab migration to the Maghreb from the 7th to the 17th century played a significant role in Arabizing the native Berber population in addition to changing the population's demographic breakdown.