Khindif

The Khindif (Arabic: خندف) also known as the Banu Ilyas ibn Mudar are a group of Mudarite Arab tribes that descend from the patriarch Ilyas ibn Mudar. The tribes of Banu Tamim, Banu Kinana, Banu Hudhayl and Banu Asad are amongst the various branches of the Khindif group. The Khindif are also ancestors of the Quraysh tribal confederation.

The Khindif are named for Khindif Laila, who was the wife of Ilyas ibn Mudar. Their full lineage, according to genealogists, is: Ilyas, son of Mudar, son of Nizar, son of Ma'ad, son of Adnan. As evident from their lineage, they are descended from Adnan which makes them Adnanite Arabs. Adnan's descent from Ishmael confirms them as amongst the Ishmaelites, or the "Arabized Arabs" of the Hijaz region.

In ancient times, the Khindif resided in the Arabian Peninsula in the region of the Tihamah. However, the tribes descended of Mudrikah managed to expel the tribes that were descended of Tabikha from the Tihamah. The Tabikhites resided in the region of Al-Yamama afterwards. The Quraysh, descendants of Mudrikah, held prominence in Mecca from the late 6th century until the rise of Islam; which was led by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, himself from the descendants of Mudrikah (hence making him among the Khindifites as well).

In the pre-Islamic times, the ancestor of the Khindif tribes, Ilyas, was a monotheist who abhorred the worship of idols. But many years after his death, his descendants would be the first amongst the Arabs to worship the statues of Suwa' and Hubal. Minority converted to Christianity, for example Waraqah ibn Nawfal from the Quraysh tribe. Members of the Khindif would later convert to Islam starting from the 7th century CE.