Nusaybah family

The Nussaiba family, commonly spelt in English as Nuseibeh (Arabic: عائلة نسيبة; also spelt Nusaibah and Nusseibeh) is the oldest Muslim dynasty in Jerusalem.^[1] The Nussaiba family has a long history and tight bonds with the Holy Land, and the Christian people of the Levant, since the days their first forefathers conquered Jerusalem in the 7th century.

According to tradition, the Nusseibeh family took its name from a female companion or Sahabiyah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad named Nusaybah bint Ka'ab. She was a member of the Ansar who transferred their political power over Medina to Muhammad. Nusaybah fought along with Muhammad in battle and was an early example of women taking leadership roles in Islam. Since the arrival of Islam in Jerusalem in the seventh century, the Sunni Muslim family has held the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christianity's holiest site,^[2] alongside the Joudeh Al Husseini family (who were added to the original arrangement in the time of Saladin, the Muslim conqueror who seized the holy city from the Crusaders in 1187).^[3][4][5][6] This arrangement emerged during the days of the second caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab, who hoped to avoid clashes among rival Christian sects for control over the church.^[7] Although symbolic, the arrangement has provided the stability the Christians of the city needed, and is a symbol of tolerance and inter-religious harmony,^[8] and gave the Nussaiba family a visible role in Christian activities in Jerusalem, which include pilgrimages and visits by Western Christians.