El-Far family descended from the Sweirakiah tribe native to the Egyptian Sinai and the Levant, and some of the surrounding cities
The Sweirakiah tribe has maintained its fame and its Arab character and Christian faith in the era of Saladin in the twelfth century and supported him in the wars against the Crusaders to liberate Palestine
Most of the famous men of this tribe were physicians specialized in various types of treatments, their fame was widespread in the Levant and in Arabia, among them was Suleiman al - Sweirakiah who was selected by Saladin al Ayoubi as his physician, and also he was entrusted to treat some of his elite bodyguards. When Richard the Lionhearted was wounded and was suffering from fever, Saladin sent Suleiman to treat him
A new Name, Al-Mualem
For his performance and fame, Saladin bestowed the title of Mualem upon Suleiman, (Teacher or Professor in Arabic), a title used by physicians in those days
Suleiman was able to win the trust of Saladin for his dedication and loyalty , besides being a physician, Suleiman had wide knowledge of psychology that he employed in combat tactics and planning that helped defeat the Crusaders, then Saladin awarded him with a piece of land in Darya , near Damascus. Darya was fertile land with rich resources of water. shortly after Suleiman owned the land, a dispute took place between Suleiman family and another land owner that resulted in the death of the son of the neighbor by one of the sons of Suleiman in self defense, this act prompted Saladin to order the physician and his family to move to another town and gave him land in Caesarea near Haifa. The move was intended to avoid any more bloodshed for revenge. Since then the name was known as Mualem
Another move and another City
After the death of Saladin in 1193, the Mualem family sold their land in Caesarea and moved to Ramleh, a famous city in the center of Palestine, the new move took place to avoid any act of vengeance by the family of the victim in Darya. From that time until the beginning of the 18th Century, the estimated birth of our ancestor Abdo the son of Nasri al-Mualem, the history of the family was very difficult to follow for many reasons, among those difficulties, our predecessors were not keeping any record. The little we knew came to us through the ancestors and was related to us by the word of mouth
Abdo, the son of Nasri al-Mualem al-Sweirakiah
It is easier to start relating the history of the family from our ancestor Abdo. Information about him and his descendants was known by those who preceded us from the family and it was related to their descendant’s generation after generation
Abdo had two sons, Jiryes and Khalil, they were builders and well known in Palestine and the Levant, their fame reached Ahmed Pasha Al-Jezzar who was the Ottoman ruler of Akka, Acre, and Galilee until his death in April 1804
When Napoleon Bonaparte was preparing to invade Egypt and the East, Al-Jezzar called Abdo and his sons to come to Akka, and contracted them to repair and fortify the wall of the city and to add a new wing to the castle
Jiryes earned the respect of Al-Jezzar for his skills and ability; he earned the title of Mualem. The project was completed ahead of time; the forces of al-Jezzar withstood the siege of Acre by the French under Bonaparte (Mar. 21-May 20, 1799). Napoleon failed to conquer the city and was forced to retreat; he threw his hat and said,"If I cannot enter you then my hat will". Thank goodness for the contribution that our ancestors achieved to protect the city from occupation and destruction
Ahmed Pasha, was a brutal ruler that earned him the name of Al-Jezzar, Arabic means the butcher. For an unknown reason, he wanted to punish Jiryes and cut both hands from the wrist so he cannot use them anymore to build similar fortifications, when Jiryes learned about it he escaped to Egypt, and became known as Jiryes El-Far, means Jiryes the runaway and the family name became known as such
After Jiryes escaped to Egypt, his father and his brother Khalil and the rest of the family stayed in Acre for awhile, then for fear of reprisal or harassment by Sultan Abdul Hamid, they left the city of Acre to Salt in the East of the Jordan at the beginning of the nineteenth century. After the death of Ahmed Al-jazzar in 1804, Jiryes joined his family in the city of Salt and later settled in the city of Ramleh
The descendants of Jiryes Ibn Abdo El-Far are those who settled in the cities of Ramleh, Jaffa, Gaza and Birzeit in Palestine and those who live in the Diaspora
؟Who are the descendants of Khalil
The descendants of Khalil Ibn Abdo are those who settled in Salt first, then in some other countries, in the East of the Jordan and North of Palestine, in Nazareth, Haifa and Acre and in the Diaspora. Those who settled in Ajloun and Karak, in Jordan now known as Ezrigat family and some of them went to the town of Taybeh in Palestine, they are known as Almasis family
How some of the descendants of Khalil settled in Northern Palestine
One of Khalil's sons owned a vegetable market selling vegetables in Salt, during the season of grapes he was buying the surplus from markets in that city and nearby farmers and exporting the produce to a winery in Haifa owned by a man from Nazareth
After repeating deals, the owner invited the son of Khalil to visit him in Haifa, during the visit he met one of the daughters in whom he became interested, he married her, and took Nazareth as his residence. Some of his descendents remained in Nazareth and some settled in Haifa, Acre, Jaffa and Tabariyah
Why did some settled Gaza in City
Suleiman Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Yusuf Ibn Photius Ibn Jiryes Al-Mualem El- Farr was working as a goldsmith in the city of Jaffa, brilliant and skillful he was in his profession, next to him there was another goldsmith from the family of Alheraish. Suleiman was more successful than his neighbor. The jealousy and envy of Alhureish drove him to kill Suleiman
After the killing the Ottoman local authorities ordered the father and the victim's three brothers Nassif , Rizk and Bishara to leave Jaffa in order to avoid more killing and bloodshed for revenge , and so they moved to Gaza city where they begotten sons and daughters, the descendents are living there at present.
El - Far Family, a Brief History
Write down by Micheal George Khalil Elias EL-Far
Mobile: 00962 79 9811980 E-mail: micheal_elfar@hotmail.com
