Arab Singaporeans

The majority of the Arabs in Singapore are Hadharem and traced their ancestry to the southern Arabian Peninsula in Hadramaut, Yemen. The valley region was part of a confederacy once ruled by the Queen of Sheba. Hadramaut was mentioned in The Old Testament (Hazra Mavet). Its fertile areas, suitable for cultivation, had beguiled ancient Romans to call it, and all South Arabia in general, Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia).

There is an extensive history of migration from Hadramaut with migrants often migrating for business and religious missionary-related causes as done before the mid-19th century, however the migration increased significantly following the monsoons of the Indian Ocean, war and economic crisis in Yemen, forced the Hadhramis to resettle in various parts of the world: Hyderabad, India (before 1947), Dar-es-Salaam and East Africa as well as Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies.

The population of Hadramaut were historically divided into three different social categories, the higher ranking part aristocracy comprising the Sada or Sayeds, descendants of Sayed Ahmed Al-Muhajir who migrated to Yemen to escape political conflicts of the caliphate. He was a descendant of Imam Ali Al-Sajjad. Males from this social class place the title Sayed before their names, and females place Sharifah or Sayeda. The lower ranking part of the aristocracy are the Mashaikh or Sheikhs who are descendants of saints and scholars of the past, families of this social class often trace their lineage back to the Quraysh, thus being distantly related to the Sada such as in the case of the Al-Amoudi family who descend from Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, or the Ba'wazir family who descend from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of the prophet Muhammad. Though not all of the Mashaikh belong to the Quraysh, many belong to local tribes of Yemen such as the Kindah. The third social class is the Qaba'il who are from the local tribes of Hadramaut and are known for their tribal lifestyle and taking of arms, families such as Al-Kathiri belong to this class along with the majority of Hadramaut.

The Al Kathiri Sultanate had dominion over the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula. The tribes traced their roots to the ancient Banu Hamdan tribes, which reside in the Gulf Arab regions, East African countries, and in the Arab-speaking provinces of Iran such as Khuzestan.

The Confederal Harharah Sultanate reigned over the State of Upper Yafa. The Sultanate had formed a military alliance with the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. Its capital, Mahjaba, was located about 50 km northeast of Habilayn.