Note 512 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
The name is derived from Koran, xlix, 13: "O Men, We have created you of a male and a female and have made you into peoples (shu‘úban) and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the noblest of you in the sight of God are they that do most fear Him." Thus the designation 'Shu‘úbite' emphasises the fact that according to Muḥammad's teaching the Arab Moslems are no better than their non-Arab brethren.