The tribe is divided into three main branches: Bani Malik, al-Ajwad, and Bani Sa'id. Most of the tribe traces its
genealogy to the tribe of
Banu 'Uqayl of the large and ancient
Banu 'Amir confederation of
Najd. However, the tribe's traditional leaders are Al-Saadun ("the house of Saadun"), who are said to be
Sharifs originating from
Mecca, while the al-Ajwad branch is said to partially originate from the ancient Arab tribe of
Tayy. The Muntafiq tribe was led by Yusuf Beg of the Saadun clan. They were traditional rivals of the
Dhufir and of Ibn Saud, although Yusuf sometimes co-operated with Ibn Saud. The tribe migrated to
Iraq during the
Islamic conquests. In
Ottoman Iraq, the tribe held control over the region of
Basrah under Ottoman suzerainty. In 1521, they successfully occupied
al-Ahsa and
al-Qatif (eastern
Saudi Arabia today) on the Ottomans' behalf, before being expelled by
Banu Khalid. During the Ottoman era, most of the tribe settled into sedentary life and took up agriculture in southern and western Iraq. During the Ottoman era, from the late eighteenth century onwards, al-Muntafiq converted to Shia Islam. The city of
Nasiriya in southern Iraq was named after one of the tribe's sheikhs, and the surrounding province was known as "Al-Muntafiq Province" until 1976. Formerly those who were sedentary or herders of small animals such as
sheep and
goat, rather than
camels, were consequently less mobile and less competent as a fighting force compared to the camel-herding tribes of inner Arabia. Although the tribe's nominal leaders, the Al Saadun, are
Sunnis, most of the tribe's members follow the
Shi'ite sect of
Islam. After many decades of sedentarization, the tribal bond has weakened and the leadership of the Al Saadun is largely nominal. Many stateless "
bedoons" in
Kuwait belong to the Muntafiq tribal confederation. ==Division ==