Tulfah family

Tulfah Family
عائِلَة حسين
Ethnicity Iraqi
Current region Tikrit
Place of origin  Iraq
Connected families Subha, Khairallah, Majid, Rashid and Saddam

The Tulfah family was the family of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq who ruled from 1979 to 2003 and established a single party authoritarian dictatorship under the control of the Ba'ath Party until the US/UK-led invasion in 2003.

The Husseins are originally from Al-Awja, about 13 kilometers from Tikrit, and are members of the minority Sunni population. They are members of the al-Begat tribal group, a sub-group of the Al-Bu Nasir tribe. Since records are scant, the generation who controlled Iraq primarily are only known to stem from Saddam's mother Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat or her brother Khairallah Talfah, who later became Saddam's father-in-law. All the members of the Hussein or extended Talfah family have the Arabic surname Al-Tikriti and trace their origins to Al-Awja or several surrounding villages.

During the rule of Saddam Hussein, family connections became a crucial part of Iraqi politics and many of his close family members were in charge of the ministries, military, and the Security Services.

Origin

The Tulfah family descends from Tulfah Al-Mussallat, an army officer who died a few years after the birth of Subha. He had only two children, Subha and Khairallah.

Subha's family

Khairallah's family

Abd al-Majid's family

Hassan Abd Al-Majid, brother of Hussein, had three sons.

Suleiman Abd al-Majid, The only other known brother of Hussein. He was reportedly devoutly religious and none of his children had any known high ranking office.

Abdul al-Rashid's family

The Rashids are also a member of the al-Bu Nasir Tribe and a relative of the al-Majid family but descended from Tikrit itself. All of them Wielded considerable power in the regime's later years.

Saddam's family

Standing (left to right):
  Hussein Kamel - Son-in-law of Saddam Hussein. Brother of Saddam Kamel.
  Saddam Kamel - Son-in-law of Saddam Hussein. Brother of Hussein Kamel.
  Rana Hussein - Second daughter of Saddam Hussein. Wife of Saddam Kamel.
  Uday Hussein - Oldest son of Saddam Hussein.
  Raghad Hussein - Oldest daughter of Saddam Hussein. Wife of Hussein Kamel.
  Sahar Maher Abd al-Rashid - Wife of Qusay Hussein.
  Qusay Hussein - Second son of Saddam Hussein. Sitting (left to right):
  Unidentified child (standing on sofa).
  Sajida Talfah - First wife of Saddam Hussein.
  Saddam Hussein
  Hala Hussein - Third and youngest daughter of Saddam Hussein.

The only known origin of Saddam Hussein is through his father Hussein 'Abid al-Majid, who was from a family of shepherds. He was arranged to marry Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, allegedly a village psychic, when they were teenagers.[3] Both of them were members of the al-Khatab clan of the al-Begat tribal group, a sub-group of the Al-Bu Nasir tribe. He disappeared several months before Saddam was born and shortly after, Saddam's only full brother, a 13-year-old brother, died of cancer. Her situation was so poor that she allegedly attempted to abort the unborn fetus, and when that failed, she sent him away to her brother Khairallah.[4]

After his death Subha married Ibrahim Al-Hassan, who was another illiterate shepherd (some sources claim he was actually a local bandit) from an even poorer family. She had three more sons with Ibrahim and a couple of daughters. Subha later arranged for Saddam to marry the daughter of her brother, Khairallah, when they were children, though they were never married until 1963, when Saddam was 26.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Helm, Toby (2003-03-24). "Saddam 'seen in ambulance'". Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  2. "Iraqi Kurdish Group: Saddam's Forces Bomb Kurdish Villages". Apnewsarchive.com. 1996-02-29. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  3. https://web.archive.org/20090414231059/http://www.sfgate.com:80/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/03/19/MN247562.DTL. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. Elisabeth Bumiller (15 May 2004). "Was a Tyrant Prefigured by Baby Saddam?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 January 2007.
  5. Eric Davis, Memories of State: Politics, History, and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq, University of California Press, 2005.
  6. "NEWS.com.au | Saddam's wife in gold ... and exile (December 15, 2003)". Breakfornews.com. 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
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