Banu Aws
| Banu Aws (Arabic: بنو أوس) | |
|---|---|
| Kahlanite Arab tribe | |
| Nisba | al-Awsi |
| Location | Medina, Hejaz |
| Descended from | Aws bin Haritha bin Tha'labah bin Amr bin 'Amir bin Haritha bin Tha'labah bin Mazen bin al-Azd |
| Parent tribe | Azd |
| Language | Arabic |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
The Banū Aws (Arabic: بنو أوس pronounced [ˈbanuː ʔaws], "Sons of Aws") or simply Aws (Arabic: أوس, also romanized as Aus) was one of the two main Arab tribes of Medina. The other was the Khazraj. Both were descendants of Thaʻlaba bin ʻAmr, the son of King Muzayqiya, who ruled parts of Yemen in the 2nd century and was the leader of the Azd tribe.
Aws and Khazraj were known as Banū Qayla (بنو قيلة [ˈbænuː ˈqɑjlæ]) in the pre-Islamic era. After the Hijra, the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, both tribes became known as Ansar ("The Helpers").