Over the last twenty-five yearsthe Islamicworld in general, and Yemen in particular, has beenwitnessing a growing interest in genealogical research. The traditional science of nasab has experienced a revival thanks to an increasing number of editions of pre-modern and modern texts that are now widely circulating amongst scholars. Moreover, the use of digital supports, the internet and social media has also affected this field, prompting the rise of several dedicated websites, platforms, forums, Twitter channels and Facebook pages that are fully devoted to collecting, exchanging, and discussing genealogical documents.
In this context, my paper conducts a comparative study of the genealogies of group of descendants ofʿAqīl b. Abī Ṭālib, present both in Yemen and in the Horn of Africa. By critically analysing the lineage of this group, I would like to draw a wider and at the same time more nuanced picture of the network of family bonds that almost physically connect Yemen to the Horn of Africa, and which play a crucial role in the history, culture, and society of both the Asian and African regions of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.