Zahranites or zahrani community is (Arabic: زهران) a tribe. Along with other Arabian tribes, it is regarded to be of the very few original inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. Along with other few tribes, it's regarded to be one of the five largest tribes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with Ghamid, Shahran, and Qahtan.
Al Baha, (known historically as the 'garden of Yemen') is the absolute home land of two big tribes: Ghamid and Zahran. Large numbers however, currently live in western Saudi Arabia (mainly in Mecca and Jeddah) due to large migration from villages and small cities during the 1960s and 70's in search of a better life. Zahran is well-known tribe before and after Islam. Many of them left their houses, homes and relatives and joined the prophet Mohammed in Medina. The Islamic history has acknowledged many of the Zahrani companions such as Abu Hurairah and Tufayl ibn Amr. Others are known as Arabic scholars e.g. Ibn Draid and Abo Al-rabai
It is claimed by some Arab authors that the dialect of Belad Ghamid and Zahran (Now known as Al Baha province in Saudi Arabia) is nearest to classical Arabic. Ahmed Abdul Ghafur Attar (Arabic : احمد عبدالغفور عطار ) has said in an article* that the language of the Hejaz (Arabic لهجات الحجاز), especially that which is spoken in Belad Ghamdi and Zahran is close to the Classical Language.
Faisal Ghori (Arabic فيصل غوري), a famous scholar of Arabic Literature wrote in his book Qabayil Al- Hejaz (Arabic قبائل الحجاز) The Quranic Arabic upon which our grammar is based on does not exist in any tribe. The only thing we can say is that there are some tribes whose language is much closer to classical language. The tribes of Belad Ghamid and Zahran are a good example of this .
Modern times are changing the way tribal weddings are viewed and performed. "On women’s customs, Najma Al-Zahrani said, “The elder women in the bride’s received members of the groom’s family and this was market by ululation, drum beats and recitation of welcoming poems. The food served at weddings was called ‘hospitality dishes’ and comprised of traditional confectioneries, meals, coffee, dates and pastries,” Najma said while adding that although many women wear extravagant and often-revealing clothes to weddings these days, many tribal women still prefer to wear traditional clothes that are adorned with silver ornaments. Another major difference that many people spoke about is the value of dowry given to the bride. In the past, anything from SR5,000 to SR10,000 was acceptable. These days, dowries range from SR35,000 to SR100,000, which puts a huge burden on the groom and his family as they are also responsible for covering the costs of renting marriage halls and paying for all related expenses. “We used to give a few thousand riyals to the bride, slaughter a few goats and everyone went home happy. These days, girls aren’t happy when they receive tens of thousands of riyals, not to mentions the dozens of goats and camels that are sacrificed to feed guests on the day of the wedding. Guests are even served fruits and sweets, something that was rare during my day,” added Najma." [1]