Jabal Amel

Jabal Amel or Jabal 'Amil (Arabic: جبل عامل‎ jabal ʿāmil) is a mountainous region of Southern Lebanon. The Shi'i community in Jabal Amil, according to local Shia legend, is one of the oldest in history, second only to the Shi'i community of Medina, having been converted to Shi'ism by Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, a companion of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad and early supporter of Ali. The frequent occurrence of this account in many religious sources make it a credible belief. However, other historical sources suggest Shiism largely developed in Jabal Amel around the 3rd century A.H.

The region is named after the Saleh Al Amel Banu 'Amilah, a Yemenite tribe who, along with the kindred tribes of Hamadan, Lakhm, and Judham, settled in Syria, Palestine, parts of Jordan, and Lebanon. The area was known in ancient times as Jabal 'Amilah, and later as Jabal 'Amil (Jabal Amel). A legendary story has it that the tribe of Banu 'Amilah migrated from Yemen to the Levant in pre-Islamic times because of a flood caused by the destruction of the Ma'arib Dam.