The second opinion holds that they are descended from Qaḥṭān. This is the view of Ibn Isḥāq (1), al-Kalbī (2), and a group of leading genealogists.
Ibn Isḥāq says: He is Qaḍāʿah son of Mālik son of Ḥimyar son of Sabaʾ son of Yashjub son of Yaʿrub son of Qaḥṭān. One of their poets, ʿAmr ibn Murrah—the Companion (3) from whom two ḥadīths are transmitted—recited:
O herald, summon us and take heart;
Be of Qaḍāʿah, spurn Nizār and depart.
We are the sons of the noble, radiant sire,
Qaḍāʿah son of Mālik son of Ḥimyar,
A pedigree renowned, never denied. (4)
Some genealogists hold that he was Qaḍāʿah son of Mālik son of ʿAmr son of Murrah son of Zayd son of Ḥimyar. Ibn Lahīʿah related—through Maʿrūf ibn Suwayd and Abū ʿAshābah Muḥammad ibn Mūsā (5)—from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, who said:
I asked, “Messenger of Allah, are we not of Maʿadd?”
He replied, “No.”
I said, “Then who are we?”
He said, “You are Qaḍāʿah son of Mālik son of Ḥimyar.”
Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr comments: There is unanimous agreement that Juhaynah—Zayd son of Aswad son of Aslam son of ʿImrān son of al-Ḥāf son of Qaḍāʿah—is the tribe of ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir al-Juhanī (6). On this reckoning, Qaḍāʿah belong to Yemen among the descendants of Ḥimyar son of Sabaʾ.
Some have sought to reconcile the two positions. Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār and others report that Qaḍāʿah was a woman of Jurhum whom Mālik ibn Ḥimyar married; she bore him Qaḍāʿah. Later Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān married her while her son was still young—or, as others say, while she was pregnant—so the child was attributed to his step-father, a practice widespread in those days. Allah knows best.
Muḥammad ibn Sallām al-Baṣrī, the genealogist, said: “The Arabs stem from three root stocks: the ʿAdnānites, the Qaḥṭānites, and Qaḍāʿah.”
He was asked, “Which of the two branches is larger, the ʿAdnānites or the Qaḥṭānites?”
He replied, “That depends on Qaḍāʿah: if they side with Yemen, the Qaḥṭānites are more numerous; if they align with Maʿadd, then the ʿAdnānites prevail.” This shows that they waver in their lineage; and should Ibn Lahīʿah’s report prove sound… (7)