Who are The Sadanah?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

The Sadanah are the servants and caretakers of Al-Masjid Al-Haraam.

An-Nihaayah fi Ghareeb Al-Athar reads, “The Sadanah of the Ka‘bah are those who take care of the Ka‘bah and are responsible for opening and closing its door.”

Shaybah ibn ‘Uthmaan ibn Talhah was the Saadin (singular of Sadanah, i.e. caretaker) who kept its key. The keys of the Ka‘bah are still held by his descendants (the Banu Shaybah tribe) until now. Al-‘Abbaas and his descendants had been granted the office of Siqaayah which means providing water for the pilgrims during the time of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

According to a report: "The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, passed by Banu ‘Abdul-Muttalib, who were providing water to the pilgrims at Zamzam, and said: 'Draw me some water, O Banu ‘Abdul-Muttalib. Were it not that the people would overpower you (and take this privilege from you), I would have drawn water with you.' So they drew up a bucket for him and he drank.'” [Muslim]

Allaah Knows best.