[2] According to the modern historian Giorgio Levi Della Vida, the Khath'am were most likely a confederation of smaller tribes with different origins.

[3] The name of the tribe possibly stems from the Arabic phrase takhath'ama, which means "to smear oneself with blood" as a result of a pact.

[4] These same accounts hold that once Abraha reached Mecca to destroy the Kaaba, then the principal sanctuary for the polytheistic Arabs, the Khath'am and the Ash'ar refused to participate.

[3] A section of the tribe rebelled against the nascent Muslim state in Medina, but they ultimately submitted following the destruction of the Dhu'l-Khalasa shrine by Jarir ibn Abd Allah al-Bajali.

[3] Members of the tribe participated in the early Muslim conquests in Syria and Iraq during the 630s and they formed part of the Arab garrisons of Kufa and Basra.