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Sayyid
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Sayyid (plural sadah) is an honorific title that is given to males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, who were the sons of his daughter Fatima Zahra and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Daughters of male sayyids are given the titles Sayyida, Alawiyah, Syarifah or Sharifah. Children of a Sayyida mother but a non-Sayyid father cannot be attributed the title of Sayyid, however they may claim maternal descent and are called Mirza.
In the history of Islamic religion, many of the Shia followers, famous for their enlightened personalities and a wide-ranging scholarly authority in matters of religion have been Sayyids by descent.
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Encyclopedia
Sayyid (plural sadah) is an honorific title that is given to males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, who were the sons of his daughter Fatima Zahra and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Daughters of male sayyids are given the titles Sayyida, Alawiyah, Syarifah or Sharifah. Children of a Sayyida mother but a non-Sayyid father cannot be attributed the title of Sayyid, however they may claim maternal descent and are called Mirza.
In the history of Islamic religion, many of the Shia followers, famous for their enlightened personalities and a wide-ranging scholarly authority in matters of religion have been Sayyids by descent. There has been many Non-Sayyid teachers of religion in the Islamic tradition who have enjoyed an equal, if not more, regrard among the muslim populations at large, but the most frequent occurance of people bearing the name Sayyid/Syed or claiming an attestable connection to the family of Muhammad, could be explained by the fact that, since in the Islamic tradition too, just like the Judeo-christian Biblical traditions, the Spirit of God is readily accessible to the divinely appointed messengers, their descendants too, upon successful realization are bound to play a similar role in the organization and guidance of their respective communities as the original messengers did in their lifetime, which will remain, by far, the best example and the guiding light of the prophetic mission.
Other Uses
The word literally means "master" ; the closest English equivalent would be "sir" or "lord". In the Arab world itself, the word is still used as a substitute for "Mister", as in Sayyid John Smith. The same concept is expressed by the word sidi (from the Arabic word 'sayyidi') in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.
Some Muslims also use the term sayyid for the descendants of Abu Talib, uncle of Muhammad), by his other sons: Jafar, Abbas, Aqeel and Talib.
Alevis use seyyid (Turkish) as an honorific before the names of their saints.
Dawoodi Bohras use the title syyedina for their Da'i al-Mutlaq (spiritual leader of the Bohra community) although they are not the descendants of Fatima.
El Cid , the name given to a famous Spanish knight of the 11th century C.E., is derived from Al-Sayyid (as-sayyid), meaning lord.
Transliteration
| Language | Transliteration | Areas spoken |
|---|
| Arabic | Sayyid, Sayyidi, Sayyed, Sayid, Sidi (Maghrebi) | Arab world | | Kurdish | Seyîd, Seyyid, Seyit | Kurdish region | | Persian | Sayyed, Sayed, Seyyed, Saiyed, Saeid | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan | | Turkish | Seyed, Seyit, Seyyid, Seyyed | Turkey, Azerbaijan and Central Asia | | Pashto | Sayed, Syed | Afghanistan and Pakistan | | Urdu, Marathi, Hindi,Assamese,Konkani, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Tamil, Seraiki, Punjabi, Sindhi, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati | Syed, Saiyad, Saiyed, Sayyid, Saiyed, Saiyid, Sayyed | South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) | | Malayalam | Thangal | Kerala, India | | Malay | Syed | Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore | | Spanish | Cid | Al-Andalus | | Somali | Sayid | this name was derived from Arabia and used by Somalis as well, a notable Somali person is Sayid Cabdulle | | Other | Siyyid | |
People chose different Romanised (Latinized) transliterations based on the language with which they are familiar, not necessarily on the place where they are living. For example there are Muslim immigrants from many different countries living in London, UK. Immigrants of Arab origin may use the transliteration "sayyid" whilst immigrants of South Asian origin may use "Syed", this tendency may be extended to all ethnic communities.
Other Titles for Saadah
| Language | Title | Areas spoken |
|---|
| Arabic | Sharif, Habib | Arab world | | Pashto, Urdu,Saraiki, Punjabi, Sindhi, Bengali, Malay | Shah Agha, Saab Pashto, Mir | South and South East Asia | | Malay | Sharifah, Syarifah | Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei | | Gujarati | Sayedna, Syedna, Sayednah | Northwest India, Sindh, Pakistan | | Urdu, Punjabi | Shah, Shah Ji, Pir, Pir Sahib | Pakistan | | Persian | Mir, Mirza | Irán | |
Other Arabic honorific terms include sheikh and sharif. The line of Hassani sayyids who ruled Mecca, Medina, Iraq and now rule in Jordan, the Hashemites, bore the title 'sharif' (plu. Ashraf). 'Sharif' is reserved for descendants of Hassan while 'sayyid' is used for descendants of Husayn. However ever since the post-Hashemite era began, the term 'sayyid' has been used to denote descendants from both Hassan and Husayn. Arab Shiites use the term 'sayyid' and 'habib' to denote descendants from both Hassan and Husayn.
Indication of descent
Sayyids often include the following titles in their names to indicate the figure from whom they trace their descent. If they are descended from more than one notable ancestor or Shi'a Imam, they will use the title of the ancestor from whom they are most directly descended.
| Ancestor | Arabic Title | Arabic Last Name | Persian Last Name | Urdu Last Name |
|---|
| Ali ibn Abu Talib | Allawi2 | Allawi2 or Alawi3 | Alavi2 ???? | Alvi Awan 2 | | Hasan ibn Ali | al-Hashimi or al-Hassani | al-Hashimi or al-Hassani | Hashemi, Hassani, or Tabatabai ???? | Hasani or Hashmi | | Husayn ibn Ali | al-Hussaini | al-Hussaini1 | Hosseini ????? | Hussaini | | Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al Abidin | al-Abidi | al-Abidi | Abedi ????? | Abdi | | Zayd ibn Ali ash-Shahid | az-Zaidi | al-Zaidi | Zaidi ???? | Zaidi | | Muhammad al-Baqir | al-Baqiri | al-Baqiri | Bagheri ????? | Baqri | | Jafar as-Sadiq | al-Ja'fari | al-Ja'fari | Jafari or Jafri ????? | Jafri, Jafry, or Jaffery | | Musa al-Kadhim | al-Mousawi | al-Mousawi | Musavi or Kazemi ????? / ????? | Kazmi or Mostafavi | | Ali ar-Rida | ar-Radawi | al-Ridawi or al-Radawi | Rezavi or Razavi ???? | Rizvi | | Muhammad at-Taqi | at-Taqawi | al-Taqawi | Taghavi ???? | Taqvi or Taqwi | | Ali al-Hadi | an-Naqawi | al-Naqawi | Naqavi ???? | Naqvi | | Fatima Zahra | Ashraf Al-Quraishi | Al-Husaini | Fatemi | Fatmi |
NOTE: (For non-Arabic speakers) When transliterating Arabic words into English there are two approaches.
- 1. The user may transliterate the word letter for letter, e.g. "??????" becomes "a-l-z-ai-d-i".
- 2. The user transliterate the pronunciation of the word, e.g. "??????" becomes "a-zz-ai-d-i". This is because in Arabic grammar, some consonants (n, r, s, sh, t and z) cancel the l from the word "the" al . When the user sees the prefixes an, ar, as, ash, at, az, etc... this means the word is the transliteration of the pronunciation.
- An i, wi (Arabic), or vi (Persian) ending could perhaps be translated by the English suffixes ite or ian. The suffix transforms a personal name, or a place name, into the name of a group of people connected by lineage or place of birth. Hence Ahmad al-Hashimi could be translated as Ahmad of the lineage of Hassan and Ahmad al-Harrani as Ahmad from the city of Harran. For further explanation, see Arabic names.
1Also, El-Husseini, Al-Husseini, Husseini, and Hussaini.
2Those who use the term sayyid for all descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib regard Allawis or Alavis as sayyids. However Allawis are not descendants of Muhammad, as they are descended from the children of Ali and the women he married after the death of Fatima Zahra, such as Umm al Baneen/Fatima bint Hizam. Those who limit the term sayyid to descendants of Muhammad through Fatima Zahra, will not consider Allawis/Alavis to be sayyids.
3This transliteration is usually reserved for Alawi sect.
Ibn Battutah on the usage of 'Sayyid' in India
Ibn Battutah had the following to say on the usage of sayyid in India:
Sayyid was also used as a term of respect by some Indian Muslims. Therefore, someone with the name sayyid in the Indian subcontinent is not necessarily of sayyid extraction. Sayyid families originate from particular villages or towns. If the person called sayyid can prove his family originated from an authentic sayyid town, that establishes his pedigree. In the modern era, sayyid is used only by descendants of the Prophet, and the title is no longer applied to non-sayyids as a mark of respect.
Sayyids in Indian Sub-continent
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Some Sayyid families in Indian sub-continent claim direct relationship with the Prophet of Islam through his daughter Fâtimah and son-in-law Ali. Their ancestors migrated from different parts of Iran, during the invasion of Halaku and other periods of turmoil. They migrated through Herat (then part of Iran) in Afghanistan to different parts of India. These migrations occurred during the periods of Mahmud Ghaznavi, Delhi Sultanate and Mughals and continued till late into 19th century. Most sufi saints whose lineage could also be traced to Prophet Muhammad also migrated during the early periods of Delhi Sultanate and Mughals. Some of the early migrant Sayyids moved deep to the peninsular part of India, in the region of Deccan plateau in the reign of Bahmani Sultanate/Bahmani kings and later Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda, Nizam Shahi of Ahmadnagar, and other kingdoms of Bijapur, Bidar and Berar.
The history of Sayyids or Syeds in India dates back to more than 1000 years. Several Syeds visited India as merchants along with the general Arab traders. They also ruled over India (Delhi Sultanate) during the period 1414-1451. Except for this brief period of Indian history, Syeds or Sayyids were mostly connected to religious, spiriutal and educational activities.
The notable Syeds of India include Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Akbar Allahabadi, the Shahi Imams of Delhi ,Syed Shahbuddin,
Moinuddin Chishti, Khwaja Qutbuddin Baktiyar Kaki, Nizamuddin Auliya, Nasiruddin Muhammad Chirag-e-Dehli, Muhammad Hussaini Gisudaraz Bandanawaz and Ashraf Jahangir simnani.
Sayyids in Punjab
Sherazi/Shirazikazmi/mosvi/Hashmi
Syeds of Pail-Piran(Khushab), Bhera Sharif(Sargodha), Pir Da Khara(chakwal) are Hashmites descendents of Habbari Arab rulers of Sindh through Hazrat Baha ud din Zakkariyya Multani, and are invariably Sunni Sadat (also called Pirs).
Jaffery sadat family in Sargodha descendant of Shah Shams Sherazi who was the descendant of Shitte Imam Jafar as-Sadiq. He was the son of Sher Ali, whose mausoleum is in Delhi. Sher Ali had come to India with the Mughal Emperor Humayun. In fact, Humayun moved to Iran seeking help to regain his empire when he was overthrown by Farid Khan, popularly known as Sher Shah Suri. After a special prayer for his success, Sher Ali and his two sons, Shah Shams and Jalal Shah, were asked to accompany Humayun to Delhi. On their way, they were informed that Sher Shah Suri died. Without any bloodshed in the battleground, Humayun took over and regained the power. He gifted a piece of land to Sher Ali and offered his son, Shah Shams, the marriage proposal of a girl from the Mughal family. Shah Shams accepted the proposal. In later years, the couple was blessed with five sons. Shah Shams and his family left Delhi and crossed the Jhelum River to settle in Rampur (presently known as Shahpur (Punjab) currently in Sargodha District. While his brother Jalal Shah moved to a deserted area in Afghanistan and lived there. Jalalabad, now a city in Afghanistan, was named after him. Shah Badar Diwan It is also narrated that sayyids cannot accept Zakaat (Islamic charity) whereas non-sayyids can. Thus, a sayyid must be given the money with the intention of a gift and not as charity. It is reported that [the Imam] Hasan once took a date from those that were an offering (sadaqa) and placed it in his mouth. At this the Prophet said: "Kakh!Kakh! Throw it out! Don't you know that we do not eat charity?" Twelver Shiites have khums (one-fifth), the rules for which differ from Sunni practice. Today, Twelvers divide the total amount of khums into two equal parts, disbursed as under: share of the descendants of the Prophet (sahm al-sadat) and the Imam's share (sahm al-Imam), which is given to the mujtahid that the payer of khums follows, or can be distributed or utilized by his permission. Further details are found in books of jurisprudence.
The three major Syed towns in Gujrat are Madina Syedan, Muhinuddin Syedan and Jamalpur Syedan. These Syeds are decendants of the 6th Imam Jafar al-Sadiq and his third born son Ali al-Aredh. They are sometimes called Khorezmi Syeds as their forfathers migrated from Khorezm (Central Asia) almost one thousand years ago. Jamalpur Syedan is today well known for it's 17th century saint Syed Muhammad Shah Sharif. Emperor Akbar recruted his general Syed Dawood from here.
Sayyid scholars wear green or black turbans, whereas non-sayyid scholars (referred to as shaykh) wear white turbans.
See also
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