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Sayyid

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Not to be confused with Sa‘id.
For use as a given name, see Syed.

Sayyid (Template:IPA-ar, or Template:IPA-ar, Template:Lang-ar; meaning Mister) (plural Sadah Template:Lang-ar, Sādah) is an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, sons of the prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.[1]

Daughters of 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 the title Mirza for males or Mirziya for females. Sayyids are by definition a branch of the tribe of Banu Hashim, a clan from the tribe of Quraish that traces its lineage to Adnan and thence to the Prophet Ismael.

In the Arab world, it is the equivalent of the English word "liege-lord" or "master" when referring to a descendant of Muhammad, as in Sayyid John Smith. [2] This is the reason the word sidi (from the contracted form sayyidī, 'my liege') is used in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.[3] Some Sayyids take the title Sheikh.

The Alevi use seyyid (the Turkish form) as an honorific before the names of their saints. El Cid, the name given to a famous Spanish knight of the 11th century C.E., is derived from Al-Sayyid (as-sayyid). As-Sayyid is also used as title or a form of address to denote a prince or superior in the Sultanate of Oman.

Other titles

Language Title Areas spoken
Arabic Sharif, Habib, Sheikh Arab world
Urdu, Saraiki, Punjabi, Hindko Shah, Saab, Badshah Pakistan
Sindhi Shah, Sain, Saab, Makhdoom, Mir Sindh, Pakistan.
Indonesian Habib, Sayid Indonesia
Minangkabau Sidi West Sumatra, Indonesia
Palembang Ayib South Sumatra, Indonesia
Malay Sharifah, Syarifah Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei
Malayalam Thangal Kerala, India
Gujarati Sayedna, Syedna, Sayednah Northwest India
Urdu, Punjabi, Shah, Shah Ji, Pir, Pir Sahib Pakistan, India
Dari Shah, Mir, Mirza Afghanistan
Bengali, Malay Shah, Agha, Saab, Mir South and South East Asia

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 since the post-Hashemite era began, the term 'Sayyid' has been used to denote descendants from both Hassan and Husayn. Arab Shi'ites use the term 'Sayyid' and 'Habib' to denote descendants from both Hassan and Husayn.

Indication of descent

Sayyids are Arabs, and Sayyids in Asia are of Arab origin. The Sayyids are a branch of the tribe of Banu Hashim, a clan from the tribe of Quraish, which traces its lineage to Adnan, whose lineage traces back to the Prophet Ismael the son of the Prophet Ibrahim or Abraham.

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
Hasan ibn Ali al-Hashimi or al-Hassani al-Hashimi or al-Hassani Hashemi, Hassani, or Tabatabai حسنى Hassani or Hasani حسنی or Hashemi or Hashmi هاشمي
Husayn ibn Ali al-Hussaini al-Hussaini1 Husseini حسینى Hussaini or Husaini حسینی
Ali ibn Husayn al-Abidi al-Abidi Abedi عابدى Abidi or Abdi عابدی
Zayd ibn Ali az-Zaidi al-Zaidi Zaidi زیدی Zaidi زیدی
Muhammad al-Baqir al-Baqiri al-Baqiri Baqeri باقرى Baqri باقری
Jafar as-Sadiq al-Ja'fari al-Ja'fari Jafari[disambiguation needed] جعفرى Jafri, Jafry or Jaffery جعفری
Musa al-Kadhim al-Mousawi al-Mousawi or al-Kadhimi Moosavi or Kazemi موسوى / کاظمى Kazmi کاظمی
Ali ar-Rida ar-Radawi al-Ridawi or al-Radawi Razavi or Rezavi رضوى Rizvi or Rizavi رضوی
Muhammad at-Taqi at-Taqawi al-Taqawi Taqawi تقوى Taqvi تقوی
Ali al-Hadi an-Naqawi al-Naqawi Naqawi نقوى Naqvi نقوی or Bukhari بخاری

NOTE: (For non-Arabic speakers) When transliterating Arabic words into English there are two approaches.

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.

  • 1. The user may transliterate the word letter for letter, e.g. "الزيدي" becomes "a-l-z-ai-d-i".
  • 2. The user may transcribe the pronunciation of the word, e.g. "الزيدي" becomes "a-zz-ai-d-i". This is because in Arabic grammar, some consonants (n, r, s, sh, t and z) cancel the l (ل) from the word "the" al (ال) (see Sun and moon letters). When the user sees the prefixes an, ar, as, ash, at, az, etc... this means the word is the transcription 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 the Alawi sect.

In the Arab world

Sayyids in Yemen

There are Shia and Sunni Sayyid families in Yemen, they include the Rassids, the Qasimids, the Mutawakkilites, the Hamideddins, Al-Zaidi of Ma'rib, Sana'a and Sa'dah, the Ba'Alawi sadah and Al-Saqqaf in Hadramauwt, Al-Wazir of Sana'a and others.

Sayyids in Iraq

The Sayyid population in Iraq is almost entirely Shia Muslim.

Some of the Sayyid families in Iraq are Al-Yasiri, Al-Zaidi, Al-A'araji, Al-Hassani, Al-Hussaini, Tabatabaei , Al-Alawi, Al-Ghawalib (Al-Ghalibi), Al-Musawi, Al-Awadi (not to be confused with the Al-Awadhi Huwala family), and Al-Hayali.

Sayyids in Saudi Arabia

There are many Sayyids in Saudi Arabia, families such as Bafaqih, Al-Hashemi (Also said as Bin Hashem), Al-Alawi, Al-Hussaini, Al-Hassani, Al-Mussallam (also said as Bin Mussallam), Al-Nasser and others. Today, most of them live in the Hejaz and Eastern provinces.

Sayyids in Libya

Further information: List of Ashraf tribes in Libya

The Sayyids in Libya are Sunni, including the former royal family which is originally Zaidi-Moroccan.

Sayyids in South Asia

An oil painting of Khair-un-Nissa, a Sayyida noblewoman from the princely state of Hyderabad by George Chinnery. She was probably the wife of one of the Asaf Jah rulers. c. 1805.
Further information: History of Arabs in Afghanistan and Sayyid dynasty

More than 14 million South Asians claim descent from the prophet, in South Asia, approximately 3% of the Muslim population of South Asia.[citation needed] Their ancestors migrated from different parts of the Arab world, Iran, Central Asia and Turkestan, during the invasion of Mongols and other periods of turmoil during the periods of Mahmud Ghaznavi, Delhi Sultanate and Mughals and until the late 19th century. Some early migrant Sayyids moved deep to the region of Deccan plateau in the time of the Bahmani Sultanate and later Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda, Nizam Shahi of Ahmadnagar and other kingdoms of Bijapur, Bidar and Berar.

Several visited India as merchants or escaped from Abbasid, Umayyad and Ottoman empires. They also ruled over India during the Delhi Sultanate during the short-lived period of 1414-1451. Their name figures in Indian history at the breakup of the Mughal empire, when the Sayyid Brothers created and dethroned Emperors at their will (1714–1720). The first Mohammedans appointed to the Council of India and the first appointed to the Privy Council were both Sayyids.[citation needed]

Important Sayyid communities in South Asia include:

An estimate of number of Sayyids in South Asia is as follows:

Country Population Primary Language
India 6,696,000 Urdu
Pakistan 6,613,000 Urdu,Pashto,Persian,Balochi,Western Punjabi,Hindko,Sindhi
Bangladesh 1,058,000 Bengali
Nepal 77,000 Various Hindi/Urdu Dialects (Maithili,Bhojpuri,Awadhi)
Sri Lanka 10 Urdu
Totals: 5 Countries 14,444,000 -

See also

References

  1. ^ Ho, Engseng. 2006. Graves of Tarim. University of California Press. Berkeley. p. 149
  2. ^ Cleveland, W.L. & Bunton, M. (2009). A history of the modern middle east, 4th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Westview Press.
  3. ^ People of India by Herbert Risely
  • Ba'Alawi Sadah of Hadhramaut
  • GILANI Sayyads of Masanian Sharif
  • Ba`alawi.com Ba'alawi.com | The definitive resource for Islam and the Alawi Ancestry
  • Sayyid Trust
  • Jamaiat Hanfia Qadria Mahmoodia
  • The BaAlawi Genealogy
  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sayad" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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