Sayyid of Uttar Pradesh
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
through his grandsons,
Hasan ibn Ali Hasan ibn Ali ( ar, الحسن بن علي, translit=Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī; ) was a prominent early Islamic figure. He was the eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He briefly ruled as caliph from Jan ...
and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhammad's daughter Fatima and his cousin and son-in-law
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
(Ali ibn Abi Talib). While in the early islamic period the title Al-Sayyid was applied on all the members of the of banu hashim, the tribe of Muhammad. But later on the title was made specific to those of
Hasani Hassan or Hasan is an Arabic, Irish, Scottish, or Jewish ( Sephardic and Mizrahic) surname. Etymology and spelling There are several unrelated origins for this surname: * In Arabic, Hassan is a transliteration of two names that both derive ...
and Hussaini descent, Primarily by the Fatimid Caliphs. Female ''sayyids'' are given the titles ''sayyida'', ''syeda'', ''alawiyah'' . In some regions of the Islamic world, such as in Iraq, the descendants of Muhammad are given the title ''
amīr Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
'' or ''mīr'', meaning "aristocrats", "commander", or "ruler". In
Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...
the son of a non Sayyid father and a Sayyida mother claim the title Mirza. In Sunni Islam a person being a descendant of Muhammad, of either maternal or paternal descent, can claim the title of ''Sayyid'' only by fulfilling special requirements that are mostly based on the claimant's demonstrated knowledge of the Quran under the assessment of a
Naqib al-Ashraf Naqib al-ashraf () (plural: ''nuqaba'' or ''niqabat'') was a governmental post in various Muslim empires denoting the head or supervisor of the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.Damurdashi, ed. Muhammad, p. 43. The descendants of Muhammad ...
.Tazkare Khanwade Hazrat Ishaan, p. 61, by Muhammad Yasin Qaswari Naqshbandi, published by Kooperatis Lahorin, Edare Talimat Naqshbandiyya The current Naqib ul Ashraf of the Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiyya is the 54th Imam of the Tariqa, descending from
Bahauddin Naqshband Baha' al-Din Naqshband ( fa, بهاءالدین محمد نقشبند; 1318–1389) was the eponymous founder of what would become one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi. Background Baha al-Din was born in March 1318 in the vill ...
by blood through the Naqib and Imam
Sayyid Mir Fazlullah Agha Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Fazlullah Agha al-Hasani wal-Husseini (born in Kabul) was a Sufi Saint and the highest Qadi (Qadi ul Qudhad) and Grand Mufti of the Emirate of Afghanistan. Ancestry Sayyid Mir Fazlullah is a Sayyid (a descendant ...
, known as Imam Al- Rafi Ishaan. A few Arabic language experts state that it has its roots in the word ''al-asad'' , meaning "lion", probably because of the qualities of valour and leadership. The word is derived from the verb sāda, meaning to rule. The surname seyyid/sayyid (pl. sâda as in sādat Quraysh or the chiefs of Quraysh tribe) existed before Islam.
Hans Wehr Hans Bodo Gerhardt Wehr (; 5 July 1909, Leipzig24 May 1981, Münster) was a German Arabist. A professor at the University of Münster from 1957–1974, he published the ''Arabisches Wörterbuch'' (1952), which was later published in an Engl ...
Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic The ''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' is an Arabic-English dictionary compiled by Hans Wehr and edited by J Milton Cowan. First published in 1961 by Otto Harrassowitz in Wiesbaden, Germany, it was an enlarged and revised English version ...
defines seyyid as master, chief, sovereign, or lord. It also denotes someone respected and of high status. Although reliable statistics are unavailable, conservative estimates put the number of Sayyids in the tens of thousands. In the
Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
, ''sayyid'' is the equivalent of the English word " liege lord" or "master" when referring to a descendant of Muhammad, as in ''Sayyid Ali Sultan.'' The word '' saeed'' (from the contracted form ''sayyidī'', "my liege") is often used in Arabic.People of India by Herbert Risely


History

The Sayyids are by definition a branch of Banu Hashim, which according to tradition traces its lineage to
Adnan Adnan ( ar, عدنان, 'adnān) is the traditional ancestor of the Adnanite Arabs of Northern, Western, Eastern and Central Arabia, as opposed to the Qahtanite Arabs of Southern Arabia who descend from Qahtan. His ancestry can be traced back t ...
, and therefore directly descends from Ishmael ( Ismaeyl), and collaterally descends from his paternal half-brother
Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...
( Ishaaq), the sons of
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
( Ibrahim) . The descent of Banu Hashim through an ancestor called
Adnan Adnan ( ar, عدنان, 'adnān) is the traditional ancestor of the Adnanite Arabs of Northern, Western, Eastern and Central Arabia, as opposed to the Qahtanite Arabs of Southern Arabia who descend from Qahtan. His ancestry can be traced back t ...
to the legendary Ishmael and Abraham are traditional and religious beliefs, not historical facts. Banū Hāshim (Arabic: بنو هاشم) is the clan of Muhammad, whose great-grandfather was Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, for whom the clan is named. Members of this clan are referred to as Hashemites. Descendants of Muhammad usually carry the titles ''Sayyid'', ''Syed'', ''
Hashmi Al-Hashimi, also transliterated Al-Hashemi ( ar, الهاشمي), Hashemi, Hashimi or Hashmi ( fa, هاشمی) is an Arabic, Arabian, and Persian surname.Sharif Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, f ...
'', or the Ashraf clan (synonymous to Ahl al-Bayt) . Today, two sovereign monarchs – Abdullah II of Jordan and
Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد السادس; born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the 'Alawi dynasty and acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Moh ...
– and the former royal family of Libya are also considered to be a part of Banu Hashim . The
Hashemites The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921 ...
(Arabic: الهاشميون, Al-Hāshimīyūn; also House of Hashim) are the ruling royal family of Jordan. The House was also the royal family of Syria (1920), Hejaz (1916–1925) and Iraq (1921–1958). The family belongs to the Dhawu Awn, one of the branches of the Hasanid Sharifs of Mecca – also known as Hashemites – who ruled Mecca continuously from the 10th century until its conquest by the House of Saud in 1924. Their eponymous ancestor is Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, great-grandfather of Muhammad. Traditionally, Islam has had a rich history of the veneration of
relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...
, especially of those attributed to
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
. The most genuine prophetic relics are believed to be those housed in the ''Hirkai Serif Odasi'' (Chamber of the Holy Mantle) in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
's
Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio, is a large museum in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the complet ...
.


Indication of descent

In the early period, other than general usage, the Arabs also allowed the terms ''Sayyid'' to descendants from both
Hasan ibn Ali Hasan ibn Ali ( ar, الحسن بن علي, translit=Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī; ) was a prominent early Islamic figure. He was the eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He briefly ruled as caliph from Jan ...
and Husayn ibn Ali. .Encyclopaedic Ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: A-I, Volume 1
edited by R. Khanam
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
Sayyid scholars wear black turbans, while non-Sayyid Shia scholars wear other colors (most commonly white). SunniIslamic Names: An Introduction
By Annemarie Schimmel.
The descendants of Ali and his other wives are called ''Alevi sayyid''; they are titled Shah, Sain, Miya Fakir or Dewan. Those ''Sayyids'' who are Shia often include the following titles in their names to indicate the figure from whom they trace their descent: 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., "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"); 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 In Arabic and Maltese, the consonants are divided into two groups, called the sun letters or solar letters ( ar, حروف شمسية ', mt, konsonanti xemxin) and moon letters or lunar letters (Arabic: ', mt, konsonanti qamrin), based on wh ...
). 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 ''i'', ''vi'' (Persian) ending could perhaps be translated by the English suffixes ''-ite'' or ''-ian''. The suffix transforms a personal name or place name into the name of a group of people connected by lineage or place of birth. Hence ''Ahmad al-Hassani'' could be translated as ''Ahmad, the descendant of Hassan'', and ''Ahmad al-Manami'' as ''Ahmad from the city of
Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very di ...
''. 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, such as
Umm ul-Banin Fāṭima bint Ḥuzām al-Kilābīyya al-ʿAlawīyya (; died 683/684 or 69 A.H. 688/689), better known as ʾUmm al-Banīn ( ar, أُمّ ٱلْبَنِين, meaning "Mother of the Sons"), was a wife of Ali. She was from the tribe of Banu Kil ...
(Fatima bint Hizam). Those who limit the term ''Sayyid'' to descendants of Muhammad through Fatima,
Allawi Alawi ( ar, علاوي) means "follower of Ali" or "descendant of Ali", and is a common surname (and sometimes as a given name) in the Muslim world. In Arab countries occupied by the British Empire, the name is transliterated as "Alawi". In Arab cou ...
s/Alavis are the same how ''Sayyids''. Some Sayyids are ''Najeeb Al Tarfayn'', meaning "Noble on both sides", which indicates that both of their parents are Sayyid.


Existence of descendants of Hasan al-Askari

The existence of any descendant of Hasan al Askari is disputed by many people. Some genealogies of Middle Eastern and Central Asian families (mostly from Persia), East Africa (mostly in Somalia and Ethiopia), Khorasan, Samarqand, and Bukhara show that Hasan al-Askari had a second son called
Sayyid Ali Akbar Sayyid Ali Akbar was a Sunni Muslim saint, and according to some historians of genealogy the second son of Imam Hasan al-Askari, the eleventh Imam in Shia Islam. He was also the brother of the twelfth Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi. His existe ...
, which indicates that al-Askari had children and substantiates the existence of
Muhammad al Mahdi Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ( ar, محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justi ...
. Whether in fact al-Askari did have children is still disputed, perhaps because of the political conflicts between the followers of the
Imamah {{expand Arabic, date=April 2021 The term imamate or ''imamah'' ( ar, إمامة, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a state ruled by an ''imam''. Theology *Imamate, in Sunni doctrine the caliphate :* Naqshb ...
and the leadership of the Abbasids and Ghulat Shiites who do not believe in Hasan al-Askari's
Imamah {{expand Arabic, date=April 2021 The term imamate or ''imamah'' ( ar, إمامة, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a state ruled by an ''imam''. Theology *Imamate, in Sunni doctrine the caliphate :* Naqshb ...
. Another group of historians studying the pedigrees of some Central Asian saints' ''shejere'' (genealogy trees) believe that the Twelfth Imam was not the only son of Hasan al-Askari, and that the Eleventh Imam had two sons: Sayyid Muhammad (i.e., the Shia Mahdi) and Sayyid Ali Akbar.page 41 "النجف الأشرف) السيد محمد مهدي ابن السيد محمد اصفهاني الموسوي الكاظمي "دوائر المعارف في الأسماء الحسنى) According to the earliest reports as from official family tree documents and records , Imam Hasan al-Askari fathered seven children and was survived by six. The names of his biological children were: Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, Musa, Ja’far, Ibrahim, Fatima, Ayesha, and ‘Ali, sometimes referred to as Akbar, Asghar or Abdullah. Sayyid ‘Ali Akbar bin Imam Hasan al-Askari is Sultan Saadat (Sodot) who died in
Termez Termez ( uz, Termiz/Термиз; fa, ترمذ ''Termez, Tirmiz''; ar, ترمذ ''Tirmidh''; russian: Термез; Ancient Greek: ''Tàrmita'', ''Thàrmis'', ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it i ...
. His burial place is located in the main mausoleum Sultan Saodat memorial complex in Termez. According to other old genealogical sources Sayyid Ali was the second son of Sayyid Imam Muhammad al Askari who is considered the elder brother of imam Hasan al-Askari These Central Asian notable ''sayyid'' families have historical genealogical manuscripts that are confirmed with seals by many Naqibs, Muftis, Imams, Kadi Kuzzats, A’lams, Khans, and Emirs of those times. One descendant of Sayyid Ali Akbar was Saint Ishan (Eshon) Imlo of Bukhara. Ishan Imlo is called "saint of the last time" in Bukhara,https://shajara.org/2020/06/29/%d1%8d%d1%88%d0%be%d0%bd-%d0%b8%d0%bc%d0%bb%d0%be-%d0%b1%d1%83%d1%85%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%b9-%d2%b3%d0%b0%d0%b7%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%82%d0%bb%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%bd%d0%b3-%d1%88%d0%b0%d0%b6/ Эшон Имло Бухорий ҳазратларининг шажараси ҳақида as it is believed that after him there were no more saintsAsian Muslims generally revere him as the last of the saints. According to the source, Ishan Imlo died in 1162AH (1748–1749); his mausoleum (mazar) is in a cemetery in Bukhara. Notable descendants of Sayyid Ali Akbar are Sufi saints like
Bahauddin Naqshband Baha' al-Din Naqshband ( fa, بهاءالدین محمد نقشبند; 1318–1389) was the eponymous founder of what would become one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi. Background Baha al-Din was born in March 1318 in the vill ...
,https://shajara.org/2020/06/29/naqshbandiya-shajarasi-izidan/ NAQSHBANDİYA SHAJARASİ İZİDAN descendant after eleven generations; Khwaja Khawand Mahmud known as Hazrat Ishaan, descendant after eighteen generations; the two brothers Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Jan and Sayyid ul Sadaat Mir Sayyid Mahmud Agha, maternal descendants of Hasan al Askari; ''
qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
'' Qozi Sayyid Bahodirxon; and Sufi saints
Tajuddin Muhammad Badruddin Taj al-Din ( ar, تاج الدين ) may refer to: Politicians and religious leaders * Cheraman Perumal Tajuddin ( 7th century)- First Hindu to convert to Islam and possibly only companion of the Prophet Muhammad from India *Al-Shahrastani or in ...
and
Pir Baba Sayyid Ali Tirmizi ( ps, سيد علي ترمذي), more commonly known as Pir Baba (), was a Naqvi Sayyid, and a Sufi who settled in Buner (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) among the Yusufzai Pashtuns. He was probably born in 908 AH (1 ...
. In her book ''Pain and Grace: A Study of Two Mystical Writers of Eighteenth-Century Muslim India'', Dr.
Annemarie Schimmel Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992. Early life and education ...
writes: Although Shiite historians generally reject the claim that Hasan al-Askari fathered children other than Muhammad al-Mahdi, Bab Mawlid Abi Muhammad al-Hasan writes, in the Shiite hadith book '' Usul al-Kafi'':


Africa

Muslim historians claimed that three of the descendants of Ali ibn Abu Talib migrated into Somalia and Ethiopia. The two Ashrafs migrated to Ethiopia and the remaining sayyid settled in Somalia.


Ethiopia

Muslim historians and geologists claimed that one of the Ashrafs called Hajji Ali migrated into southern part of Ethiopia. After he migrated there, he had a son and named him Gan-Silte. His children then called by their father's name "Silte". according to the Silte tribesmen, the father of Hajji Aliyye (Hajji Ali) was Hajji Omar bin Osman, who was an Arab. He used to live in Hejaz, now part of Saudi Arabia. He migrated to Harar first, then settled in the southern part of Omnan which is now a part of Silte.


Middle East

Men belonging to the ''Sayyid'' families or tribes in the Arab world used to wear white or ivory coloured daggers like jambiyas,
khanjar A ''khanjar'' ( ar, خنجر, ku, Xencer, bn, খঞ্জর, khôñjôr tr, Hançer, fa, خنجر, ur, خنجر, sh, Handžar) is a traditional dagger originating from Oman, although it has since spread to the rest of the Middle Eas ...
s or shibriyas to demarcate their nobility amongst other Arab men, although this custom has been restricted due to the local laws of the variously divided Arab countries.


Iraq

The ''Sayyid'' families in Iraq are so numerous that there are books written especially to list the families and connect their trees. Some of these families are: the Alyassiri, Al Aqeeqi, Al-Nasrullah, Al-Wahab, Al-Hashimi,Al-Barznji, Al-
Quraishi Qureshi (also known as Qureyshi, Quraishi, Qurayshi, Qureshy, Quraishy, Qoraishi, Qoreshi, Koraishi, Kureshi, Kureshy, Kureishi, Coreish) is a Muslim family name. In English it has many spellings, in Arabic is spelled "", which means part of the ...
, Al-Marashi, Al-Witry,
Al-Obaidi Al-Obaidi ( ar, العبيد, Al-Ubaidi or Al-Obeidi) is one of the Arab tribes in Iraq settled around Al Jazira, Mesopotamia. It hails from the tribe of Zubaid, which itself is an offshoot of the ancient Yemenite tribe Madh'hij. The tribe was an i ...
, Al-Samarai, Al-Zaidi, Al-A'araji, Al-Baka, Al-
Hasani Hassan or Hasan is an Arabic, Irish, Scottish, or Jewish ( Sephardic and Mizrahic) surname. Etymology and spelling There are several unrelated origins for this surname: * In Arabic, Hassan is a transliteration of two names that both derive ...
, Al-
Hussaini Husseini (also spelled Hussaini, Husaini, Hecini, Hosseini , Houssaini or Husayni, ar, حسیني) is an Arabic surname. Etymology It is a nisba derivation of the given name Hussein or Husain from the name of Imam Husain ibn Ali. People with the ...
, Al- Shahristani, Al-Qazwini Al-
Qadri The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...
, Tabatabaei, Al- Alawi, Al-Ghawalib (Al-Ghalibi),
Al-Musawi Al-Musawi ( ar, الموسوي, ) is a surname that indicates a person comes from a prestigious and highly respected Arabian family descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through al-Imam Musa al-Kadhim ibn Jafar as-Sadiq (7th Shi'a Imam). Fa ...
, Al-Awadi (not to be confused with the Al-Awadhi Huwala family), Al-Gharawi, Al-Sabzewari, Al-Shubber, Al-Hayali, Al-Kamaludeen and many others.


Iran

''Sayyids'' (in fa, سید ''Seyyed'') are found in vast numbers in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. The Chief of "National Organization for Civil Registration" of Iran declared that more than 1 million of Iranians are ''Sayyid''. The majority of ''Sayyids'' migrated to Iran from Arab lands predominantly in the 15th to 17th centuries during the Safavid era. The Safavids transformed the religious landscape of Iran by imposing
Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
Shiism Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
on the populace. Since most of the population embraced Sunni Islam, and an educated version of Shiism was scarce in Iran at the time,
Ismail Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
imported a new group of Shia ''
Ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
'' who predominantly were Sayyids from traditional Shiite centers of the Arabic-speaking lands, such as
Jabal Amel Jabal Amil ( ar, جبل عامل, Jabal ʿĀmil), also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila, is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Musl ...
(of southern Lebanon), Syria,
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, and
southern Iraq Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...
in order to create a state clergy. The Safavids offered them land and money in return for loyalty.The failure of political Islam, by Olivier Roy, Carol Volk, pg.170The Cambridge illustrated history of the Islamic world, by Francis Robinson, pg.72The Middle East and Islamic world reader, by Marvin E. Gettleman, Stuart Schaar, pg.42The Encyclopedia of world history: ancient, medieval, and modern ... by Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer, pg.360 These scholars taught Twelver Shiism, made it accessible to the population, and energetically encouraged conversion to Shiism. During the reign of Shah Abbas the Great, the Safavids also imported to Iran more Arab Shias, predominantly ''Sayyids'', built religious institutions for them, including many ''
Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
s'' (religious schools), and successfully persuaded them to participate in the government, which they had shunned in the past (following the
Hidden imam Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ( ar, محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justic ...
doctrine). Common ''Sayyid'' family surnames in Iran are Husseini, Mousavi, Kazemi, Razavi, Eshtehardian, Tabatabaei, Hashemi, Hassani, Jafari, Emami, Ahmadi, Zaidi,
Imamzadeh An imamzadeh () is a Persian term with two related meanings: a type of holy person in Shia Islam, and the shrine-tomb of such a person. Firstly, it means an immediate descendant of a Shi'i Imam. The term is also used in Urdu and Azeri. Imamzad ...
, Sherazi, Kermani (kirmani), Shahidi, and
Mahdavi A Mahdavi is an adherent of Mahdavia, a Mahdi'ist Muslim denomination. It may also refer to: Places * Shahid Mahdavi Stadium, a stadium in Bushehr, Iran * Shahrak-e Mahdavi, a village in Fars, Iran People An Iranian surname: * Ahmad Mahdavi Damg ...
.


Bahrain

In
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
''Sayyids'' are used to refer to great-grandchildren of Muhammed. ''Sayyids'' are funded every where and in vast populations although number are contradicted. ''Sayyids'' started living in
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
since the beging of the
8th century The 8th century is the period from 701 ( DCCI) through 800 ( DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad E ...
. The Bahrainis spurted,
Imam Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
in his wars in the Camel,
Siffin The Battle of Siffin was fought in 657 CE (37 AH) between Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth of the Rashidun Caliphs and the first Shia Imam, and Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the rebellious governor of Syria. The battle is named after its location ...
and
Nahrawan The Nahrevan Canal (Persian: کانال نرهوان) was a major irrigation system of the Sassanid and early Islamic periods in central Iraq, along the eastern banks of the Tigris and the lower course of the Diyala River. Created in the 6th centu ...
, and several Bahraini men emerged from the leaders of the Commander of the Faithful including the companion Zayd ibn Suhan al-Abdi who was killed in the Battle of the Camel when he was fighting alongside the Commander of
Imam Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
. And the companion Sa'sa'a bin Sohan Al Abdi who was the ambassador of the Commander of the Faithful to
Mu`awiyah Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
, and he and
Mu`awiyah Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
have many stories that historians have transmitted to us. Historians have called them this title because they agreed on a Thursday that they would die for the sake of the Commander of the Faithful. The tomb of Zayd ibn Suhan is still visited in
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
and is called by Bahrainis as Prince Zaid, as well as the tomb of the great companion Sa'sa'a bin Sohan Al Abdi who is buried in
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
.


Oman

In Oman, ''Sayyid'' is used by members of the Al Said ruling royal family. The absolute ruler of the country retains the title Sultan with members of the royal family eligible for succession to the throne given the title Sheikh, these may also use the title Sayyid should they wish to, although as Sheikh supersedes this, it is not a widely used practice. Members of the extended family or members by marriage carry the title ''Sayyid'' or ''Sayyida'' for a female. Such titles in
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
are hereditary through paternal lineage or in some exceptional circumstances, such as an honorary title given by
royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
. Members of the Al Said family use the term Sayyid solely as a title and not as a means of indicating descent, as the Al Said royal family does not descend from Banu Hashim or from
Imam Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
and instead descends from the
Qahtanite The terms Qahtanite and Qahtani ( ar, قَحْطَانِي; transliterated: Qaḥṭānī) refer to Arabs who originate from South Arabia. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple ancient Arabian inscriptions found in Yemen. Arab traditions b ...
Zahran tribe Zahran Tribe ( ar, قبيلة زهران), also known as Banū ʿZahrān ibn Kaʿab, is one of the oldest Arabian tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. It is regarded as one of the largest tribes in Al Bahah Province. Al Baha is the homeland of Zahr ...
.


Yemen

In Yemen the ''Sayyids'' are more generally known as ''sadah''; they are also referred to as ''
Hashemite The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921 ...
s''. In terms of religious practice they are
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
, Sunni, and Sufi. ''Sayyid'' families in
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
include the
Rassids The Imams of Yemen and later also the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and political rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured ...
, the Qasimids, the Mutawakkilites, the Hamideddins, some Al-Zaidi of Ma'rib, Sana'a, and
Sa'dah Saada ( ar, صَعْدَة, translit=Ṣaʿda), a city and ancient capital in the northwest of Yemen, is the capital and largest city of the province of the same name, and the county seat of the county of the same name. The city is located in the ...
, the
Ba 'Alawi sada The Ba 'Alawi sadah or Sadah Ba 'Alawi ( ar-at, السادة آل باعلوي, al-sādatu al-bā'alawiy) are a group of Hadhrami Sayyid families and social group originating in Hadhramaut in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The ...
families in Hadhramaut, Mufadhal of Sana'a, Al-Shammam of Sa'dah, the Sufyan of Juban, and the Al-Jaylani of Juban.


Libya

The ''Sayyids'' in Libya are Sunni, including the former royal family, which is Idrisid dynasty, originally Zaidi-Moroccan (also known as the Senussi family). The El-Barassa Family are ''Ashraf'' as claimed by the sons of Abdulsalam ben Meshish, a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib.


South Asia

Although people in South Asia claim Hashemite descent, genealogy family trees are studied to authenticate claims. In 1901 the total number of Sayyids in Presidencies and provinces of British India, British India was counted as 100.


History of South Asian ''Sayyids''

''Sayyids'' migrated many centuries ago from different parts of the Middle East and Central Asia (Turkestan) during the invasion of the Mongols, Ghaznavids, Ghaznavid dynasty, Delhi Sultanate, and Mughal Empire, encompassing a timespan of roughly until the late 19th century. ''Sayyids'' migrated to Sindh, Uch, Bihar Sharif, Sheikhpura , and Attock Khurd (Punjab) and settled there very early. Other early migrant ''Sayyids'' moved deep into the south to the Deccan sultanates located in the Deccan Plateau region in the time of the Bahmani Sultanate, and later Golkonda, Ahmadnagar Sultanate, Nizam Shahi of Ahmednagar, Adil Shahi dynasty, Bijapur, Bidar Sultanate, Bidar, and Berar Sultanate, Berar. Several visited India as merchants or escaped from the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid, Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Safavid Empire, Safavid. Their names appear in Indian history at the dissolution of the Mughal Empire, when the Sayyid brothers created and dethroned emperors at their will (1714–1720). The first Muslims appointed to the Council of India and the first appointed to the privy council were both ''Sayyids''.Descendants of Prophet Muhammad in India
By K D L Khan, Published on: 14 January 2012


Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, Seyyed Hazara, Sayyids (Sadat) are recognized as an ethnic group. On 13 March 2019, addressing the Sadat gathering at the presidential palace (Arg), President Ashraf Ghani said that he will issue a decree on the inclusion of Sadat ethnic group in new electronic national identity card Afghan identity card, (e-NIC). President Ashraf Ghani decreed mentioning 'Sadat tribe' in the electronic national identity on 15 March 2019. Sayyids of the north are generally located in Balkh and Kunduz; while in the east they can be found in Nangarhar. While most are Sunni Muslims, some in the Bamiyan province are to Shi'a.


India

The total ''Sayyid'' population in India is 7,017,000, with the largest populations in Uttar Pradesh (1,493,000), Maharashtra (1,108,000), Karnataka (766,000), Andhra Pradesh (727,000), Rajasthan (497,000), Bihar (419,000), West Bengal (372,000), Madhya Pradesh (307,000), Gujarat (245,000), Tamil Nadu (206,000), and 25,000 in Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. ''Sayyids'' are also found in the north-eastern state of Assam, where they are locally also referred to as ''Dawans''. In India, ''Sayyids'' of Hadramawt (who originated mainly from the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf) gained widespread fame. There is a big community of ''Sayyids'' settled in and around the Nanganallur region in Chennai that trace their ancestry directly to the ''Sayyids'' of Iraq. Traditional ''Sayyid'' families rarely marry outside their community, and emphasise marrying into ''Najeeb Altarfain'' (of ''Sayyid'' descent from both the mother's and father's side) families. This insistence on endogamy has begun to decline among the more urbanized families, with an increase in exogamy with other groups such as the Shaikh of Uttar Pradesh, Shaikh and Mughal (tribe), Mughals.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1246 to 1254 Manohar Publications Historically, the ''Sayyids'' of Uttar Pradesh were substantial landowners, often absentees, and this was especially the case with the Awadh taluqdars. In the urban townships, ''Sayyid'' families served as priests, teachers, and administrators with the United Kingdom, British colonial authorities given the community a preference in recruitment. Though they account for less than 3% of Muslim population, they control a majority of economic resources. The community also has a very high literacy rate. The independence and partition of India in 1947 was traumatic for the community, with many families becoming divided and some moving to Pakistan. This was followed by the abolition of the zamindari system, where land was redistributed to those who till the land. Many ''Sayyids'' who remained on the land are now medium and small scale farmers, while in urban areas, there has been a shift towards modern occupations. The ''Sayyids'' of Punjab region, Punjab belong to the ''Hasani'' (descendants of Hasan), ''Husaini'' (descendants of Husayn), ''Zaidi'' (descendants of Zayd ibn Ali, grandson of Husayn), Rizvi, (descendants of Ali al-Ridha), and ''Naqvi'' and their sub-caste Bukhari (descendants of Ali al-Hadi).


North India

The earliest migration of ''Sayyids'' from Afghanistan to North India took place in 1032 when Gazi Saiyyed Salar Sahu (general and brother-in-law of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni) and his son Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud established their military headquarters at Satrikh ( from Zaidpur) in the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh. They are considered to be the first Muslim settlers in North India. In 1033 Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud was killed at the battle of Bahraich, the location of his ''Mazar (mausoleum), mazr''. Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud had no children. His parental uncle Syed Maroofuddin Ghazi and his family lived in Tijara until 1857 before they migrated to Bhopal. Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri and Khan Bahadur Aga Syed Hussain were both Rizvi ''Sayyids'' through Aaqa Meer Sayyid Hussain Qomi Rizvi, whose sacred shrine is in the Zainageer Village of Sopore, Kashmir. Iraqi ''Sayyids'' or Iraqi biradri in Eastern Uttar Pradesh are descendants of ''Sayyid'' Masud Al Hussaini who was the direct descendant of Muhammad's grandson Hussain ibn Ali and came to India from Iraq during the reign of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq in 1330 A.D. He settled with his seven sons and forty champions in Ghazipur (U.P.) as some of them (i.e., Syed Abu Bakr in Nonahra, Ghazipur) converted to Sunni Islam in the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi around 1517. His Shia descendants are now known as ''Sayyids'' of Ghazipur. ''Sayyids'' of Syed nagli, or Said Nagli, or the Baquari Syeds had migrated from Termez (Present day Uzbekistan) during the Sultanate era. Sikandar Lodi was the ruler of Delhi when Mir Syed Mohammad al Hussain al Hussaini al Termezi Haji al Haramain came to India and settled at Syed Nagli. He was a Baquari Syed who drew his lineage from Muhammad al Baqir. Perhaps the most important figure in the history of the Sayyid in Uttar Pradesh was Sayyid Basrullah Shustari, who moved from Mashad in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
in 1549 and joined the court of the Mughal Empire, Mughal Emperor Akbar. Akbar appointed Shustari as his chief justice, who used his position to strengthen the status of the various ''Sayyid'' families. They were preferred in administrative posts and formed a privileged elite. When the Mughal Empire disintegrated, the ''Sayyid'' played an important role in the turbulent politics of the time. The new United Kingdom, British colonial authorities that replaced the Mughal Empire, Mughals after the Battle of Buxar made a pragmatic decision to work with the various ''Sayyid'' jagirdars. Several ''Sayyid'' taluqdars in Awadh were substantial landowners under the British colonial regime, and many other ''Sayyid'' contributed to state administration.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three, edited by A Hasan & J C Das After the abolition of the zamindari system, many ''Sayyid'' zamindars (e.g. that of Ghazipur) had to leave their homes.


=Uttar Pradesh

= The ancestor of the Bārha ''Sayyids'', Sayyid Abu'l Farah Al Hussaini Al Wasti, left his original home in Wasit, Iraq, Wasit, Iraq, with his twelve sons at the end of the 13th century and migrated to India, where he obtained four villages in Sirhind-Fategarh. By the 16th century Abu'l Farah's descendants had taken over Bārha villages in Muzaffarnagar district, Muzaffarnagar. The Sayyeds of Abdullapur Meerut are descendants of great saint Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari. They had a large Jagirdara consisting of 52 villages.Abdullapur named after Syed Mir Abdulla Naqvi Al Bukhari, he built Kot Fort of this place in the 16th century, it was his main residence. Bukhari of Abdullapur are fractionate into Kannauji Bukhari and Jalal Bukhari. Kannauji's are descendants of Jalaludin Haider through Syed Mehboob Alam Naqvi-ul Bukhari Al-Maroof Shah Jewna or Shah Jewna son of warrior and chief advisor of Sikandar Lodi. Famous writer Syed Qudrat Naqvi Al Bukhari was born here later migrated to Pakistan after partition, his famous books are Ghalib kaun hai, Asaas-i-Urdu, Ghalib-i-sad rang, Seerat-un-Nabi, Hindi-Urdu lughat, Mutal'a-i-Abdul Haq, Lisani maqalaat. The ''Sayyids'' of Bilgram are Hussaini Sayyids, who first migrated from Wasit, Iraq, in the 13th century. Their ancestor, Syed Mohammad Sughra, a Zaidi ''Sayyid'' of Iraq, arrived in India during the rule of Sultan Iltutmish. In 1217–18 the family conquered and settled in Bilgram. A notable Sufi that belonged to a ''Sayyid'' family was Syed Salar Masud, from whom many of the Sayyid families of Awadh claim their lineage. ''Sayyids'' of Salon, India, Salon (Raebareli), Jarwal (Bahraich), Kintoor (Barabanki city, Barabanki), and Zaidpur (Barabanki) were well-known ''Taluqadars'' (feudal lords) of Awadh province. Sadaat also found in Kannauj trace their lineage from Husayn through Ali al-Hadi, a branch of Naqvi Bukhari. Famous Pir Syed Mehboob Alam Naqvi-ul Bukhari Al-Maroof Shah Jewna son of great warrior Syed Sadaruddin Shah Kabeer Naqvi (saint and also chief advisor) of Sikandar Lodi was also born in Kannauj and spent 66yrs of his life in kannauj later moved to Shah Jeewna. Makhdoom Jahaniya Mosque is still present in Shikana,Kannauj. Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan was also from Kannauj, he is a Bukhari Naqvi Sayyed converted from Shi'a Islam to Sunni Islam in the early 1800s.


=Bihar

= There are different families of syeds in Bihar who belong to direct descendent of Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain. Mostly there are Hussaini (Rizvi, Zaidi, Baqri) along with Hasani (Malik , Quadri or Geelani). Sadaat are settle in different part of bihar including shia and sunni sects. They are mostly migrated to bihar from Iraq and Iran. Sufi Saint Sharafuddin Maneri belongs to Banu hashim family of Imam Taj Faqih Rh. In Bihar, Sayyids were landlords, judges, barristers, intellectuals, civil servant, clerics, teachers, businessmen and farmers. Sufi Saint and a worrior Malik Ibrahim Bayu who conquered Bihar during the time of tughlaq is one the most famous personality in bihar. Bihar's first prime minister Mohammad Yunus (politician), Mohammad Yunus Nobel prize nominee and Padma shri winner Syed Hassan (educationist), Political Scientist Abu Bakr Ahmad Haleem was the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Aligarh University and Karachi University , The great Abdul Bari (professor),Zaid Hamid Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid is a Pakistani far-right, Islamist political commentator and was included in 500 most influential muslims in world and Brigadier Malik Mokhtar Karim are few names from Malik Sadaat of bihar. Zaidi Sadaat of Bihar are the descendants of Sufi saint Syed Ahmad Jajneri and Syed Mohammed Jajneri. Syed Ahmad Jajneri migrated to India from Baghdad during the reign of Muhammad of Ghor and later migrated to Bihar. He was the direct descendant of Zayd ibn Ali who was the grandson of Husayn ibn Ali and therefore his descendants are called Husseini(Zaidi (disambiguation), Zaidi)Sadaat. His descendants are mostly settled in Bihar Sharif, Munger, Sheikhpura and Jamui region of Bihar. Most prominent personalities of Sadaat of Bihar were from Desna, Bihar. For Example Syed Mohammed Saeed Raza, Abdul Qavi Desnavi and Sulaiman Nadvi. Desna's library, established in 1892, had thousands of old Persian language, Persian and Urdu manuscripts. After the partition of India, during uncertain times of mass emigration to Pakistan, the books were donated to Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library, Khuda Bakhsh Khan Library in Patna, where a Desna section was established to house these treasures. Other famous personalities of Bihari Syed were Syed Sultan Ahmed, Syed Hasan Imam and Sir Imam Ali .


=Gujarat

= In Gujarat, most of the Sayyid families are descended from individuals invited by the Gujarat Sultanate, Muslim rulers of Gujarat to serve as advisers and administrators, and were granted ''jagirs''. During the period of Sultan Mahmud Begada (1458–1511), the sultan provided land to three Sayyid brothers and a grant to settle there after the victory of Pavagadh Fort. In 1484 the sultan conquered the fort on 21 November 1484 and transferred his capital to Champaner, which he completely rebuilt at the foothills of the Pavagadh Fort and named it Muhammadabad. During Mughal rule in Gujarat (1570–1750), the ''Sayyid'' held the majority of the civil and ecclesiastical posts. For example, the ''Sayyids'' of Thasra, Kheda district, were invited to serve as administrators and judges by the Mughal emperors, Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, and were provided land grants to settle there. They also comprised a significant portion of the Mughal army, and many are still found in old Muslim garrison towns like Ahmedabad. Many of the early Sufi saints that came to Gujarat belonged to ''Sayyid'' families, most of which came from Central Asia, Iran, Yemen,
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
, Basra, and Bahrain.Shajra-e-Nasab (Syed family tree) Sadat e Gothada -Jahidali J.Saiyad, Gothada


South India


=Kerala

= Thangals, a social group in among the Muslims of Kerala (most whom follow the Shafi'i madhab), are roughly equivalent to the Sayyids. The thangal families are numerous in Kerala. Most members of the community practices endogamy and some are considered as saints. Thangal families have many gradations of status on social and economic scale. Influential of the thangals generally come from prominent business families. They usually exercise their influence through commerce and politics.


= Tamil Nadu

= There are a notable number of ''Sayyids'' in Tamil Nadu that mostly concentrate in the cities like Erwadi, Nagore, Madurai, and Kayalpattinam. Badusha Sulthan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed of Ervadi, a Hussaini descendant of Mohammed and a ruler of Madinah, travelled to South India in the middle of the 12th century. His descendants who live in Ervadi with the clan name Levvai are from a single forefather and are ''Sayyids''. The heirs of Shahul Hamid Abdul Qadir badusha of Nagore who live there and are called with clan name of Sahib or Saab or Saabu are ''Sayyids''. Kazi Syed Tajuddin the son of Mufti Jamaluddin al Ma'abari who founded the Kazimar Big Mosque in the 13th century the first mosque in Madurai is a Hussaini descendant of Mohammed and hence belong to Syed family. Until recently, his descendants (Syeds-Qazis-Huqdars) lived in the same Kazimar Street locality in the center of Madurai city for over seven centuries and managed the Kazimar Big Mosque constructed by their forefather. Syed Tajuddin's younger son Kazi Alauddin lived in Kayalpattinam and his shrine is found there.


Genetic studies of ''Sayyids'' of the Indian sub-continent

The authors of the study, the Y chromosomes of self-identified Syeds from the Indian sub-continent are no less diverse than those non-Syeds from the same regions'','' suggested that Syed status, rather than being strictly patrilineal, may have been passed through other routes. The paper, "Y chromosomes of self-identified Syeds from the Indian subcontinent''",'' by Elise M. S. Belle, Saima Shah, Tudor Parfitt, and Mark G. Thomas showed that "self-identified Syeds had no less genetic diversity than those non-Syeds from the same regions, suggesting that there is no biological basis to the belief that self-identified Syeds in this part of the world share a recent common ancestry. However, self-identified men belonging to the ‘Islamic honorific lineages’ (Syeds, Hashemites, Quraysh and Ansari) show a greater genetic affinity to Arab populations—despite the geographic distancethan do their neighbouring populations from South Asia. In Northern India, 29 per cent of the Shia Muslim belong to Haplogroup J-P209, haplogroup J. There are 18 per cent belonging mainly to Haplogroup J-M172, haplogroup J2 and another 11 per cent belong to Haplogroup J-M267, haplogroup J1, which both represent Middle Eastern lineages. J1 is exclusively Near Eastern.


Southeast Asia

Most of the Alawi ''Sayyids'' who moved to Southeast Asia were descendants of Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, especially of
Ba 'Alawi sada The Ba 'Alawi sadah or Sadah Ba 'Alawi ( ar-at, السادة آل باعلوي, al-sādatu al-bā'alawiy) are a group of Hadhrami Sayyid families and social group originating in Hadhramaut in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The ...
, many of which were descendants of migrants from Hadhramaut. Even though they are alleged descendants of Husain ibn Ali, Husayn, it is uncommon for the female Sayyids to be called ''Sayyidah''; they are more commonly called ''Sharifah''. Most of them live in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Moro Province in Philippines, Pattani and Cambodia. Many of the royal families of this region such as the previous royal families of the Philippines (Sultanate of Sulu, Sultanate of Maguindanao, Confederation of Sultanates of Ranao), Singapore (Sultanate of Singapore), Malaysia (Sultanates of Johor and Perlis), Indonesia (Sultanates of Siak, Pontianak, Gowa, some Javanese Sultanates), and the existing royal family of Brunei (House of Bolkiah) are also Sayyids, especially of Ba'Alawi. Some common surnames of these ''Sayyids'' are al-Saqqaf, Shihab (or Shahab), al-Aidaroos, al-Habsyi (or al-Habshi), al-Kaff, al-Aththos, al-Haddad, al-Jufri (or al-Jifri), al-Muhdhar, al-Shaikh Abubakar, al-Qadri, al-Munawwar.


Tesayyud

In the Ottoman Empire, tax breaks for "the Ahl al-Bayt, People of the House" encouraged many people to buy certificates of descent or forge genealogies; the phenomenon of ''teseyyüd'' – falsely claiming noble ancestry – spread across ethnic, class, and religious boundaries. In the 17th century, an Ottoman bureaucrat estimated that there were 300,000 impostors. In 18th-century Anatolia, nearly all upper-class urban people claimed descent from Muhammad.


Special requirements in Sunni Islam

According to Iran's religious leader and the Deobandi creed—a creed especially followed by patriarchal Pashtun tribes—the status of being a ''Sayyid'' can only be attributed through patrilineal lineage. According to
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
opinions, children of a ''Sayyida'' mother and a non-''Sayyid'' father are referred to as Mirza. The Persian notation "Mirza", which is a derivation of the word "Mirzada" (i.e., Son of a Mir (title), "Mir") has various meanings: one is a ''Sayyid'' leader of a ''Sayyid'' branch or community, simultaneously being a religious Islamic scholar. Thus, a ''Sayyid'' of patrilineal lineage, being the son of a Mir (title), Mir, can also be called "Mirza". This example substantiates the fact that there are different opinions concerning the transmission of the title ''Sayyid''. Another historical opinion of Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Naqib al-ashraf, Naqib al Ashrafs expresses that children of maternal prophetical descent are called ''
Sharif Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, f ...
''. However, in 1632 when an Ottoman court challenged a man wearing a ''Sayyid'' green turban, he established that he was a ''Sayyid'' on his mother's side, which was accepted by the court. In patriarchal societies, women usually have to assimilate themselves into their husband's status. However, this does not affect female descendants of Muhammad as it is seen as a sacred blood relation. Thus, the heraldic title can be given to an individual through his or hers mother's line in accordance to Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Naqib al-ashraf, Naqib al-Ashrafs. Even the Zaynabids, the descendants of Zainab binte Ali, Lady Zainab, the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib can also be titled ''Sayyid'' or ''Sharif'', according to the Egyptian Al-Suyuti. In Tajikistan matrilineal descendants are honoured. It is to be added that the supervision over the family of
Bahauddin Naqshband Baha' al-Din Naqshband ( fa, بهاءالدین محمد نقشبند; 1318–1389) was the eponymous founder of what would become one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi. Background Baha al-Din was born in March 1318 in the vill ...
and his descendants has been passed on through the maternal line. Hazrat Ishaan was a maternal descendant of
Bahauddin Naqshband Baha' al-Din Naqshband ( fa, بهاءالدین محمد نقشبند; 1318–1389) was the eponymous founder of what would become one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi. Background Baha al-Din was born in March 1318 in the vill ...
and his successor Sayyid Mir Jan was in turn again a descendant of Hazrat Ishaan from his mother's side. This indicates the possibility of even being a Mir (title), Mir or Naqib ul Ashraf from the mother's side. The requisites of it are the following: * Being able to trace his lineage back to Muhammad as ancestor * Being a Mumin, Pious Muslim * Receiving the blessings of previous Naqib ul Ashraf, Mir (title), Mir or Sayyid Mir Fazlullah Agha, Sayyid ul Sadaat * Total affiliation as an Alid, meaning a son of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, hence neglecting any other affiliations * Being learned in the Quran and the Sunnah * Being a knowledgeable practicing Sufi * Noble and well-mannered character * For a Mir (title), Mir especially, being qualified as a leader The above remuneration is in accordance with a hadith of Muhammad in which he declares that a hypocrite is not to be addressed as a "Sayyid".Sunan Abi Dawud, book 43, Hadith 205 Hence it is even problematic in a judicial point of view to call a patrilineal descendant of Ali Ibn Abi Talib a Sayyid, when he does not meet the above-mentioned criteria.


See also

* Family tree of Muhammad *Kohen, a similar status in Judaism


Notes


References


Sources



{{Authority control Alids, * Arabic words and phrases Fatimah Hashemite people Islamic terminology Islamic honorifics Family of Muhammad, * Descendants of individuals