Sayyid
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Sayyid (Arabic: سيد) (plural sādah) 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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Transliteration
| Language | Transliteration | Areas spoken |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | Sayyid, Sayyidi, Sayyed, Sayid, Sidi (Maghrebi) | Arab world |
| Baluchi | Sayyid Sayeed, Sayyed, Sayid | Baluchistan region |
| Kurdish | Seyîd, Seyyid, Seyit | Kurdish region |
| Persian | Sayyed, Sayed, Seyyed, Saiyed, Saeid, Siyyid | 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) |
| Malay | Syed | Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore |
| Spanish | Cid | Al-Andalus |
| 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.
[edit] Other Titles for Saadah
| Language | Title | Areas spoken |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | Sharif, Habib | Arab world |
| Pashto, Urdu, Saraiki, Punjabi, Sindhi, Bengali, Malay | Shah, Agha, Saab, Mir | South and South East Asia |
| Malay | Sharifah, Syarifah | Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei |
| Malayalam | Thangal[citation needed] | Kerala, India |
| Gujarati | Sayedna, Syedna, Sayednah | Northwest India, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Urdu, Punjabi | Shah, Shah Ji, Pir, Pir Sahib | Pakistan |
| Persian | Mir, Mirza | Iran |
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.
[edit] 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 | Alawi2 | Allawi2 or Alawi3 | Alavi2 علوى | Alavi
2 or Awan |
| Hasan ibn Ali | al-Hashimi or al-Hassani | al-Hashimi or al-Hassani | Hashemi, Hassani, or Tabatabai حسنى | Hassani or Hashmi |
| Husayn ibn Ali | al-Hussaini | al-Hussaini1 | Hosseini حسينى | Hussaini or Shah |
| Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al Abidin | al-Abidi | al-Abidi | Abedi عابدى | Abidi |
| Zayd ibn Ali ash-Shahid | az-Zaidi | al-Zaidi | Zaidi زيدي | Zaidi |
| Muhammad al-Baqir | al-Baqiri | al-Baqiri | Bagheri باقرى | Baqri |
| Jafar as-Sadiq | al-Ja'fari | al-Ja'fari | Jafari or Jafri جعفرى | Jafri, Jafry or Jaffery |
| Musa al-Kadhim | Al Mosawi | al-Mousawi or al-Kadhimi | Musavi or Kazemi موسوى / كاظمى | Kazmi or Mosavi |
| Ali ar-Rida | ar-Radawi | al-Ridawi or al-Radawi | Rezavi or Razavi رضوى | Rizvi |
| Muhammad at-Taqi | at-Taqawi | al-Taqawi | Taghavi تقوى | Taqvi or Taqwi |
| Ali al-Hadi | an-Naqawi | al-Naqawi | Naqavi نقوى | Naqvi |
| Fatima Zahra | Ashraf Al-Quraishi | Al-Husaini or Al-Fatimi | Fatemi | Fatmi or Qureishi |
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 transliterate 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 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.
[edit] Sayyids in South Asia
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Some Sayyid families in South Asia 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 and Central Asia Turkestan, during the invasion of Mongol Halaku and other periods of turmoil. They migrated through Herat (then part of Iran) in Afghanistan to different parts of modern Pakistan and 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 South Asia 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 India's history, Syeds or Sayyids were mostly connected to religious, spiriutal and educational activities. The notable Syeds of South Asia include Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery aka Data Ganj Bakhsh, Moinuddin Chishti, Khwaja Qutbuddin Baktiyar Kaki, Nizamuddin Auliya, Nasiruddin Muhammad Chirag-e-Dehli, Muhammad Hussaini Gisudaraz Bandanawaz, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Akbar Allahabadi, the Shahi Imams of Delhi ,Syed Shahbuddin, ,Syed Akbar, and Ashraf Jahangir simnani[citation needed].
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- 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.
- The BaAlawi Genealogy
"Sayad". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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