From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sayyid (Arabic: سيد‎) (plural sādah Arabic: سادة‎) literally means Mister. In the Arab world itself, the word is the equivalent of the English "Mister", as in Sayyid John Smith. The same concept is expressed by the word sidi (from the contracted form sayyidī 'my lord') in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.^[1]

As an honorific title, the term Sayyid is given to males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, who were the sons of the prophet's 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.

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.

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.

Alevi use seyyid (Turkish) 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), meaning lord.

As-Sayyid is also used as title or a form of address to denote a prince or superior in the Sultanate of Oman.

Transliteration

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. The name, however, could also be an anglicized form of the common Arabic name Sa‘id, with -y- as in 'shy', 'fly', etc.

Other Titles for Saadah

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.

However, many Sayyids around the world are Fake Sayyids and claim descent of the Prophet. This is because they want to gain respect and authority. Many of these sayyids provide fake documents and fake lineages, or steal a person's lineage and claim that they are sayyids. The numbers are in millions. Many of the fake sayyids are located in Arab countries, Iran, Pakistan, India, and many countries around the world.^{[citation needed]}

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.

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". 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.

Sayyids in the Arab World

Sayyids in Yemen

There are Shiite 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, Al-Saqqaf in Hadramauwt, Al-Wazir of Sana'a, etc.

Sayyids in Iraq

There are many Sayyids in the Arab world and many of them formed their own tribes or stuck to their original tribe Banu Hashim. In Iraq, there are many Sayyids, especially in the southern region of Iraq. These Sayyids formed their own tribes and families such as Al-Yasiri, Al-Zaidi, Al-A'araji, Al-Hashimi, Al-Hassani, Al-Hussaini, Al-Rifa'i, Al-Alawi, Al-Ghawalib (Al-Ghalibi), Al-Mosawi and many more. There are Sayyids in nearly every city in Iraq.

Iraqi Sayyids

There are sayyids in Iraq of Iranian origin. 85%-90% of the sayyids in Iraq are Shia Muslims. Many sayyids in Iraq joined many Arab tribes centuries ago, especially in southern Iraq. Because they used to be tortured and murdered, many of them migrated from Iraq to Asian and many countries around the world. These sayyids have joined tribes in Iraq are still now protected by the tribe. Genealogists claim that the sayyids who have joined the tribes in Iraq are Real Sayyids. There are many sunni sayyid in Kurdistan north of Iraq and west of Iran.

Sayyids in Saudi Arabia

There are many Sayyids in Saudi Arabia, families such as Al-Hashimi, Al-Alawi, Al-Hussaini, Al—Hassani and many more. Sayyids are located in nearly every Arab country, it includes the real and the fake.

Sayyids in South Asia

Few Sayyid families in South Asia are direct descendants of the Prophet of Islam through his daughter Fâtimah and son-in-law Ali. While the term is generally a honorific title like Sir or Lord; it has received casteist notions in South Asia. More than 14 millions South Asians claim Prophet's descent^[2] in South Asia, a number much higher than reality. For example, the number of people claiming to be Sayyids in South Asia is higher than the combined populations of Jordan, UAE, Lebanon, Palestine, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.^[3] But then the term has historically been used to denote wealth and properity or allegiance to Sufi Saints most of whom were Sayyids. Their ancestors migrated from different parts of Iran and Central Asia Turkestan, during the invasion of Mongol Halaku and other periods of turmoil. This migration from the Arabian Peninsuela was mainly due to the harsh empires such as Abbasid, Ummayid and Ottoman empires because of their Sayyid Identity and saw them as a threat. Most of the Muslims using Sayyid title adopted the title of the Sufi saints whom they considered their patron Saint and their pathway to Allah. Most of the Sufis were Sayyids and this explains the disproportionately large numbers of Sayyids in Indian subcontinent. It should also be kept in mind that three major phases of Arabs'migration to Indian subcontinent have happened in history. The strength never exceeded 30,000-35,000.

These migrations occurred during the periods of Mahmud Ghaznavi, Delhi Sultanate and Mughals and continued till late into the 19th century. 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 or mostly escaping from Abbasid, Umayyid and Ottoman empires. 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 business activities. It is notable to see that Sayyidism has evolved into a full scale racial and social stratification in most non-Arab Muslim countries with most peasant families trying to accord Sayyid status to gain status and respect in society. For example in Indian subcontinent , if the claims of Arabian descent are believed for most claims, arguably 70% of the Muslim society will have Arabian ancestry which cannot be proven.

See also

• Sadaat Amroha
• Saadat-e-Bara
• Ba'Alawi

References

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.
• [1]
• The BaAlawi Genealogy
•  "Sayad". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

English

Etymology

From Arabic سَيّد, meaning master, sir, mister.

Proper noun

Wikipedia has an article on:

Sayyid

Wikipedia

Sayyid

1. A male given name of Arabic origin.
2. (Islam) An honorific title borne by male descendants of the prophet Muhammad.
3. In Arabic it is also a form of address of a male dignitary, with the feminine form being سيدة.
4. Arabic equivalent of English Mr.

Alternative spellings

• Sayed
• Syed
• Sayid
• Said

See also

• El Cid

From Familypedia

Descendants of The Prophet through his daughter Fatima and cousin Ali.

Muslim family name. (Sometimes referred to as a "caste".) Traditionally used as a prefix. Now sometimes used as a last name; especially amongst Muslims in the West.

Used particularly in Persian communities and South Asia. Particularly common and significant amongst the Shia, since they trace their theology to Ali