Sayyid

Sayyid (Arabic: سيد‎) (plural sādah Arabic: سادة‎) literally means Mister.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 although some Sayyids took the title Sheikh. 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 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]

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.

The term Sayyid is also 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.

Contents

Transliteration

Language Transliteration Areas spoken
Arabic Sayyid, Sayyidi, Sayyed, Sayid, Saiyyid, Saiyid, Sidi Arab world
Azerbaijani Seyid, Seyyid Azerbaijan, Iran
Baluchi Sayyid, Syed, Sayeed, Sayyed, Sayid Baluchistan region
Indonesia Sayyid, Syed, Sayid Indonesia
Kurdish Seyid, Syed, Seyyid, Seyit Kurdish region
Malay Syed Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
Pashto Sayed, Syed Afghanistan & Northwest portion of Pakistan
Bengali Syed Bangladesh and Eastern India
Persian Sayyed, Sayed, Seyyed, Seyed, Saiyed, Saeid, Siyyid Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
Punjabi Sayed, Syed Pakistan, India
Seraiki, Sindhi Sayed, Syed Pakistan
Somali Sayyid Somalia, Djibouti
Turkish Seyed, Seyit, Seyyid, Seyyed Turkey, Azerbaijan and Central Asia
Bosnian Seid, Seit, Sait, Sead Bosnia and Herzegovina
Urdu, Marathi, Hindi, Assamese, Konkani, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati Syed, Saiyad, Saiyed, Sayyid, Saiyed, Saiyid, Sayyed South Asia
Spanish Cid Al-Andalus
Other Siyyid

People chose different Romanised 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

Language Title Areas spoken
Arabic Sharif, Habib Arab world
Urdu, Saraiki, Punjabi 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
Persian, Pashto Mir, Mirza, Agha Iran, Afghanistan
Bengali, Malay Shah, Agha, Saab, Mir South and South East Asia

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 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 Hashemi
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

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

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 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

There are sayyids in Iraq of Persian 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 Sayyids migrated from Iraq to South Asia. Also Sayyids have joined tribes in Iraq and are still now protected by the tribe. Genealogists claim that the Sayyids who have joined the tribes in Iraq are Real Sayyids. Many Sayyids in Iraq formed their own tribes and families such as Al-Yasiri, Al-Zaidi, Al-A'araji, Al-Hassani, Al-Hussaini, Al-Rifa'i, Al-Alawi, Al-Ghawalib (Al-Ghalibi), Al-Mosavi others. There are also Sunni Sayyids in Kurdistan.

Sayyids in Saudi Arabia

There are many Sayyids in Saudi Arabia, families such as Al-Hashemi (Also said as Bin Hashem), Al-Jarba , Al-Alawi, Al-Hussaini, Al-Hassani, Al -Mussallam (Also said as Bin Mussallam) and others.

Sayyids in Libya

All Sayyids in Libya are Sunni Muslims. Many families in Libya are included within the Ashraf tribe, i.e. Sayyids tribe. Azzouz and Al-Hashemi are some of the families which decended from the ashraf tribes.

Sayyids in South Asia

Sayyid families in South Asia are direct descendants of the Prophet of Islam through his daughter Fatimah Zahra and son-in-law Ali. The term is generally a honorific title like Sir or Lord. More than 14 million South Asians claim Prophet's descent[2] in South Asia. This accounts for approximately 3% of the Muslim population of South Asia. 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.

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 ago. Several Syeds visited India as merchants along with the general Arab traders or mostly escaping 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 again figures in Indian history at the break up of the Mughal empire, when the Syed Brothers created and dethroned Emperors at their will (1714-1720). The first Mahommedans appointed to the Council of India and the first appointed to the Privy Council were both Syeds. Important Sayyid communities in India include the Sadaat Amroha, Saadat-e-Bara, Sayyids of Hallaur and the Sayyid of Gujarat.

See also

References

  1. ↑ People of India by Herbert Risely
  2. ↑ Sayyid Ethnic People in all Countries Joshua Project

External links