Origin Of Syed
Syed (Arabic: سيد) (plural sāadah) is an honorific title that is given to males, accepted as descendants of the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) through his grandsons, Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) and Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS), who were the sons of his daughter Bibi Syeda Fatima Zahra (RA) and son-in-law and his cusin Hazrat Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS).
Daughters of Syeds are given the titles Sayyida, Alawiyah, Syarifah or Sharifah.
Children of a Sayeda mother but a non-Syed father cannot be attributed the title of Syed, however they may claim maternal descent and are called Mirza.
Description Of Syed:
The word literally means "master" the closest English equivalent would be "sir". In the Arab world itself, the word is still used as a substitute for "Mister". The same concept is expressed by the word Sidi (from the Arabic word 'sayyidi') in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic. Alevis use Syed (In 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 Ahle Baith.
El Cid, the name given to a famous Spanish knight of the 11th century C.E., is derived from Al-Sayyid (as-sayyid), meaning Sir or Higher rank.
Syed In Other Languages
Arabic - Sayyid, Sayyidi, Sayyed, Sayid, Sidi (Maghrebi)
Baluchi - Sayyid Sayeed, Sayyed, Sayid
Kurdish - Seyid, Seyyid, Seyit
Persian - Sayyed, Sayed, Seyyed, Saiyed, Saeid, Siyyid
Turkish - Seyed, Seyit, Seyyid, Seyyed
Pashto - Sayed, Syed
IndianSub Continent - Syed, Saiyad, Sayyid, Saiyed.
Malay - Syed
Spanish - Cid
Al-Andalus and 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" while the immigrants of South Asian origin use "Syed", this tendency may be extended to all ethnic communities.
Other Titles for Saadah:
Sharif, Habib - In Arab world.
Shah, Agha, Saab, Mir - In Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki and Bengali.
Other Arabic honorific terms include sheikh and sharif.
The line of Hassani sayyids who ruled Mecca, Medina, Iraq and now in Jordan, the Hashemites, bore the title of 'sharif' (plu.Ashraf). 'Sharif' is reserved for descendants of Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) while 'Syed' is used for descendants of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS). However since the post-Hashemite era began, the term 'Sayyid' has been used to denote descendants from both Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Hussain (AS).
Indication of descent:
Syeds, 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, 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.The user may transliterate the word letter for letter, e.g. "الزيدي" becomes "a-l-z-ai-d-i".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. Those who use the term sayyid for all descendants of Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) regard Allawis or Alavis as sayyids.
However Allawis are not descendants of Muhammad (SAW), as they are descended from the children of Hazrat Ali (AS) and his second wife, the women he married after the death of Bibi Fatima Zahra (RA), such as Umm al Baneen/ Fatima bint Hizam.
Daughters of Syeds are given the titles Sayyida, Alawiyah, Syarifah or Sharifah.
Children of a Sayeda mother but a non-Syed father cannot be attributed the title of Syed, however they may claim maternal descent and are called Mirza.
Description Of Syed:
The word literally means "master" the closest English equivalent would be "sir". In the Arab world itself, the word is still used as a substitute for "Mister". The same concept is expressed by the word Sidi (from the Arabic word 'sayyidi') in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic. Alevis use Syed (In 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 Ahle Baith.
El Cid, the name given to a famous Spanish knight of the 11th century C.E., is derived from Al-Sayyid (as-sayyid), meaning Sir or Higher rank.
Syed In Other Languages
Arabic - Sayyid, Sayyidi, Sayyed, Sayid, Sidi (Maghrebi)
Baluchi - Sayyid Sayeed, Sayyed, Sayid
Kurdish - Seyid, Seyyid, Seyit
Persian - Sayyed, Sayed, Seyyed, Saiyed, Saeid, Siyyid
Turkish - Seyed, Seyit, Seyyid, Seyyed
Pashto - Sayed, Syed
IndianSub Continent - Syed, Saiyad, Sayyid, Saiyed.
Malay - Syed
Spanish - Cid
Al-Andalus and 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" while the immigrants of South Asian origin use "Syed", this tendency may be extended to all ethnic communities.
Other Titles for Saadah:
Sharif, Habib - In Arab world.
Shah, Agha, Saab, Mir - In Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki and Bengali.
Other Arabic honorific terms include sheikh and sharif.
The line of Hassani sayyids who ruled Mecca, Medina, Iraq and now in Jordan, the Hashemites, bore the title of 'sharif' (plu.Ashraf). 'Sharif' is reserved for descendants of Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) while 'Syed' is used for descendants of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS). However since the post-Hashemite era began, the term 'Sayyid' has been used to denote descendants from both Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Hussain (AS).
Indication of descent:
Syeds, 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, 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.The user may transliterate the word letter for letter, e.g. "الزيدي" becomes "a-l-z-ai-d-i".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. Those who use the term sayyid for all descendants of Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) regard Allawis or Alavis as sayyids.
However Allawis are not descendants of Muhammad (SAW), as they are descended from the children of Hazrat Ali (AS) and his second wife, the women he married after the death of Bibi Fatima Zahra (RA), such as Umm al Baneen/ Fatima bint Hizam.
table-syed.doc | |
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