SAYYID – Hybrid Learning

SAYYID

Batoota — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 02:21:28 +0000

SAYYID. An honorific title popularly used for the descendants of the prophet Muhammad, especially those who descend from his second grandson, Husayn ibn `Al’i, the son of Muhammad’s daughter Fatimah, sayyid literally means lord, master, prince, or one who possesses glory, honor, dignity, eminence, or exalted position among his people. It was commonly used by the Arabs before Islam for those who possessed these qualities either by birth or by acquiring them through noble deeds and magnanimous acts. In pre-Islamic literature such expressions as “he was or became chief, lord, or master [sayyid] of his people” can be found. Sayyid was even used to refer to animals, for example, “my shecamel left behind all other camels or beasts [sayyids].” Sayyid was also typically the name for the head of a tribe or clan, as in the Qur’an (33.67), “And they (the unbelievers) would say: `Our Lord: we obeyed our chiefs [sayyids] and our great ones, and they misled us.’ ” The Qur’an also uses sayyid in praise of the prophet Yahya: “God gives you glad tidings of Yahya, verifying the truth of a word from God, and be besides noble [sayyid] chaste and a Prophet of a goodly company of the righteous” (surah 3.39).
In Mecca the ancestors of Muhammad-Qusayy, `Abd Manaf, Hashim, and `Abd al-Muttalib-being the custodians of the Ka’bah, the most venerated sanctuary of the Arabian Peninsula, were called “sayyids of their times.” The Prophet’s grandfather `Abd al-Muttalib has been particularly described by the sources as “the leader [sayyid] of the Quraysh until his death.” The Prophet, being fully conscious of his lineal distinctions, is reported to have said: “Allah chose IsmAT from the sons of Ibrahim and from the sons of Isma’il the Banu Kinanah, and from Banu Kinanah the Quraysh and from the Quraysh the Band Hashim; consequently, I am the best of you as regards family and the best of you as regards geneology.” In him, therefore, lineal dignity and personal qualities as the recipient of divine revelation and Apostle of God found their highest manifestation. This was duly recognized by the ummah (community), and he was called, in his own lifetime, the sayyid par excellence. Among the most popular epithets with which the Prophet is addressed by the ummah are sayyid al-nas, sayyid al-bashar, sayyid al-‘Arab, sayyid al-mursalin, sayyid al-anbiyd’, that is, lord of mankind, humanity, the apostles, the prophets.
It was, therefore, natural that the Prophet’s lineal distinctions and his own exalted position as the sayyid should be extended to his family members and descendarts. Numerous traditions are recorded by both the Sunnis and Shi is in which the Prophet reportedly bestowed great distinctions and honors on his daughter Fatimah, his son-in-law `All ibn Abi Talib (d. 661), and his two grandsons Hasan (d. 671) and Husayn (d. 68o). For example, he declared `All “sayyid in this world and a sayyid in the next”. He also called `All “Sayyid alMuslimin,” lord of the Muslims. He exalted the status of his daughter, saying: “Fatimah is the sayyidah [mistress] of the women of the World [`alamin]”; “sayyidah of the women of my community”; and “sayyidah of the women of the dwellers in Paradise.” Similarly, for his grandsons he emphatically declared: “al-Hasan and alHusayn are the sayyids [lords] of young men among the inhabitants of Paradise,” and “the two lords of the young men of my community.”
Since the Prophet had no offspring from his son, who died in infancy, his grandsons from his daughter were given the unique privilege of being called Ibn Rasul Allah, sons of the Prophet of God. In justification of this, Muhammad said: “All the sons of one mother trace themselves back to an agnate, except the sons of Fatimah, for I am their nearest relative and their agnate.” In another tradition, the Prophet says: “every bond of relationship and consanguinity [thabat wanasab] will be severed on the day of resurrection except mine.”
It is against this background that the title sayyid became an exclusive distinction of the descendants of the Prophet in the male lines of Hasan and Husayn. In the early period, however, the title sharif was also used for both grandsons, but gradually sharif came to be more commonly used for the descendants of Hasan, while sayyid became the title of the descendants of Husayn. [See Sharlf.] After `All and Hasan, the first two imams respectively, there were nine imams and their brothers in the male line of Husayn (the twelfth imam went into occultation while still a child). The sayyids are thus mainly those who are in the line of descent from the nine imams and their brothers from Husayn to Hasan al-`Askari, the eleventh imam (d. 873).
With the expansion of the Islamic empire and changing sociopolitical conditions from the seven century onward, the descendants of the Prophet moved to various parts of the Islamic world. It was especially during the Umayyad (661-75o) and ‘Abbasid (749-1258) periods that the descendants of the Prophet, considered by the caliphs as a threat to their authority, had to take refuge in far-flung areas. A great number of sayyids migratedinitially to Yemen and Iran, where they found conditions more congenial. Later migrations took place mainly from these two countries to other parts of the world. Sindh, in the Indian subcontinent, was another place where the sayyids migrated very early on. In course of time, however, their number multiplied, and in every Muslim country today numerous sayyid families are well established. Wherever they settled, they were treated with extraordinary respect and veneration because of their direct relation to the Prophet. The Muslims of newly conquered areas, being converts from different faiths, thought it their religious duty to pay utmost regard to the progeny of the Prophet. Sentimentally and psychologically, the Muslims’ love and respect for the descendants of the Prophet has been, in fact, a natural result of love and respect for the Prophet himself. Socially, the status of the sayyids is so elevated that a non-sayyid would not dare marry a sayyidah, daughter of a sayyid, whereas it would be an honor for a nonsayyid to give his daughter in marriage to a sayyid. Also, one may not sit if a sayyid is standing. In rural Punjab, Sindh, and other parts of the Indian subcontinent, people will not sit beside sayyids but prefer to sit on the floor. Sayyids are also the first to be greeted, even by those in authority. In royal courts and ceremonies sayyids are exempted from paying the usual signs of respect, such as touching the ground or prostrating themselves, or continuing to stand before a king.
Sayyids are also distinguished in a number of other ways, for example, zakat (alms) or other sadagdt (charities) cannot be given to them. This is because of the fact that the Prophet is reported to have frequently said of sadagdt: “it is the filth of men [also see Quran 9.103] and permitted neither to Muhammad nor the family of Muhammad.” To save them from financial hardship and to maintain their dignity, a special form of tax, called khums, is paid to the sayyids, a tax which was originally meant for the Prophet himself. During Muslim rule in India, as in other Muslim countries, distinguished and learned sayyid families were granted gifts of landed properties and rich stipends. [See Zakat; Khums.]
The sayyids, especially in medieval times, as persons who distinguished themselves by religious learning and pious life, were acknowledged as saints. In fact, most of the Sufi masters or founders of various Sufi orders were the descendants of the Prophet, and it was through their efforts that a majority of non-Muslims converted to Islam. That is particularly the case of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. There are a number of tombs in Sindh, Punjab, Delhi, and Rajasthan which are centers of pilgrimage and veneration for the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. Similarly, in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and other Muslim countries, tombs of sayyids and sayyidas are frequently visited by the people to invoke their blessings. These saints-sayyids are considered intermediaries between God and the devotees.
To acknowledge their spiritual as well as social supremacy, the sayyids are also called shah (king) in most parts of Pakistan. In Iran and Turkey the title sayyid is sometimes interchangeable with mir, and perhaps it is because of Iranian influence that in Sindh mir is also used for sayyids, especially for those who command political authority as well.
In modern times, with changing sociocultural conditions and with rather uncertain pedigrees, the traditional reverance has weakened. Still, the sayyids today constitute a respectable class in Muslim societies.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
For pre-Islamic etymological and semantic usages of the title Sayyid, see Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-`Arab, vol. 4, pp. 215ff (Cairo, 1882), and Edward W. Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, vol. 4, pp. 146o-1462 (Beirut, 1982). Both works cite references from pre-Islamic literature and the term’s subsequent usages in the Islamic period, including references from the Qur’an and hadith literature. Cornelis van Arendonk, “Sharif,” in E.f. Brill’s First Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 7, pp. 324329 (Leiden, 1987), gives a comprehensive bibliography of sharif and sayyid and their use in different regions. Ignacz Goldziher, Muslim Studies, vol. I, pp. 45-98, translated by C. R. Barber and S. M. Stern (London, 1967), is an in-depth study of original sources for the Arab concept of family honor and dignity. Ibn Hisham, Sirat Rasul Allah, vol. 1, pp. 131-145 (Cairo, 1936), is the oldest and best original source for the study of the exalted position of the Prophet’s ancestry. Standard Sunni and Shi’i collections of Prophetic traditions provide examples of assigning the title Sayyid to `All, Fatimah, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn. For use of the title sayyid for the twelve imams from the House of the Prophet and their descendants in different periods and regions, see the following:
Ibn `Inabah, Jamal al-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Ali. `Umdat al-Talib ft Ansab Al Abi Talib. Bombay, igoo.
Lane, Edward W. An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. London, 1842.
Niebuhr, Carsten. Beschreibung von Arabien aus eigenen beobachtungen and in lande selbst gesammleten nachrichten abgeffasset von Carsten Niebuhr. Copenhagen, 1772.
Shablanji, Mu’min ibn Hasan Mu’min. Nur al-Absar ft manaqib AN Bayt al-Nabi al-Mukhtar. Bombay, 1983.
Zabidi, Ahmad ibn Ahmad. Tabaqdt al-khawass ahl al-sidq wa-alikhlas. San`a, 1986.
SYED HuSAIN M. JAFRI

AHMAD KHAN, SAYYID

Batoota — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 06:21:04 +0000

AHMAD KHAN, SAYYID (1817-1898), Indian Islamic modernist writer and political activist. The family of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan claimed lineal descent from the prophet Muhammad; his ancestors had settled in Heratin Afghanistan and then migrated to Mughal Indiain the seventeenth century. Despite their residence in India for nearly two hundred years, Sir Sayyid’s family retained a consciousness of their foreign origin. This extraterritorial consciousness determined their outlook, and that of other upperclass Muslims, in the Indian environment. They viewed the culture and political problems of Muslims from this particular perspective, generally detaching themselves from the indigenous Muslim masses but associating with them closely in periods of political crisis.
Sir Sayyid’s formal education was strictly traditional and was never completed; he ceased formal schooling at eighteen. What traditional education he had acquired was neither comprehensive nor intensive, and this later exposed him to the ridicule of conservative critics, who considered him unqualified to undertake his bold modernization of Islam. Yet his weakness was his real strength: unfettered by the discipline of rigorous traditional education, through personal study and independent investigation he reached out to new horizons of intellectual creativity and laid the groundwork for a modern interpretation of Islam.
Sir Sayyid was loyal to the British colonial regime, which appointed him sarishtahdar (recorder) in the criminal department of a lower court. In 1839 he was appointed deputy reader in the office of the divisional commissioner in Uttar Pradish province, eventually rising to the position of subjudge. In 1855 he was transferred to Bijnore, where he participated in the upheavals of 1857. He emerged from this ordeal as both a loyal functionary of the British Government and a staunch Muslim nationalist.
Immediately after 1857 Sir Sayyid undertook three projects: to initiate an ecumenical movement in order to create understanding between Muslims and Christians; to establish scientific organizations that would help Muslims understand the secret of the West’s success; and to analyze objectively the causes for the 1857 revolt. He was the only Muslim scholar ever to venture a commentary on the Old and New Testaments, in his Mahomedan Commentary on the Holy Bible (1862).
In order to refute the British view that the rebellion of 1857 was led by Muslims, he advanced the thesis that a large number of Muslims had remained loyal to the British government. Between 1860 and 1861 he published a series of articles, collected in Risalah khair khawahan Musalmanan: An Account of the Loyal Mahomdans of India, attempting to show that the majority of influential Muslims remained loyal to the British government and that they were by no means inveterate enemies of the British. At the same time Sir Sayyid continued to urge Muslim loyalty to the British in order to elicit British support for a fair Muslim share in the Indian political system. His mission also fostered respect and understanding between Muslims and Christians.
In May 1869 Sir Sayyid arrived in London and remained in Britain for fifteen months. There he internalized positive aspects of British culture, including the value system of modern scientific education and the capitalistic form of economy characterized by social and political laissez-faire.
In London he published twelve essays on the life of the prophet Mohammed, A Series of Essays on the Life of Mohammad (1870). In order to study British educational institutions he visited the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as well as private preparatory schools including Eton and Harrow. These educational models enabled him to develop the blueprint for the MohammedanAnglo-OrientalCollege, which he established in 1875 at Aligarh; in 1920 the college became Aligarh Muslim University.
Equipped with modern ideas and orientations, Sir Sayyid returned to India on 2 October 1870 and initiated his movement of religious and cultural modernism among Muslims. He resigned his position in the judicial service in 1876 and until his death in 1898 devoted his life to modernizing the life of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent.
Sir Sayyid devoted most of his energies to promoting modern education among Muslims, especially through the All-India Mohammedan Educational Conference, which existed from 1886 to 1937. From 1886 to 1898 the Educational Conference was pitted against the All India National Congress, which espoused secular Indian nationalism. Sir Sayyid, on the contrary, promoted a form of Muslim nationalism that accentuated separatist Muslim politics inIndia; this gave rise to the All-India Muslim League, which in the 1930s and 1940s spearheaded the movement for the creation of Pakistan.
In the field of religion Sir Sayyid promoted an Islamic modernism that drew inspiration from the writings of Shah Wali Allah (1703-1762) and emphasized a rational approach to Islam and social reforms in Muslim culture. What made Sir Sayyid controversial was his emphasis on religious modernism that rejected the traditional practices and orientations of the orthodox, and his advocacy of modern education, which lured young Muslims from orthodox religious seminaries into Western-style schools and colleges. In recognition of his accomplishments, the British Government knighted him in 1888.
[See alsoAligarh; All-India Muslim League.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abd Allah, Doctor Sayyid. The Spirit and Substructure of Urdu Prose Under the Influence of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan.Lahore, 1940.
Balion, J. M. S. The Reforms & Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan.Lahore, 1958.
Dar, Bashir Ahmad. Religious Thought of Sayyid Ahmad Khan.Lahore, 1957.
Graham, George F. Irving. The Life and Work of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan.London, 1909.
Malik, Hafeez. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muslim Modernization inIndiaandPakistan.New York, 1980.
Malik, Hafeez. ed. Political Profile of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan: A Documentary Record.Islamabad, 1982.
Malik, Hafeez, ed. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Educational Philosophy: A Documentary Record.Islamabad, 1989.
Malik, Hafeez, and Morris Demb, trans. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s History of the Bijnore Rebellion.Delhi, 1982.
Troll, Christian W. Sayyid Ahmad Khan: A Reinterpretation of Muslim Theology.New Delhi, 1978.
HAFEEZ MALIK

AHMAD BARELWI, SAYYID

Batoota — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 06:04:20 +0000

See Sayyid Ahmad.