Sayyid

Sayyid (, or, Arabic: سيد‎; meaning Mister) (plural Sadah Arabic: سادة‎, Sādah) is an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who is the decendant of Ishmael and Abraham- through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, sons of the prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Daughters of 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 the title Mirza for males or Mirziya for females,or they will claim the title Amir or Mir for males. Sayyids are by definition a branch of the tribe of Banu Hashim, a clan from the tribe of Quraish that traces its lineage to Adnan and thence to the Prophet Ismael.

In the Arab world, it is the equivalent of the English word "liege-lord" or "master" when referring to a descendant of Muhammad, as in Sayyid John Smith. This is the reason the word sidi (from the contracted form sayyidī, 'my liege') is used in the Arabic. Some Sayyids take the title Sheikh.

Sayyid are of Semitic origin. Sayyids are traditionally Shia Muslims, in the past and the present. They originated from the Arabian Peninsula but most migrated north to modern-day Iraq, Azerbaijan, Iran, Central Asia and the Indo-Pak continent. Today they are located anywhere in the world, many have migrated, to Europe, Australia and North America

'Sayyid' literally means Mister or Sir. In the Arab world, 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. However in the modern era, the term 'Sayyid' has been used to denote descendants from both Hassan and Husayn. Arab Shi'ites use the term 'Sayyid' and 'Habib' to denote descendants from both Hassan and Husayn.