Sharif

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SHARIF

The word sharif is derived from the Arabic root "to be noble, highborn." Sharif is an honorific term that has a variety of meanings in Muslim usage, and the word is related in meaning to sayyid. Ashraf (the plural form of sharif ), like sadat (or sada, the plural form of sayyid), are subject to special rules in Islamic law. One meaning, that of a descendant of the Prophet, is perhaps the most common, and specifically it often indicates descent through the line of al-Hasan, the Prophet's grandson. Muslim genealogists differ in their definition of sharif (as they do over sayyid). Some define sharif in a broad manner (including, for example, descendants of the Prophet's cousins); others are stricter, limiting the term to descendants of Muhammad through Hasan, the older son of the Prophet's daughter (Fatima) and her husband, ?Ali. The two extremes only roughly correspond to the Sunni or Shi?ite proclivities. For example, ashraf are prohibited from receiving the alms (zakat), though in Shi?ite law they are compensated by being the sole recipient of the one-fifth tax (khums). Some hadith portray the ashraf as guaranteed a place in heaven, and others exhort the community to show them respect and honor. Some commentators have argued that these stipulations are not nullified, even if the individual is a sinner. The governor of Mecca (who was always a descendant of the Prophet) was known as al-sharif during the Ottoman period.