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Ashraf (Arabic: أشرف‎) refers to someone claiming descent from Muhammad by way of his daughter Fatimah. The word is the plural of sharīf "noble", from sharafa "to be highborn". Ashraf, if pronounced with long ā in the second syllable (أشراف /ašrāf/) is the plural of Sharif, but with short a (أشرف /ašraf/) is the intensive of sharīf meaning "very noble", "nobler", "noblest".

Like the Sada (plural of Sayyid), Ashraf often take their names from ancestry from Ali, Fatima and Muhammad and have in many Muslim societies Ashraf evolved into an honorific denoting "master" or "gentry". More precisely, the Ashraf are descendants of Ali's elder son, Hassan, and the Sadah those of Ali's younger son Hussain.

During the Abbasid period, the term was applied to all Ahl al-Bait, basically Muhammad's own family, including, for example, the descendants of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, of Ali's second wife and of the Hashemites. During the Fatimid Dynasty, the use of the term was restricted to the descendants of Hasan and Husayn only. This restriction remained in force even after Egypt became Sunni again under the Ayyubids.

Also, the Ashraf tribe exist along countries including Somalia. There are 2 to 3 sub-categories of them also, which usually have Sharif in their middle or surname. They are originally from Yemen and have in the recent generations migrated to Somalia due to it's wealth and profitable businesses at the time, before the civil war broke out.

Many tribes couldn't distinguish between Ashraf and Sada. Sada Ashraf and Sayyid became a Sharif's title. The distinction between Hassani Ashraf and Hussaini Ashraf is not known. As late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, sayyid had no meaning other than sharif. Abdurrahman al-Gabarti felt compelled to explain that a certain as-Sayyid Ali al-Qabtan was a Mamluk and not a Sharif, as might have been mistakenly inferred from his title. The title in this case, meaning a Mamluk master, originated from the Maghribi usage of "Sidi", which was equivalent in meaning to Emir or Shaikh.

In modern usage, sayyid has lost its religious significance and means simply "mister".

Well aware of their distinguished descent, the Ashraf tribes kept genealogical records and were socially acknowledged as a religious elite. Inevitably, doubts arose concerning the descent of many claimants to the title. Al-Gabarti once commented of one person: "He is one of the Ashraf of true genealogy. Sayyid Muhammad Murtada verified his genealogy."

Uses in South Asia[link]

In the Muslim community in South Asia, Ashraf is used as a first name and also used to denote noble descent. The Ajlaf is used to denote common birth as opposed to Ashraf.

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Ashraf Ali

Personal information
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	-
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs
Matches	8	16
Runs scored	229	69
Batting average	45.79	17.25
100s/50s	-/2	-/-
Top score	65	19*
Balls bowled	-	-
Wickets	-	-
Bowling average	-	-
5 wickets in innings	-	-
10 wickets in match	-	n/a
Best bowling	-	-
Catches/stumpings	17/5	17/3
Source: [1], 4 February 2006

Ashraf Ali (born April 22, 1958, Lahore, Punjab) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 8 Tests and 16 ODIs from 1980 to 1987.He was a wicketkeeper batsman.His brother Saadat Ali held the national record of maximum first-class runs in a calendar year for Lahore gymkhana.

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Raja Pervez Ashraf (Urdu: راجہ پرویز اشرف) (born December 26, 1950 in Sanghar, Sindh) was the Federal Minister for Water and Power of Pakistan in the Yousaf Raza Gillani-led cabinet (Mar 2008 - Feb 2011).^[1] He is a senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party from Rawalpindi District.

He has been twice elected as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from his constituency of Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi District, the latest being the February 2008 elections. He became the Federal Minister in the coalition government of PPP, PML-N, ANP and JUI-F formed after 2008 elections.^[2]

Rental Power Corruption Allegations[link]

There are serious corruption allegation on Raja Pervez Ashraf for receiving kickbacks in rental power projects and buying properties in London. The Supreme Court of Pakistan is hearing rental power projects case "Rental power projects case" and buying property overseas with corrupt payments "buying property overseas with corrupt payments". He was forced to resign due to corrupt practises.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile of Raja Pervez Ashraf
• Profile at PILDAT

Footnotes[link]