Sayyid

Sayyid (also spelled "Seyd", "Syed", "Sayed", "Sayyed", "Saiyid", "Seyed" and "Seyyed") (pronounced [ˈsæjjɪd], or [ˈsæjjed], Arabic: سيد‎; meaning Mister) (plural Sadah Arabic: سادة‎, Sāda(h)) is an honorific title denoting males accepted as descendants of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and his son-in-law Ali (Ali ibn Abi Talib). Conventionally, descent is patrilineal. However, in 1632 when an Ottoman court challenged a man wearing a sayyid's green turban he established that he was a sayyid on his mother's side, and this was accepted by the court.

Daughters of sayyids are given the titles Sayyida, Alawiyah, or Sharifa. In some regions of the Islamic world, e.g., India, the descendants of Muhammad are given the title Amir or Mir, meaning "commander", "general", or "prince". Children of Sayyida mother but a non Sayyid father are referred to as Mirza.

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 Ali Sultan. This is the reason the word sidi (from the contracted form sayyidī, 'my liege') is used in the Arabic.

Ali al-Sistani

Al-Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani Arabic: السيد علي الحسيني السيستاني‎), or Sayyed Ali Hosseini Sistani (Persian: سید علی حسینی سیستانی‎‎), born August 4, 1930, is an Iranian Usuli marja in Iraq and the head of many of the seminaries (Hawzahs) in Najaf.

He is described as the spiritual leader of Iraqi Shia Muslims.

Biography

Early life

Sistani was born in 1930 to a family of religious clerics, his father was Muhammad Baqir al-Sistani. Sistani himself claims to have been born in Mashhad, Iran, however there are disputes whether or not he was born in Mashhad or in Sistan then moved to Mashhad as a child due to Iran not issuing birth certificates in its eastern provinces (now known as Region 5) until decades later. Sistani began his religious education as a child, first in Mashhad in his father's hawzah, and continuing later in Qom. In 1951, Sistani traveled to Iraq to study in Najaf under Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei. Sistani rose to the Usooli clerical rank of 'mujtahid' in 1960. At the unusually young age of thirty-one, Sistani reached the senior level of clerical accomplishment, or ijtihad, which entitled him to pass his own judgments on religious questions.

Ali Khamenei

Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (Persian: سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای‎‎ pronounced [ʔæˈliː hoseiˈniː xɒːmeneˈʔiː] ; born 17 July 1939) is the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran and a Muslim cleric. Ali Khamenei succeeded Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian Revolution, after Khomeini's death, being elected as the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts on 4 June 1989. He had also served as the President of Iran from 1981 to 1989. In 2012, 2013, and 2014 Forbes selected him 21st, 23rd, and 19th respectively in the list of The World's Most Powerful People.

Khamenei is a head of state, and is considered the most powerful political authority in Iran. Khamenei was the victim of an attempted assassination in June 1981 that paralysed his right arm. According to his official website, Khamenei was arrested six times before being sent into exile for three years during Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign. Six months after 2003 invasion of Iraq to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa, that can be changed as and when deemed necessary, saying that the production, stockpiling, and use of weapons of mass destruction are forbidden under Islam. In 2015, an open letter to President Barack Obama from a nephew of Ali Khamenei stated that Khamenei is practicing the Shia doctrine of taqiya in which it is permissible for Muslims to lie to infidels, and in late 2015, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that Khamenei previously pursued weapons of mass destruction.

Muhammad al-Mahdi

Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdī (Arabic: محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams who will emerge with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world. Twelver Shī‘a believe that al-Mahdī was born in 869 (15 Sha‘bān 255 AH) and assumed Imamate at 5 years of age following the death of his father Hasan al-Askari. In the early years of his Imamate he would only contact his followers through The Four Deputies. After a 72-year period, known as Minor Occultation, a few days before the death of his fourth deputy Abul Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri in 941, he is believed to have sent his followers a letter. In that letter that was transmitted by al-Samarri he declared the beginning of Major Occultation during which Mahdi is not in contact with his followers.

Followers of Sunni Islam and other minority Shias mostly believe that the Mahdi has not yet been born, and therefore his exact identity is only known to Allah. Aside from the Mahdi's precise genealogy, Sunnis accept many of the same hadiths Shias accept about the predictions regarding the Mahdi's emergence, his acts, and his universal Caliphate. Sunnis also have a few more Mahdi hadiths which are not present in Shia collections.

Muhammad al-Yaqoubi

Muhammad Abul Huda al-Yaqoubi (Arabic: محمد أبو الهدى اليعقوبي‎; born May 7, 1963) is a Syrian Islamic scholar and religious leader. He has opposed both Bashar al-Assad and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Early life and background

Al-Yaqoubi was born in Damascus, Syria. He comes from a family of Islamic scholars who have taught the Islamic sciences for centuries. His father, Ibrahim al-Yaqoubi (d. 1985) was a scholar. His paternal grandfather Ismail al-Yaqoubi (d. 1960) was a scholar and Sufi master. His father's maternal uncle was Arabi al-Yaqoubi (d. 1965), and his paternal uncle was the Gnostic Sharif al-Yaqoubi (d. 1943). Amongst al-Yaqoubi's predecessors three have held the post of Maliki Imam at the Grand Umayyad Mosque of Damascus.

He is a descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, tracing his lineage through Mawlay Idris al-Anwar, (founder of the city of Fès), who was a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.

Education

Al-Yaqoubi's father took care of his upbringing, and he was both his teacher and spiritual master. His father gave him several ijazah, or certificates of authority to teach, narrate and issue legal rulings under Islamic law.