Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim Societies: The Living Links to the Prophet

Introduction

The global Muslim population includes a large number of lineal descendants

and relatives of the Prophet Muhammad. These kinsfolk, most often known as

sayyids or "sharifs," form a distinct social category in many Muslim

societies, and their status can afford them special treatment in legal

matters and in the political sphere.

This book brings together an international group of renowned scholars to

provide a comprehensive examination of the place of the kinsfolk of Muhammad

in Muslim societies, throughout history and in a number of different local

manifestations. The chapters cover:

how the status and privileges of sayyids and sharifs have been discussed

by religious scholars

how the prophetic descent of sayyids and sharifs has functioned as a

symbolic capital in different settings

the lives of actual sayyids and sharifs in different times and places

Providing a thorough analysis of sayyids and sharifs from the ninth century

to the present day, and from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indonesian

Archipelago, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Islamic

studies, Middle East and Asian studies.

(from the volume's presentation on Taylor & Francis website: http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9780415519175/, with minor modifications by Kazuo Morimoto)

Contents

IntroductionMORIMOTO Kazuo
Part 1:Arguing Sayyids and Sharīfs
1.How to Behave Toward Sayyids And Sharīfs: A Trans-Sectarian Tradition of Dream AccountsMORIMOTO Kazuo
2.Qur’ānic Commentary on the Verse of Khums (al-Anfāl VIII:41)Roy Parviz Mottahedeh
3.Debate on the Status of Sayyid/sharīfs in the Modern Era: The ‘Alawī-Irshādī Dispute and Islamic Reformists in the Middle EastYAMAGUCHI Motoki
Part 2:Sayyids and Sharīfs in the Middle East
4.Genealogy, Marriage, and the Drawing of Boundaries among the ‘Alids (Eighth–Twelfth Centuries)Teresa Bernheimer
5.A Historical Atlas on the ‘Alids: a Proposal and a Few Samples BiancamariaScarcia Amoretti
6.The Reflection of Islamic Tradition on Ottoman Social Structure: The Sayyids and Sharīfs.Rüya Kilic
7.The Ashrāf and the Naqīb Al-Ashrāf in Ottoman Egypt and Syria: A Comparative AnalysisMichael Winter
Part 3:Sayyids and Sharīfs beyond the Middle East
8.Shurafā in the Last Years of al-Andalus and in the Morisco Period: Laylat Al-Mawlid and Genealogies of the Prophet MuhammadMercedes García-Arenal
9.The Role of the Masharifu on the Swahili Coast in the Nineteenth and Twentieth CenturiesValerie J. Hoffman
10.Dihqāns and Sacred Families in Central AsiaAshirbek Muminov
11.Sacred Descent and Sufi Legitimation in a Genealogical Text from Eighteenth-Century Central Asia: The Sharaf Atā’ī Tradition in KhwārazmDevin Deweese
12.Trends of Ashrāfization in IndiaArthur F. Buehler
13.The Sayyids as Commodities: The Islamic Periodical Alkisah and the Sayyid Community in IndonesiaARAI Kazuhiro
Index

Info

Kazuo Morimoto
Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim Societies: The Living Links to the Prophet

Routledge, 276 pages, 2012.5, ISBN: 978-041551917-5

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