The holy line of Prophet Muhammad(saas): Sayyids

Sayyid is the title given in Islamic culture to people descended from
Hassan (ra), grandson of our Prophet (saas) through hisdaughter Fatima
(ra). Individuals descended from Husayn (ra), the Prophet's (saas)
other grandson, are known as sharifs.
The Arabic word "sayyid" corresponds to the Englishwords "lord, chief,
or leader." In the Hadith, the term is used in the sense of "tribal
chief or eminent members of a community." Sayyids are also known as
"habib," "emir," or "mir" in variousIslamic lands. The great Islamic
scholars Imam al-Bukhari and al-Tirmidhisay that this title was
firstused by the Prophet (saas) in reference to Hassan (ra). Rasul
al-Akram says that when sitting on the pulpit one day, he pointed to
Hassan (ra) in one of the rows and said: "This [grand]son of mine is a
sayyid. It is tobe hoped that through him Allah will establish peace
between two Muslim sects." (al-Bukhari, Sulh, 9; Fada'il al-Ashab, 22;
Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 31) In another hadith, our Prophet (saas) said:
"Hassan and Husayn are the two sayyids of the young people of
Paradise." (Tirmidhi, Manasik, 31)
Prophet Muhammad (saas) also imparted the glad tidings that the
blessed Mahdi (as), who will appear in the End Times and who is
awaitedwith great joy and expectation by all Muslims, will also be
descended from him:
"We are the sayyids of the people of Paradise, the sons of Abd
al-Muttalib. Me, Hamza, Ali, Jaffar, Hassan, Husayn, and the Mahdi."
(Ibn Majah, 34)
Muslims Have Always Treated the Sayyids with Great Love and Respect
Muslims have always extended the love and affection they feel for the
Prophet (saas) to the sayyids. Due to their deep love for Prophet's
(saas) family, Muslims have always held the descendants of his
grandchildren in the highest regard. Sayyids have enjoyed a privileged
position in worldly treatment in almost all Islamic countries, and
efforts have been made tobestow various advantages on them.
The most obvious proof ofthis is how, in the past, special bodies were
concerned with their affairs and that the person at the head of these
institutions (the naqib al-ashraf) was regarded as having one ofthe
highest ranks.
How Did the Sayyids Spread to Different Lands?
In the age of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, Muslims traveled to
many lands to spread the message of Islamic moral precepts. These
missionary journeys intensified considerably during the time of Umar
(ra) and Uthman (ra). There were many sayyids among those who set out
to spread the Qur'an's moral values to humanity.They generally settled
in the regions to which they traveled and assimilated with the local
inhabitants.
However, like other Muslim emigrants, the great majority of the
sayyids who emigrated left Arabia because of the strict policies of
the Umayyads, who assumed power after the age of theFour Rightly
Guided Caliphs.
Following the martyrdom of Hassan (ra) and Husayn (ra), their
migration accelerated still further, toplaces within the Islamic
state's borders of the time: the Maghreb (Morocco), the Caucasus,
Transoxiana, Khurasan, Tabaristan, and Yemen. Thanks to this
migration, many dynasties were founded, such as the Idrisids in
Morocco, the Sulaymanis in Yemen and the Zaydis, in Iran.
Many sayyids took up residence in the Mongol and Turkish states and
assimilated with the local peoples. Sometimes they even took their
places among the founders of other states, such as the Nogay dynasty,
which established itself in the Caucasus.
The Sayyids Also Migrated to Turkey
As the sole heir of the Ottoman Empire, the longest-lived and largest
Turkish Islamic state, Turkey is one of the countries most
intensivelysettled by sayyids. Today, they live in many parts of the
country, but especiallyin Ankara, Siirt, Sanliurfa, Erzurum, Elazig,
Erzincan, Adana, and Igdir. The majority of them settled in Anatolia
during the firstsayyid migrations. However, the migratory trend to
Turkish lands continued.
During the Ottoman-Russian and Russian-Caucasian wars in particular,
many sayyids living among the Caucasians migrated and settled in
central Anatolia.Among them was the family of Ömer Bey, the
grandfather of Harun Yahya, whose works inspire the subject matter of
our magazine.
The origins of Beslen Arslan Kasayev, Ömer Bey's grandfather, go
backto the Nogay dynasty. This family is also known as the
Arslanogullari (the sons of Arslan) and is one of the twenty-one
sayyid families whose names appear in a document prepared for the
Caucasus governorship in 1827. In 1902, the family left the Caucasus
and settled in Bala, a town in Ankara province. (*)
Sayyid families were known to and recognized by the people in the
regions where they lived. These families constituteda community,
recognizingand acting as guarantors for one another, ...