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Ashraf (name)

Ashraf is an Arabic name meaning "most honorable one." It is used by many Arabs regardless of their religious affiliation, both Christians and Muslims alike. In French-speaking contexts the transliteration is Achraf. Uses of the name include: मुझे जरा हिंदी में इसका मतलब बताए

Ashraf

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

Like the Sadaa (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-Bayt, 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, Sudan and Ethiopia. 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 its 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."

One concept during record keeping was the term of "Najeeb AlTarfayn" or "Noble on both sides". This was applied to those Ashraf who have both Imams Hassan and Hussain in Patrilineal and Matrilineal lineages. Although this concept has been debated on by many Sunni and Shiite Ashraf it has been generally agreed that Prophet Muhammad had stated in a Hadeeth that his true descendant Al Mahdi would be a Najeeb AlTarfayn who would deliver the Muslims of the last age out of their misery from the clutches of the Dajjal or AntiChrist. Such Ashraf carry the titles "Sayyid AlShareef", "Sayyidayn", "Shareefayn" or "Sheikh Assayyid" before their names.

Ashraf (disambiguation)

Ashraf is a term used to describe someone descended from Muhammad.

Ashraf may also refer to:

  • Ashraf (name)
  • Camp Ashraf
  • Behshahr
  • Ashraf, East Azerbaijan, Iran
  • Ashraf, Yazd, Iran

Usage examples of "ashraf".

Then there were the Ashraf, the Mahdi's brothers, uncles and cousins, and the emirs of the tribes: the Jaalin, the Hadendowa, the Beja and others.

The Ashraf whispered among themselves, and watched the Khalifa Abdullahi surreptitiously.

Even though the claim of the Ashraf to the Mahdiya was flawed, if one or two powerful emirs of the fighting tribes declared for them, Abdullahi would be sent to the execution grounds behind the mosque to meet his God and follow his Mahdi into the fields of Paradise.

Every man in the room shouted in homage to the new ruler, the Khalifat, of the Sudan, although the voices of the Ashraf were muted and lacked enthusiasm.

When they had listened earnestly to this proclamation he ordered the emirs and the Ashraf to write letters that were sent out with fast horsemen and camel-riders to the most remote corners of the empire to reassure and calm the population.

The Ashraf were the main threat to his sovereignty: Abdel Kerim was the cousin of the Mahdi and one of the leaders of the Ashraf.

If Abdel Kerim failed against the Egyptians, Abdullahi could accuse him of treachery and have him executed, or at least strip him of his rank and take the Ashraf army under his own command.

Abdullahi has driven many of the Ashraf out of Sudan, emirs of the Jaalin and the Hadendowa.

Thanks go, too, to those who were there in as many different ways as there are names: Sabah Ashraf, Andy and Karen Barnett, Noel Bejarano, Marjorie Braman, Scott Brown, Sonesh Chainani, Dhruv Chopra, Elena DeCoste, Joe Geraci, Victor and Phyllis Grann, Katy Heiden, Stan Horowitz, the Joel family, David Kanuth, Clint Kisker, Richard Kromka, John Lester, Tobias Nanda, Nathaniel Pastor, Mike Personick, Joe and Spencer Rascoff, Jeff Sahrbeck, Jessica Salins, Joanna Sletten, Nick Simonds, Jon Stein, Emily Stone, Larry Wasserman, and Adam Wolfsdorf.

On the fifteenth of May, 1291, as de Beq and his men had been celebrating their defeat of Ibn-al-Hassad, the Mamaluk army under Sultan al-Ashraf had breached Acre's walls.