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{{Short description|Descendant from the family of Muhammad}}
{{About|the title for descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's family}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Sherif]], a proper name derived from the Islamic title; or [[Sheriff]], the title of various kinds of government officials}}
{{Redirect-multi|2|Ashraf|Shurafa|people named Ashraf|Ashraf (name)|other uses|Ashraf (disambiguation)|the Palestinian writer|Walid Shurafa}}

'''Sharīf''' or '''Sherif''' ({{langx|ar|شريف}}, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled '''shareef''', feminine '''sharīfa''' ({{lang|ar|شريفة}}), plural '''ashrāf''' ({{lang|ar|أشراف}}), '''shurafāʾ''' ({{lang|ar|شرفاء}}), or (in the [[Maghreb]]) '''shurfāʾ''', is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, from the family of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] ({{circa|570 CE –}} {{nowrap|632 CE}}). It may be used in three senses:

#In the broadest sense, it refers to any descendant of Muhammad's great-grandfather [[Hashim ibn Abd Manaf|Hashim]] (the [[Banu Hashim]] or Hashimites, already in Muhammad's day an established clan within the Meccan tribe of the [[Quraysh]]), including all descendants of Muhammad's paternal uncles [[Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib|Abu Talib]] (the [[Talibids]]) and [[Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib|al-Abbas]] (the [[Abbasids]]).<ref name="EI2Sharif">{{harvnb|Van Arendonk|Graham|1960–2007}}.</ref>
#More often, it refers to a descendant of [[Ali]], a son of Abu Talib and a paternal cousin of Muhammad (the [[Alids]]), especially but not exclusively through Ali's marriage with Muhammad's daughter [[Fatimah|Fatima]] (the [[Fatimids]]). In the sense of descendants of Fatima and Ali (the most common one), the term effectively refers to all descendants of Muhammad.<ref name="EI2Sharif"/>
#In the narrowest sense, it refers only to someone who descends from Fatima and Ali's eldest son (and Muhammad's grandson) [[Hasan ibn Ali|Hasan]] (the [[Hasanids]]). In this limited context, it is contrasted with the term {{Transliteration|ar|[[sayyid]]}} ('lord', 'master', plural {{Transliteration|ar|sāda}}, ({{lang|ar|سادة}}), which then refers only to the descendants of Hasan's younger brother [[Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn]] (the [[Husaynids]]).<ref name="EI2Sharif"/>

The precise usage of the term has varied both historically and geographically.<ref name="EI2Sharif"/>

==Etymology==
The word derives from the [[Arabic root]] sh–r–f, which expresses meanings related to honor, nobility, and prominence.<ref name="EI2Sharif"/> It has no etymological connection with the English term ''[[sheriff]]'', which comes from the [[Old English language|Old English]] word ''scīrgerefa'', meaning "shire-reeve", the local [[Reeve (England)|reeve]] (enforcement agent) of the king in the [[shire]] (county).<ref>{{harvnb|Online Etymology Dictionary|2001–2021}}.</ref>

==Usage==
===History===
Precise usage of the term has varied both historically and geographically. Often, the terms {{Transliteration|ar|sharīf}} and {{Transliteration|ar|sayyid}} were used interchangeably, while in other contexts they referred to [[Hasanid]] vs. [[Husaynid]] descent (especially in the [[Hejaz]], where the [[Sharifate of Mecca]] was restricted to persons of Hasanid descent). In still other contexts, they both referred to some form of [[Banu Hashim|Hashimite]] descent, but were linked to a different and specific social status.<ref name="EI2Sharif"/>

In most places, the term has functioned as a mark of nobility (both the [[Abbasids]] and the [[Fatimids]] were at one time holder of the [[caliphate]]), except in [[South Asia]], where the meaning of the term has expanded to include all Muslims of foreign descent. Thus, in the [[caste system among South Asian Muslims]], the term {{Transliteration|ar|ashrāf}} designates not only Muslims of Arab descent ({{Transliteration|ar|sayyid}}s or purported descendants of Ali and Fatima, and {{Transliteration|ar|[[Shaikhs in South Asia|shaykh]]}}s, which include all those who claim descent from the [[Quraysh]] or from one of Muhammad's [[sahaba|companions]]), but also Muslims of [[Pashtuns|Pasthun]] or Turko-Mongol ([[Mughal people|Mughal]]) descent.<ref name="EI2Sharif"/>

Over time, people who were not of Hashimite descent were sometimes also granted the title {{Transliteration|ar|sharīf}} as a general mark of nobility. The result of this has been that today the term {{Transliteration|ar|sayyid}} has become a more common designation for those claiming descent from Muhammad.<ref name="EI2Sharif"/> As such, {{Transliteration|ar|Sayyid}} (or one of its many alternative spellings, like {{Transliteration|ar|Sayyed}} or {{Transliteration|ar|Syed}}) has also become a common [[Sayyid (name)|proper name]].

==Major sharif dynasties==

*[[Abbasids]] (descendants of Muhammad's uncle [[Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib]], ruled over a vast empire centered in [[Baghdad]] 750–945, and claimed the caliphate 750–1517)
*[[Idrisids]] (Hasanids, ruled over [[Morocco]] 789–985)<ref name="Bosworth1996">{{harvnb|Bosworth|1996}}.</ref>
*[[Fatimids]] (Husaynids, ruled over a vast empire centered in [[Cairo]] and claimed the caliphate 909–1171)<ref name="Bosworth1996"/>
*[[Sa'dids]] (Hasanids, ruled over Morocco 1510–1659)<ref name="Bosworth1996"/>
*[[Alawi dynasty|Alawids]] (Hasanids, rule over Morocco 1631–present)<ref name="Bosworth1996"/>
*[[Hashimites]] (Hasanids, ruled over the [[Kingdom of Hejaz]] 1916–1925, the [[Arab Kingdom of Syria]] in 1920, the [[Kingdom of Iraq]] 1932–1958, and [[Jordan]] 1921–present)

==See also==
*[[Asharaf]] or Ashraf, Somali clan claiming descent from Muhammad through Fatima
*[[List of Ashraf tribes in Libya|List of Ashrāf tribes in Libya]]
*[[Sharif of Mecca]]
*[[Sharifate of Mecca]]
*[[Sharifian (disambiguation)]]
*[[Sharifism]], term used for the rising prominence of the {{Transliteration|ar|shurafāʾ}} in early modern Morocco
*[[Sherif]], a proper name derived from {{Transliteration|ar|sharīf}}, including a list of people named that way
**[[Omar Sharif]] (1932–2015), Egyptian actor and probably the most famous person with this name

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources cited===
*{{cite book|last1=Bosworth|first1=Clifford Edmund|author1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|year=1996|title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn= 0-7486-2137-7}}
*{{cite web|author=Online Etymology Dictionary|date=2001–2021|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/sheriff|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}
*{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Van Arendonk|first1=C.|last2=Graham|first2=W.A.|date=1960–2007|title=Sharīf|editor1-last=Bearman|editor1-first=P. J.|editor1-link=P. J. Bearman|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor2-first=Th.|editor3-last= Bosworth|editor3-first=C. E.|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor4-first=E.|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor5-first=W. P.|editor5-link=W. P. Heinrichs|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/sharif-COM_1041}}

{{Alids}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Alids|*]]
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Maghreb]]
[[Category:Hashemite people]]
[[Category:Islamic honorifics]]
[[Category:Titles]]
[[Category:Titles in Pakistan]]