CHAPTER ELEVEN
SHARIFS
AND SEYYIDS THERE
are, we have seen, religious leaders in Islam who became such by education or
by saint-hood. A third kind need not education nor even saint-hood. They inherit
class distinction and are, one might say, "hereditary priests." From the
first century of Islam there arose a special veneration for the descendants of
the prophet (Ahl-al-bayt), Surah 33:33. To be able to show kinship with the prophet
was an important claim to rank, shari; and this made one a member of a spiritual
aristocracy 1. The word seyyid
was an alternative term for the same genealogical honor. `Ali
was called "sayyid of this world and the next" (Encyc. of Islam, sharif
by Van Arendonk).
Later
on the terms were applied not only to the descendants of Hasan and Husain, the
grandsons of the prophet, but to all who could claim even indirectly to be of
the Ahl-al-bayt. Special religious officials (naqib) were appointed by the Abbasids
to keep registers of this nobility. The chief, naqib had other religious duties
and honors; this is true even today. The sharifs wore green turbans or badges
and distinctive dress, because green was the color of the garments of paradise
(Koran 18: 30; 76: 21). In Persia and India they also wear distinctive dress.
"The sharing in the sadaqa is forbidden them."
That is,
they are immune from payment. A sharif should marry only a sharifa.
None of the descendants of the prophet will suffer the punishment of hell; they
all are included in the al- Mohammed who receive a benediction
in daily prayer; and it is expressly laid down that one should treat them with
the same distinction as a governor, and give them anything they wish, even a daughter
in marriage without dowry (Van Arendonk, quoting from al-Sha'rani). It is simply
impossible to read of the religious prestige of this class of hereditary saints
and deny that they are "priests" among the common people.
Hurgronje traces their origin and growth (Mohammedanism, pp.93, 94). They
ruled Morocco for nearly a thousand years, and Mecca for centuries. "In
practice it may be said that the Achenese fear the sayyid more than the
Creator. This is due to his believing that Allah reserves His punishments for
the hereafter and is illimitably merciful in the enforcement of His law against
the faithful, whereas the curse of the sayyids takes effect here below
without any hope of mercy. No Achenese will readily so much as lift a finger against
a sayyid; one who would dare to take a sayyid's life would not hesitate
to cut his father's throat 2."
Because genealogical tables can be manipulated and extended, there are now tens
of thousands of sharifs and seyyids in the world of Islam. A perfect,
up-to date illustration is given (1943) by Major R. A. B. Hamilton
from Aden, Arabia: "We
next come to the holy classes. The first of these are the sharifs and seyyids,
the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed. They live in settlements
and elect among themselves in each family a headman. They have great Influence
in the community which varies of course, with the amount of their riches. Most
seyyids-the only sharifs are those in Beihan - do not bear arms and take no part
in tribal warfare."
"They
are peacemakers, and derive considerable income as such, and as dispensers of
the sharia or holy law of Islam. They are treated with veneration and respect
and, after death, are frequently treated as saints. They marry tribeswomen and
the daughters of chiefs, and many own land and are given tithes of other land
by ancient right." "The
other holy class is that of the descendants of the saints, for so they claim to
be. Almost every village in the territory has its saints' tomb, a white rectangular
building with one or more domes. Each shrine is maintained by public subscription,
in the form of tolls on travelers and gifts to reinforce
prayers. Many shrines also own land or receive tithes from land. They are guarded
by families who use the title sheikh and who claim descent from the original saint. The best description
for these families is that of ‘holy sheikh'! In most cases the saint is
considered a miracle worker, and this power may descend upon the holy sheikhs
as well." "This
fact in itself is sufficient to give the holy sheikhs considerable influence,
and they inspire respect and fear. I would stress the question of fear, for it
is important. The buried saint, and, to a certain degree, his supposed descendants,
are credited with the power of doing bodily and personal harm, such as depriving
of sanity, striking with blindness, destruction of crops and the like. They are,
in effect, witch-doctors, and are feared more than are the seyyids, since they
are considered to be dangerous men 3."
Are such pedigreed-saints in Sumatra and Arabia and everywhere, who are so holy
that they inspire fear, and so powerful that they exact tithes (Melchisedek),
not "priests" in every ordinary sense of the word? (Cf. Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1.)
And Harold
Ingrams remarks (Arabia and the Isles, London, 1943, p. 177) : "Before
the seyyids came into Hadhramaut the sheikhs were the principal ecclesiastical
influence, and they probably took the place of an earlier hierarchy formed by
the priesthood of the old religion. Nowadays they take precedence after
the seyyids, but they have much the same privileges."
The
italics are ours to call attention to the use of such terms by one who knows Arabia
and Islam thoroughly and practically.
In every Moslem land there are these saints, walis, and seyyids, with shrines
and tombs. "In
Persia a visitor to a shrine will kiss the lock of the door and put his forehead
to other parts of the building," wrote Miss Holliday. "He gives salaams to the
saint and speaks of him as if he were alive. Tablets
containing prayers to the saint are hung on the walls; if the pilgrim can read,
he reads these audibly; if not, someone else will
read them to him. They burn votive lights. They ask permission to enter or leave
the shrine of the saint. In common life they are always calling on the saints
for help and blessing. Akin to this are the superstitions connected with their
holy living men and their families of which I have seen most among the ‘Ali
Illahis who consider their sheikhs as mediators between them and God, and of a
race set apart."
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