Sheikh

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For the city in Somaliland, see Sheikh, Somaliland. For other uses, see Sheikh (disambiguation).
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Sheikh (

Arabic: شَيْخ, romanized: shaykh [ʃajx], commonly [ʃeːχ], plural: شُيُوخ, shuyūkh [ʃujuːx])[a] is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder
".

It commonly designates a tribal chief or royal family member of the United Arab Emirates (since the ruler of each emirate is also the sheikh of their tribe), or a Muslim scholar.[2]

It is also used as an honorary title by people claiming to be descended (either patrilineally or matrilineally) from

prophet Muhammad.[citation needed
]

In some countries, it is given as a

Sufi scholars.[citation needed
]

The word is mentioned in the

Qur'an in three places: verse 72 of Hud, 78 of Yusuf, and 23 of al-Qasas
.

Etymology and meaning

Kurdish
sheikhs, 1895

The word in Arabic stems from a

Arab civilization, and especially through the spread of Islam, the word has gained currency as a religious term or general honorific in many other parts of the world as well, notably in Muslim cultures in Africa and Asia.[citation needed
]

Sufi term

Mustafa Sabri Effendi, the second last Shaykh al-Islām (ultimate authority on religious affairs) of the Ottoman Empire and Caliphate, 1919-1920

In

Abdul Qadir Jilani, who initiated the Qadiriyya order, and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tijani, who initiated the Tijaniyyah Sufi order.[3]

Regional usage

Arabian Peninsula

Maktoum family

In the

Arabic: أمير, romanized: ʾAmīr) is used instead.[citation needed
]

The title is also used to refer to religious leaders for both Sunni and Shia Muslims. For example, the Saudi Arabian family Al ash-Sheikh (literally House of the Sheikh) is named after the religious leader and eponymous founder of Wahhabism, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.[citation needed]

Lebanon

In Mount Lebanon, the title had the same princely and royal connotation as in the Arabian peninsula until the

El-Khazen (since 1545), the Hubaysh of Kisrawan and the Douaihy of Zgharta
. Other families who are nowadays addressed or known as "sheikhs" were not traditionally rulers of provinces, but instead they were high-ranking officials at the service of the Emir at that time.

Maghreb

In the

Bedouins), Andalusians and Berbers and were also responsible for mobilizing their kinsmen in the event of war.[9]

Horn of Africa

Main articles: Somali aristocratic and court titles and Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles
Somali Sheikh Muhammad Dahir Roble reading a Muslim sermon

In the Muslim parts of the

Qadiriyyah movement in Somalia and East Africa; Sheikh Sufi, 19th century scholar, poet, reformist and astrologist; Abdallah al-Qutbi, polemicist, theologian and philosopher best known for his five-part Al-Majmu'at al-mubaraka ("The Blessed Collection"); and Muhammad Al-Sumaalee, teacher in the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca who influenced many of the prominent Islamic scholars of today.[11]

South Asia

Main article:
Shaikhs in South Asia
Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, a prominent Sunni
scholar

In the

hereditary title of Ismaili Shaikhs.[15]

Southeast Asia

In Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, sheikhs are respected by local Muslims. In Indonesia, the term is usually spelled "syech", and this is usually attributed to elderly ulama. Higher knowledgeable people of Islamic studies in Indonesia are usually referred to as "ustad" or "kyai".[citation needed]

Iran

From the perspective of Iran, the word or title of sheikh possesses diverse meanings, among individuals who are aged and wise, it has been an honorific title used for elders and learned scholars, such as: Sheikh al-Rayees

Morteza Ansari. In the past, Islamic scholars who were the Muhammad's descendants, were called Sayyid/Seyyed instead of sheikh.[16]

For women

Historically,

female scholars in Islam were referred to as shaykhah (Arabic: شيخة) (alt. shaykhat). Notable shaykha include the 10th-century Shaykhah Fakhr-un-Nisa Shuhdah[17] and 18th-century scholar Al-Shaykha Fatima al-Fudayliyya.[18] In 1957, Indonesian education activist Rahmah el Yunusiyah was awarded the title of syeikah by the faculty of Al-Azhar University, the first time the university had granted the title to a woman.[19]

A daughter, wife or mother of a sheikh is also called a shaykhah. Currently, the term shaykhah is commonly used for women of ruling families in the Arab states of the Arabian Peninsula.[20]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Also romanized sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik, shaikh, and cheique

References

  1. ^ "sheikh". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ "Sheikh Community, Islam Religion, Middel East".
  3. ISBN 978-0-231-14330-1
    .
  4. ^ A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered, 2001, Kamal Salibi
  5. ^ Al-Sheikh Al-Chemor Al-Hakum Al-Akoura Al-Hakum Al-Zawyia by Ignatios Tannous Al-Khoury, Beirut, 1948, pg.123
  6. ^ "Tārīkh al-ṭāʼifah al-Mārūnīyah (Microform, 1890)". [WorldCat.org].
  7. ^ El - Doaihi. A glimpse into the History of Ehden The Most Legendary Ehdenian Battles (2000BC - 1976).
  8. ^ Lebanon's Predicament, 1987, Samir Khalaf
  9. ISBN 978-92-3-101710-0
    . Retrieved 19 February 2017 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ IFLA Committee on Cataloguing, IFLA International Office for UBC., IFLA International Programme for UBC., IFLA UBCIM Programme (1987). International cataloguing: quarterly bulletin of the IFLA Committee on Cataloguing, Volume 11. The Committee. p. 24.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Scholars Biographies - 15th Century - Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abdullaah as-Sumaalee". Fatwa-Online. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Pakistan a country study p149". 1975.
  13. ISBN 978-0-7619-9781-8
    .
  14. ISBN 978-81-321-1807-7
    .
  15. ISBN 978-93-80009-32-2
    .
  16. ^ Who/what is Sheikh? Archived 2023-04-07 at the Wayback Machine porseshkadeh.com Retrieved 28 Oct 2018
  17. ^ "Shaykhah Shuhdah, Fakhr-un-Nisa". Haq Islam. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  18. ^ Siddiqi, Muhammad Zubayr (1993). "Hadith Literature Its origin, development and special features: Women Scholars of Hadith". The Islamic Texts Society Cambridge: 117–123. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  19. OCLC 958572352. Archived
    from the original on 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  20. ^ Sultan Qaboos Encyclopedia of Arab Names. Sultan Qaboos University. 1985. Retrieved 14 May 2021.

External links

  • The dictionary definition of sheik at Wiktionary
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