Sherif

Sherif (also transliterated Sharīf or Sharif, Shareef, Shareef, Alsharif, Alshareef (Template:Lang-ar šarīf), or Chérif (Maghrebi Arabic: Chorfa) is a traditional Arabic title and name. The origin of the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn".

From 1201 until 1925, when the Hejaz was conquered by Ibn Saud, this family (the descendants of Hasan ibn Ali) held the office of the Sharif of Mecca, often also carrying the title and office of King of Hejaz.

Sunnis in the Arab world reserve the term Sharif/Sherif or Shareef for descendants of Hasan ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Sayyid is used for descendants of Husayn ibn Ali, Hasan's younger brother. Both Hasan and Husayn were grandsons of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, through the marriage of his cousin Ali and his daughter Fatima. However, since the post-Hashemite era began in 1925 after the fall of the Sharif of Mecca, the term sayyid has been used to denote descendants from both Hasan and Hussein.

The word has no etymological connection with the English term sheriff, which comes from the Old English word scīrgerefa, meaning "shire-reeve", the local reeve (enforcement agent) of the king in the shire (county).^[1]

Given name

Sherif Abdel-Fadil (born 1983), Egyptian footballer
Sherif Afifi, Egyptian conservator
Sherif Faruqi, Bangladeshi science fiction writer

Surname

Amro Sherif (born 1991), Egyptian basketball player
Mayar Sherif (born 1996), Egyptian women's tennis pro
Mohamed Saad El Din Sherif (died 1997), Egyptian general
Muzafer Sherif (1906–1988), Turkish-American psychologist, one of the founders of social psychology
Safwat El-Sherif (born 1933), Egyptian politician

Given name

Surname

See also