The word Syed..

Who is a Syed or Sayyed  سید? And what it means to be a Syed or Syyeda??

Being a Najeeb udtarafeen Syyeda my insight into the syed families is quite extensive. According to my humble understanding the true heritage of a Syed is ILM - Knowledge - scholarship and if syeds were to really take forward the legacy of our Holy Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him they should have excelled in the field of education - of science , technology, astronomy, and of course the in-depth study of Quran and Hadith and usule Hadith and Tasawaaf and their homes should have been the free tarbeya centres for the youth of the Ummah. 

Unfortunately many Syeds are lagging behind in the field of education but are taking advantage of their lineage to mislead  the uneducated masses. They instead of toiling hard in their journey of scholarship, speading the true understanding of the religion and upholding the values of the religion like our Ancestor Hazrat Imam Hussain RA, are just focussed on earning the dunya by increasing their bank of Mureeds and followers and earning the worldly fame, wealth and power.

I'm sorry to sound so harsh but unfortunately this is the reality of many Syeds of today, this is also the reason why some educated syed families tend not to marry into the syeds but in non syed humble and educated families.

We as Syeds need to understand that being syed isn't like being privileged and royal, this status should not be used for taking advantage and earning this Dunya. 

Being a Syed is a great and heavy responsibility- 

- a responsibility to gain the true understanding of our religion, 

- a responsibility to gain the highest levels of education, wisdom and knowledge to be considered worthy of the heritage of Hazrat Ali RA, 

- a responsibility to serve the Ummah selflessly

 And to be the icons of simplicity, integrity, charity, sobriety and patience like the family of Bibi Fatima tuz Zahra, 

- responsibility to have the deep rooted tawakal and self respect to look up only to Allah for their sustenance without any dependence on the Mukhlooq and mureedain for a sourçe of earning, 

a responsibility to denounce the dunya and lead by example and follow the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and His Ahl ul Bait relentlessly and only then will we be worthy of calling ourselves Syeds. 

The میراث of a Syed isn't this world and it's luxuries but the knowledge, wisdom and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him. If we fall short of these standards we have no right to call ourselves Syeds.