Al-Musawi

Al-Mūsawi^[1] (Arabic script: الموسوي, Gulf Arabic pronunciation: [ɪl'mu:səwi], Persian pronunciation: [mu:sævi]), is a surname that presumably indicates a person comes from a prestigious and highly respected Middle Eastern family with a transnational identity. Members of this family are referred to by the Anglicised version of their name as Hashemites. They are usually given the honorific title Sayyid before their first name. The literal translation of the Arabic word Sayyid is Sir or "liege lord" in the English language. This family is mainly based in the Mesopotamian region, they also live in other Middle Eastern, most notably Iraq. Though no written records or genetics studies done on this family, verbal history claims that the name implies that this person is a direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the seventh of the Shi'a twelve Imams: Musa al-Kazim ibn Jafar as Sadiq who is a grandson of Muhammad. Also some Mousavis take the last name of Kazmi. Many Mūsawis migrated from Mecca and Madina Saudi Arabia to a small village that their ancestor Musa Al-Kadhim built in Baghdad Iraq. Large members of this family are located in Iraq, and they are also located in other countries such as Iran, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Canada, United States Of America, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Al-Mūsawi family is an influential Middle Eastern family because they are directly descended from the seventh Shia Imam Musa Al-Kadhim who is the son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq son of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir son of Imam Ali Zayn al-Abidin son of Imam Hussain son of Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib and the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Muhammad. Members of the Al-Mūsawi family are called with the title Sayed literally means Mister or Sir. As an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as the direct descendants of the Muhammad.

The roots of the Al-Mūsawi family is supposedly claimed to be Arab that comes from the Head tribe of Banu Hashim, a clan of Quraish which makes them Adnani Arabs or Northern Arabs who are originated from Ibrahim through his son Ishmael in Mesopotamia which is nowadays Iraq in the ancient city of Ur near Nasariyah in Southern Iraq. Many Arab tribes trace their lineage through Adnan who is the Father of the Arabs that traces his lineage to Ishmael the son of Ibrahim the great great grandfather of the Adnani Arabs.

Although no statistical data available to the day, but it is believed that most members of this tribe adhere to Shia Islam the Twelvers or Jafari approx 90-95% of the family are Shia muslims the rest are Sunni Islam which holds the name of Hussaini Al-Musawi and other noticeable Mūsawi family names.

Prominent Members

• Abul-Hasan Muhammad ibn Al-Hussein Al-Musawi "ash-Sharif al-Radhi" - (~930-977 CE) was a Shia Muslim scholar and poet who was born in Baghdad. His most famous book is Nahj al-Balaghah which is a collection of Imam Ali’s sayings and speeches.

In the Gulf

• Sayyid Sulaimaan Rabi' Al-Musawi - (1812- 1895) Was a renowned teacher who taught Mubarak the Great the Emir of Kuwait. He opened a school in the location of The Grand Mosque (Kuwait) nowadays. ^[2]
• Sayyid Muhammad Hassan Al-Musawi - (1912 - 12 January 1995) was one of the most prominent and pioneering educators. He was the grandson of Sayyid Sulaimaan Rabi' Al-Musawi. He was chosen as the principal of the Jafari School in Kuwait and introduced English and Arabic Literature and Grammar to the school. He served from 1942 to 1973 earning him the title of "The Educator of Generations". He developed and re-organised the curricula of different subjects including Science and PE, introduced the Unified Examinations system, Seat Numbers, School Reports (Transcripts), all of which are still used across all public schools in Kuwait. When he got sick and was offered to be sent abroad for treatment, he refused saying "I don't want to die in a strange land."^[3]
• Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Muhri - (1948 - 2015) was one of the most prominent Shia scholars in Kuwait's history. He was a deputy of about 15 marja', the founder of the Islamic-Christian Relationships Council, the founder of The Congregation of Shia Muslim Scholars in Kuwait, Imam of Imam Ali Mosque in Kuwait, politician and newspaper writer, and the author of The Philosophy and secrets of Hajj book.
• Dhiyaa Al-Musawi - Bahraini author and cleric.
• Hussain Al-Musawi - Kuwaiti footballer and one of Al-Arabi SC topscorers.

In Iraq

• Madhiha Hassan al-Mosuwi - an aid worker for the Iraqi government who some people have begun calling the "Mother Teresa of Baghdad"
• Husain al-Radi - general secretary of Communist party of Iraq, killed after torture in Qasr Al-Nihaya in 1963 (Radi is of Musawi descent)
• Musa al-Musawi - a renowned Shiite cleric for writing polemical revisionist texts on Shia Islam

In Lebanon

• Abbas al-Musawi - (1952 - 16 February 1992) was an influential Muslim cleric and leader of Hezbollah.
• Husayn Al-Musawi - is a Lebanese Shia who founded the now-dissolved pro-Iranian Islamist militia Islamic Amal in 1982.
• Ibrahim Mousawi - is a Lebanese journalist and Hezbollah media relations officer.

In Iran

• Ruhollah Khomeini - (September 1902 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian religious leader and scholar, politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. (Khomaini is of Mūsawi descent, he descended from the Safavid dynasty.^[4]
• Mir-Hossein Mousavi - (born 29 September 1941) is an Iranian reformist politician, painter and architect who served as the fifth and last Prime Minister of the Islamic republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989.
• Abdorrahim Musavi - is the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Iranian armed forces.
• Mujtaba Musavi Lari - is a Shi'a Twelver Islamic scholar.
• Ali Mousavi - Iranian football player

Indian Subcontinent

• Ayatollah Sayyid Mir Hamid Hussain Musavi Kintoori Lakhnavi - was a leading Shia scholar of his time in India.

Al-Mūsawi Splinter Families

• Gardēzī Sadaat
• Kazmi
• Madrouni
• Rizvi
• Sadaat Amroha
• Sadr
• Safavi
• Sharif al-Ulama
• Syeds Naqvi

Notes

See also

• Safavid dynasty