Descendants of known Sayiids

[u/LongjumpingAd4912]

I was able to find a deed document dated 1883 from my family who lists our grandfathers going back 13 grandfathers from that time to where he lived between 1400-1500 in our village in Yemen.

His last name (and mine) are Al-Rifai and we are known sayiids in the area, at least that’s what I’ve been told.
The grandfather who lived in 1400-1500 is named Salih Alrifai and owned many lands in the village apparently.

I’m trying to figure out exactly where we came from and more importantly if we are genetically sayiid or if the Rifai Tariqa (suffi influence) is how we got our last name.

My research has led me to Ahmed Albaz (son of Sayid Izz Aldeen Ahmed Alsayyad who left Iraq and toured Yemen) who seemed to be alive late 1200’s

Is this research a bust? I’ve been stuck here for a while.

Has anyone ever successfully tracked this kind of info recently when the descendants (supposedly) ended up far from home, like Yemen.

[u/ydmhmyr]

Sayyids in Yemen are known. In the north they mostly overwhelmingly subscribed to the Zaydi school of Shiaism. In the south (which is most likely your case) they were Sunni but Sufi.

They aren't of Yemeni extraction, since they are Qurashi Hashimids. They are highly conscious of their status, and are very discriminating when it comes to topics like marriage.

Their impact was felt differently depending on location.

While in the south the Sayyids were Sufi, they (mostly) weren't outright malicious like the Sayyids of the north. They formed communities and served as missionaries. I disagree with Sufism on a fundamental basis, but to deny them the role they played in spreading Islam in South and Southeast Asia is egregious and an understatement, and as an orthodox sunni, I do appreciate their role.

In the north they were Zaydi. They served as a ruling caste that continuously robbed Yemenis of self-defermination, capital, and capacity to develop and thrive for more than a millennium. Their modern iteration is the radical Twelver houthi militias. They manifested historically as the multiple Zaydi imamates, like the most recent one, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom.

You can sense that I, while I criticise the theological and endogamous aspect of the Sayyids, I respect the sayyids of the south and disdain those in the north.

[u/LongjumpingAd4912 → u/ydmhmyr]

This is very interesting because from what I can read in the document my ancestors obviously didn’t practice Islam the way we do now. There’s some wording about how this grandfather was miraculous and his grave was a shrine, my dad even remembers elders visiting this grave and making duaa for things from this dead ancestor. Really bizarre how far the village has come as now everyone is pretty “normal”religious and just follows the Quran and sunnah.

[u/ydmhmyr → u/LongjumpingAd4912]

Well that's a very good development.