ABSTRACT
Veneration of the Prophet Muhammad's family is a tenet of Muslim tradition raised by the Shica branch to the status of a religious dogma. Kinship with the Prophet and, for that reason, a special standing in society are claimed by some groups among the peoples who have adopted Islam. These are called variously by the Arabic words sharif (noble) in North Africa and saiyid (‘master’) ( 1 ) in the Near East. The term sharif is unknown in Central Asia, but the word saiyid, as the name for the posterity of the Prophet is, however, used there (mainly by Uzbeks and Tajiks). Yet much more widely in use in Central Asia as a name of the group claiming descent from Muhammad is the term jodja (‘master’ in Persian).
