Sharif

[Tintin]

I read that the names Sharif and Sayyid are titles restricted to the descendenats of the Prophet. Is it still so ? Does this mean that Nawaz Sharif and the cricketer Mohammad Sharif are his descendants ?

[chinaman]

Never heard of such restrictions!

[Tintin]

Got it from in Britannica (while browsing for Saddam Hussain, who claims that he is a descendant)

Arabic, sharif (?noble,? or ?high-born?) , plural ashraf Arabic title of respect, restricted, after the advent of Islam, to members of Muhammad's clan of Hashim?in particular, to descendants of his uncles al-'Abbas and Abu Talib and of the latter's son 'Ali by Muhammad's daughter Fatimah.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article...ery=sharif&ct=

[Arnab]

It might mean something somewhere in the Middle East. Sharif and Sayyid are pretty common muslim names in BD.