Al-Musawi

Al-Musawi (Arabic: الموسوي, pronounced [ɪl'mu:səwi]) is a surname that indicates a person comes from a prestigious and highly respected Arabian family descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through al-Imam Musa al-Kadhim ibn Jafar as-Sadiq (7th Shi'a Imam). Family members from this dynasty are amongst the most respected and well-known Arabs.

Members of this family are referred to by the anglicised version of their name. They are usually given the honorific title Sayyid before their first name, implying that a person is a direct descendant of Muhammad through his sixth generation grandson, Musa al-Kadhim. Some Mūsawis of the subcontinent also take the last name of Kazmi (الكاظمي). Some Mūsawis migrated from Mecca and Madina Saudi Arabia to a small village where their ancestor Musa Al-Kadhim is buried in Baghdad Iraq (Kadhimain). Large members of the family are located in Iraq, but they are also located in other Arab countries such as Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. As well as in present day Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.

The Al Musawi family is one of the largest and most influential families in the world. All Moussawi's are descendants from the 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. Members are mainly Shi'a Muslims found mainly in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and other parts of the world.

The roots of the Al-Mūsawi family 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, now Iraq, in the ancient city of Ur, near Nasariyah, in Southern Iraq.

Prominent members

• Abul-Hasan Muhammad ibn Al-Hussein Al-Musawi "ash-Sharif al-Radhi" - (~930-977 CE) was a 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 GCC countries

• Sayed Ala Sayed Mohammad Sayed Ahmed Sayed Abed AlMusawi]]: Is a Kuwaiti Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon and former university teacher. Grand son of Sayed Ahmed Sayed Abed AlMusawi former member of the Kuwaiti government, has a street in Kuwait named after him (Sayed Ahmed Sayed Abed Al Mousawi Street) Therefor making him one of the people that made Kuwait the country it is today. Link:https://www.pressreader.com/kuwait/arab-times/20151125/282406988262655
• Sulaimaan Rabi' Al-Musawi - (1812- 1895) was a renowned Kuwaiti teacher who taught Mubarak the Great the Emir of Kuwait. He opened a school in the Grand Mosque of Kuwait.
• Mohammed Mehdi al-Qazwini - renowned religious scholar, proposed the idea of the third wall of Kuwait in 1920.
• Muhammad Hassan Al-Musawi - (1912 - 12 January 1995) was one of the most prominent and pioneering Kuwaiti 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."
• Muhammad Baqir al-Muhri - (1948 - 2015) was one of the most prominent 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 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 top scorers.

In Iraq

• Nasrallah al-Haeri - religious scholar and poet, played an important role in inner-Islamic ecumenical dialogue during the Ottoman era.

• 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 - known for writing polemical revisionist texts on Islam
• Ibrahim al-Jaafari - politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq in the Iraqi Transitional Government from 2005 to 2006, following the January 2005 election. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2018.
• Hassan al-Qazwini - founder and leader of the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, representing the Twelver Shi'a branch of Islam

In Lebanon

• Abbas al-Musawi - (1952 - 16 February 1992) was an influential Muslim Scholar.
• Husayn Al-Musawi - is Lebanese who founded the now-dissolved Islamist militia Islamic Amal in 1982.
• Ibrahim Mousawi - is a Lebanese journalist and 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.
• Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei - one of the most influential Twelver Shia Islamic scholars of the 20th century.
• Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri is an Iranian Twelver Shi'a cleric, was the previous representative of Wali-Faqih in Khuzestan province + Ahwaz Imam of Friday.
• 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

• Hamid Hussain Musavi - was a leading scholar of his time in India.

Al-Mosawi related families

• Alsayed Kassem
• Al-Khorsan
• Mahmodawi
• Kazmi
• Gardēzī Sadaat
• Madrouni
• Al Gharawi
• Sadr
• Safavi
• Al-Shammaa
• Al-Hashemi
• Shahristani
• Sharif al-Ulama
• Al Husseini
• Al-Mirakoni
• Some members of the Almazidi family
• Nasrallah
• Dhiya al-Din
• Sharaf Al Din

See also

• Safavid dynasty