Emir (also sometimes rendered as
Amir or
Ameer) is a title of nobility historically used in
Islamic nations of the
Middle East and North
Africa. Originally it was a title of honor given to decendants of
Mohammed via his daughter
Fatima Zahra. Centuries after the time of Mohammed it became used in a wider range of contexts, such as the title used by cheiftains of
Bedouins of
Arabia and by nobles and officials of the
Ottoman Empire.
The word emir is also used less formally for leaders in certain contexts, for example the leader of a group of pilgrims to Mecca is called an emir hadji.
The Caliphs used the title emir al mumenin, "Commander of the Faithfull".
Emir is also the term used by the Kuwaiti al-Sabah dynasty to refer to their ruling monarch since their entrance to the Arab League on June 19, 1961. Previously, the royal leader was known as the Shaikh. (See also: History of Kuwait)
See also: sultan
All Wikipedia text
is available under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
