Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...

Hassan Hammoud Nasrallah (Arabic: حسن حمود آل نصر الله; December 27, 1881 – October 8, 1959) was an Iraqi

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

, activist, and businessman.

Early life

Nasrallah was born into an aristocratic family, that had held a high status in Karbala. His father, Muhammad (Hammoud) Nasrallah (d. October 27, 1901), was the head of the traders of Karbala, in the late Ottoman era, and his mother, Amina Thabit (d. 1919), was the granddaughter of Muhammad-Ali Thabit (d. 1817), the 10th ' of the Al-Abbas Shrine, as well as the great-granddaughter of

Dowlatshah Mohammad Ali Mirza Dowlatshah (4 January 1789, in Nava – 22 November 1821, in Taq-e Gara) was a famous Iranian Prince of the Qajar dynasty. He is also the progenitor of the Dowlatshahi Family of Persia. He was born at Nava, in Mazandaran, a C ...

. He was the fourth of ten siblings. His parents respectively hail from the noble families of Al Faiz and Al Zuhayk, and both claim agnatic descent from Musa al-Kadhim, the seventh

Shia Imam In Shia Islam, the Imamah ( ar, إمامة) is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further ...

. His ancestors on both sides, on some occasions ruled Karbala, and held custodianship of its holy sites.

Business career

Nasrallah's father died in 1901, and his older brother, Sultan, assumed the family business, and inherited the status of the head of traders. However, Sultan died four years later, and Nasrallah in turn took over. He continued his father's business, and established his own company, selling agricultural products and appliances, some imported from the US and Europe. After his death in 1959, his sons became chairmen of the company and began to further expand the business.

Political activism

Nasrallah was involved in a number of political movements in Karbala during the first third of the 20th century, being at the forefront of activism, namely against British occupation. In July 1920, he was among other noblemen that revolted against the British and seized the city of Karbala, which was later split into councils, Nasrallah being part of the High Council of Military Affairs. The councils were then disbanded after the death of

Mirza Taqi al-Shirazi Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Muhammad-Taqi Golshan Shirazi Ha'eri (; ), also known as al-Mirza al-Thani (; the first being Mirza Shirazi), was a senior Iranian- Iraqi jurist and political leader. He led the Iraqi revolt of 1920. Early life and educa ...

in August of that year, and a

mutasarrif Mutasarrif or mutesarrif ( ota, متصرّف, tr, mutasarrıf) was the title used in the Ottoman Empire and places like post-Ottoman Iraq for the governor of an administrative district. The Ottoman rank of mutasarrif was established as part of a ...

was assigned. However, the local government was short-lived, with the British ending the revolt in October 1920. Nasrallah continued his activism, by joining his cousin, Muhsin al-Tawil Nasrallah, who lead the Karbala branch of the Iraqi Renaissance Party–a party also made up of noblemen who had been active in their resistance to British occupation. Yet, due to the power this party amassed, they were outlawed and closed down by British High Commissioner,

Percy Cox Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox (20 November 1864 – 20 February 1937) was a British Indian Army officer and Colonial Office administrator in the Middle East. He was one of the major figures in the creation of the current Middle East. ...

, in the late 1920s.

Personal life

Nasrallah was married to Muluk Dhiya al-Din (d. 1968), daughter of Murtadha Dhiya al-Din (d. 1938), the 19th of the al-Abbas shrine. He had three sons, Nathum,

Hashim Hashim ( ar, هاشم) is a common male Arabic given name. Hashim may also refer to: *Hashim Amir Ali * Hashim (poet) *Hashim Amla *Hashim Thaçi * Hashim Khan *Hashim Qureshi * Mir Hashim Ali Khan * Hashim al-Atassi *Hashim ibn Abd Manaf * Hashim ...

and Adnan. He republished the diwan of his great ancestor,

Nasrallah al-Haeri . al-Mudarris al-Shaheed, ar, المدرّس الشهيد al-Safi ar, الصفيّ al-Sharif al-'Awhad ar, الشريف الأوحد , death_date = , death_place = Constantinople, Ottoman Empire , death_cause = Ass ...

in 1954.

Death

He died on the evening of Thursday, October 8, 1959. He was buried in one of the Nasrallah family crypts in the al-Abbas shrine, which was inside the second and third room to the right of the Sahib al-Zaman door.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasrallah, Hassan 20th-century Iraqi businesspeople 1881 births 1959 deaths People from Karbala