Raheel Sharif

General Raheel Sharif (Urdu: راحیل شریف; born 16 June 1956), NI(M), HI(M), is a four-star rank army general, currently serving as 15th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, since 2013.

Early life and family

General Raheel Sharif was born in Quetta. He belongs to a Rajput family with roots in Punjab (in the town of Kunjah, Gujrat). He has a prominent military background, He is son of (late) Major Rana Muhammad Sharif. His eldest brother Major Rana Shabbir Sharif, was declared as the martyr of Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 by Pakistan and received Pakistan's highest military award Nishan-e-Haider posthumously. He is the youngest sibling among three brothers and two sisters. His other brother, Captain Mumtaz Sharif also bravely served in Pakistan army and for his bravery he was awarded SITARA-E- BASALAT, but got an early retirement due to medical reasons. From his mother's side, he is nephew of Major Raja Aziz Bhatti, another Nishan-e-Haider recipient, who was declared as the martyr of Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 by Pakistan. He is married and has three children, two sons and a daughter. He is an avid reader and enjoys hunting and swimming.

Sharif

Sharīf Asharif or Alsharif (Arabic: شريف‎ šarīf) or Chérif (Darija: Chorfa) is a traditional Arab title in origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa(h) (Arabic: شريفة‎ šarīfah). The masculine plural is Ashraf (Arabic: اشراف‎ ʾašrāf).

Sunnis in the Arab world reserve the term sharif for descendants of Hasan ibn Ali, while sayyid is used for descendants of Husayn ibn Ali, Hasan's younger brother. Both Hasan and Husayn are grandchildren of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, through the marriage of his cousin Ali and his daughter Fatima. However ever since the post-Hashemite era began in 1925 after the fall of the Sharif of Mecca, the term sayyid has been used to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn. Shiites use the terms sayyid and habib to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn; see also ashraf.

From 1201 until 1925, when the Hejaz was conquered by Ibn Saud, this family (the descendants of Hasan ibn Ali) held the office of the Sharīf of Mecca, often also carrying the title and office of King of Hejaz. Descendants now rule the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the name being taken from the Banu Hashim, the sub-tribe of Banu Quraish, to which Muhammad belonged.

Sharif (disambiguation)

Sharif (also transliterated Sharīf or Sherif) is an Arabic word (شريف) meaning "noble" or "honourable" and a traditional Arab tribal title.

Sharif may also refer to:

Titles

People

Places

Other

See also

Sharif (cricketer)

Sharif is a List A cricketer from Bangladesh. He played one match for Chittagong Division in 2001/02, scoring 10 and taking 1 for 14 against the touring Zimbabweans.