in the early period, the arabs used the term "sayyid" and "sharif" to denote descendants from both hasan and husayn. however, in the modern era, the term 'sharif' ("sharifah" for females) has been used to denote descendants from hasan, and the term 'sayyid' ("sayyidah", "syeda" for females) has been used to denote descendants from husayn.