Mission
Sheikh Heritage Foundation's mission of changing worlds, one at a time is based on the multi year strategy of the UN Global Compact mission that aims to mobilise a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders to create the world we want.
Sheikh Heritage Foundation honours the lineage (Shajra-e-Nasab) to the Royal Mughal Empire founded in 1526.
The Word
Sheikh (pronounced SHAYK or SHEEK; Arabic: شيخ šayḫ, plural شيوخ šuyūḫ)—also transliterated Sheik, Shaik, Shayk, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, Shekh, and Shaikh—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates the ruler of a tribe, who inherited the title from his father. "Sheikh" is given to a royal male at birth, whereas the related title "Sheikha" is given to a royal female at birth.
HISTORY
The word in Arabic stems from a triliteral root connected with age and aging: ش-ي-خ, shīn-yā'-khā'. The term literally means a man of vast power, and nobility, and it is used strictly for the royal families of the Middle East. The title carries the meaning leader, elder, or noble, especially in the Arabian Peninsula within the Tribes of Arabia, where Shaikh became a traditional title of a Bedouin tribal leader in recent centuries.