The Naqvi sadah (Arabic: السادة النقاويين) are people with the last name "Naqvi" and who are direct descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the lineage of the Imam Ali al-Naqi. Ali Naqi was the 10th Twelver Shi'a imam and direct descendant of the daughter of Muhammad, Fatimah and her husband Ali, the first Shi'a imam, believed by them to be the successor of the Muhammad. Some Naqvis trace their ancestry back to Ali al-Naqi through his sons Ja'far al-Sani and Husain ul Asghar while others trace it through his other sons.
The descendants of Ali al-Naqi are spread across the globe. Most of the Naqvi's have Syed as a first name. While most Naqvi's follow Shi'a Islam, many are also Sunni.
There are differing opinions about the number of sons of Imam Ali Al-Naqi. The statement of 7 sons has been made by Moulvi Syed Basheer Hussain compiler of book "Shajrat-e-Saddat-e-Amroha" who describes son names:
These seven names have also been referred in by the writer of book "Anwar-e-Alsadat" remarking the point of controversy in number of sons. In addition, there are at least two personalities whose hand written pedigree from top (Imam Naqi) to bottom have been accepted and annexed to book. These pedigrees confirm the sons of Imam Ali Naqi Al Hadi as seven in number.
Besides Hassan Askari, three sons (i) Hussain (ii) Muhammad (iii) Jafar and one daughter “Ailia” from different wives have been mentioned by various biographic scholars, including Shaikh Mufeed. Issues of these sons are traceable in different pedigree books published by researchers from time to time.
Many Naqvis migrated to Karachi, Pakistan from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, India after the partition.
Makhdoom Hazrat Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari settled in Uch now in Pakistan in the year 1092 C.E. from Bukhara in Turkestan (now Uzbekistan). He was also a Suhrawardiyya Sufi. He is the progenitor of many prominent Naqvi families of the subcontinent especially in Patna, Bihar, India. His descendants are known as "Naqvi al-Bukhari". Many tribes all over what is now Pakistan and India were converted to Islam at his hands.