HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking
Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
Shia clergy in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.


Etymology

The title is originally derived from Arabic word pre-modified with the
definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" a ...
and post-modified with the word '' Allah'', making ( ar, آية الله). The combination has been translated to English as 'Sign of God', 'Divine Sign' or 'Reflection of God'. It is a frequently-used term in
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
, but its usage in this context is presumably a particular reference to the verse "We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and in their own selves", while it has been also used to refer to
The Twelve Imams The Twelve Imams ( ar, ٱلْأَئِمَّة ٱلْٱثْنَا عَشَر, '; fa, دوازده امام, ') are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Islam, including that of the Alawi ...
by Shias. Variants used are ( ar, آية الله في الأنعام, lit=Sign of God among mankind), ( ar, آية الله في العالمَین, lit=Sign of God in the two worlds, dual form) or ( ar, في العالمین, lit=in the worlds,
plural form The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...
) and ( ar, آية الله في الورى, lit=Sign of God among mortals).


Origins

The earliest known address of this title is for Ibn Mutahhar Al-Hilli (died 1374), however it was not in use until the recent century. Glassé states that following domination of
Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
branch by followers of school and demise of school, the title was popularized by s as an attempt to promote their status.
Mirza Ali Aqa Tabrizi Mirza Ali-Aqa Tabrizi, () known as Thiqat-ul-Islam Tabrizi (; January 19, 1861 - December 31, 1911) was an Iranian nationalist who lived in Tabriz, Iran, during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and was a reformist Shia cleric. He was hanged b ...
was the first one to use the term for the sources of emulation in Najaf, especially Akhund Khurasani, to distinguish them from the clerics of lower rank in Tehran, during the democratic revolution of Iran. Hamid Algar maintains that this title entered general usage possibly because it was an "indirect result of the reform and strengthening of the religious institution in Qom".
Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi Grand Ayatollah Hajj Sheikh Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi ( fa, عبدالکریم حائری یزدی; ar, عبد الكريم الحائري اليزدي ; 1859 – 30 January 1937) was a Twelver Shia Muslim scholar and marja. He was the founder of a ...
who founded Qom Seminary, may be the first to bear the title according to Algar. ''
Loghatnameh Dehkhoda The ''Dehkhoda Dictionary'' ( fa, لغت‌نامهٔ دهخدا) is the largest comprehensive Persian encyclopedic dictionary ever published, comprising 200 volumes. It is published by the Tehran University Press (UTP) under the supervision of ...
'' indicates that during the Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911), the honorific was used by constitutionalists to refer to
Mirza Sayyed Mohammad Tabatabai Mirza Seyyed Mohammad Tabatabai ( Persian: آیت الله میرزا سید محمد طباطبائی, also known as Mohammad Sang-e-laji,;''Sang-e-laj'' (سَنگِلَج) is one of the neighbourhoods of the Old Tehran, not far from the Grand B ...
and
Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani ( fa, سیدعبدالله بهبهانی, 1840–1910) was a Shi'a theologian and a prominent leader of the constitutional movement. He was born in Najaf and was educated by scholars such as Morteza Ansari. During the c ...
. While the title Ayatollah was sporadically used during the 1930s, it became widespread in the 1940s.


Contemporary usage


Usage by location

The Sunni community of Iran does not use this title. It is also absent in the vocabulary of Shias in
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. In
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, while the title is not unknown, it is only used for clerics of Iranian origin.


Devaluation trend

The title Ayatollah has been cheapened in the recent decades. Michael M. J. Fischer opines in '' Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution'' that the
Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
led to "rapid inflation of religious titles", and almost every senior cleric was called an Ayatollah. The same phenomenon happened to the title
Hujjat al-Islam Hujjat al-Islam (from ''ḥujjat-u l-Islām'') (also Hojatoleslam) is an honorific title meaning "authority on Islam" or "proof of Islam". Sunni Islam Its first recorded use was in a Sunni Islam, Sunni context, as a title for the 11th-century t ...
before, which is today a less prestigious title than Ayatollah. However, as of 19th century it was given to people who were not only '' Mujtahids'', but also were the most distinguished clerics of that time. Today there are "tens of thousands" called with that title, who are just aspiring to become a '' Mujtahid''. This trend led to invention of a new title called ''Ayatollah al-Uzma'' (). In the beginning, about half a dozen people were addressed with the latter title, but as of 2015, the number of people who claimed that title was reportedly over 50.


Political connotations

Addressing someone with or without this title may have political reasons, rather than for purely religious credentials. Ali Khamenei—who was addressed with mid-level title of ''
Hujjat al-Islam Hujjat al-Islam (from ''ḥujjat-u l-Islām'') (also Hojatoleslam) is an honorific title meaning "authority on Islam" or "proof of Islam". Sunni Islam Its first recorded use was in a Sunni Islam, Sunni context, as a title for the 11th-century t ...
'' when he was in office as President—was bestowed the title Ayatollah immediately after he became
Supreme Leader of Iran The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...
in 1989, without meeting regular unwritten criteria (such as authoring a '' Risalah''). Since the 2010s, sources under government control tend to give him more distinguished titles like ''Grand Ayatollah'' and ''Imam''. Certain clerics have been downgraded by not being addressed as an Ayatollah, such as
Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari Sayyid Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari ( fa, محمد کاظم شریعتمداری), also spelled Shariat-Madari (5 January 1906 – 3 April 1986), was an Iranian Grand Ayatollah. He favoured the traditional Shiite practice of keeping clerics away ...
and
Hussein-Ali Montazeri Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri ( fa, حسینعلی منتظری‎ ; 24 September 1922 – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. He was one of the lea ...
.


Qualifications

Though no formal hierarchical structure exists among Shia clerics, a "hierarchy of difference" can be elaborated to describe the situation. Traditionally, the title Ayatollah was awarded by popular usage to prominent figures only –who were necessarily a '' Mujtahid''– and it was reserved for the very few highest rank clerics. Plus qualification as a definite '' Mujtahid'', such person was regarded among his peers superior in ''aʿlamīyat'' () and ''riyāsat'' (), the latter being determined by popular acclamation, as well as collecting a huge amount of '' Khums'' (religious taxes). Those conditions being applied, by 1960s a cleric addressed as an Ayatollah was expected to be a '' Marja'''. An unwritten rule of addressing for Shia clerics has been developed after the 1980s as a result of
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
, despite the fact no official institutional way of conferring titles is available. Since 1979, the number of individuals who call themselves an Ayatollah, instead of being recipient of that title, has raised dramatically. The title that was previously customary for addressing a '' Marja''', was gradually applied to an established '' Mujtahid''. With recent bureaucratization of Shia seminaries under the current regime, four levels of studies were introduced and those clerics who end the fourth level, also known as ''Dars-e-Kharej'' () and pass the final exam, were called Ayatollahs.
Moojan Momen Moojan Momen is a retired physician and historian specializing in Baháʼí studies who has published numerous books and articles about the Baháʼí Faith and Islam, especially Shia Islam, including for Encyclopædia Iranica* * * the British L ...
wrote in 2015 that every cleric who finished his training calls himself an Ayatollah and this trend has led to emergence of "thousands of Ayatollahs". Stages of contemporary titles for Shia clerics in Iran can be understood from the following table:


Grand Ayatollah

Only a few of the most important ayatollahs are accorded the rank of Grand Ayatollah (''Ayatollah Uzma'', "Great Sign of God"). When an ayatollah gains a significant following and they are recognized for religiously correct views, they are considered a ''Marja'-e-Taqlid'', which in common parlance is "grand ayatollah". Usually as a prelude to such status, a ''mujtahid'' is asked to publish a juristic treatise in which he answers questions about the application of Islam to present-time daily affairs. ''Risalah'' is the word for treatise, and such a juristic work is called a ''risalah-yi'amaliyyah'' or "practical law treatise", and it is usually a reinvention of the book '' Al-Urwatu l-Wuthqah''.


See also

* '' Ulama'' * '' Faqīh'' * '' Allamah'' * '' Mullah'' * '' Akhoond'' * '' Sheikh'' * Clericalism in Iran *
List of current Maraji This article provides the list of ''Maraji'' (plural of ''Marja'', the supreme legal authority or the source of emulation), followed by Twelver (also known as ''Imamiyyah'') Shia Muslims around the world. The concept of a ''Marja-i Taqlid'' (lit. ...


Explanatory notes


References


Citations


General and cited sources

* * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{Wiktionary-inline Hawza Islamic honorifics Islamic Persian honorifics Quranic words and phrases Religious titles Shia clerics