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Ayatollah (Persian: آيت‌الله; Arabic: آية الله; English: Sign of God) is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shi'a clerics. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Usulis ( are the majority Twelver Shi'a Muslim group They differ from their now much smaller rival Akhbari group in favoring the use of See also Shi'a Islam Twelver Shi'ism ( ar اثنا عشرية Ithnāˤashariyyah) is the largest branch of Shi'a branch of Islam Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. An "expert" ( is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or Skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly justly This is a sub-article to Religious education, Academic discipline, and Islam. Jurisprudence is the Theory and Philosophy of Law. Scholars of jurisprudence or legal philosophers hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Hawza ( Arabic / Persian: حوزة or ḥawza ˤilmiyya ( Arabic / Persian: حوزة علمیة is a Seminary of traditional The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin. Hojatoleslam (from Arabic حجة الإسلام hujjat-ul-islām) is an Honorific title meaning "authority on Islam " or "proof

Contents 1 Rank 2 History 3 Grand Ayatollah 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Rank

The title is currently granted to top Shia mujtahid, after completing sat'h and kharij studies in the hawza. Ijtihad (Arabic اجتهاد is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources Hawza ( Arabic / Persian: حوزة or ḥawza ˤilmiyya ( Arabic / Persian: حوزة علمیة is a Seminary of traditional By then he would be able to issue his own edicts from the sources of religious laws: Qur'an, Sunnah, Ijmāˤ and 'Aql "intellect" (rather than the Sunnī principle of Qiyas). An edict is an announcement of a Law, often associated with monarchism. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran Sunnah ar (سنة plural سنن Sunan literally means “trodden path” and therefore the sunnah of the prophet means “the way and the manners of the prophet” Ijmā (إجماع is an Arabic term referring ideally to the Consensus of the Ummah (the community of Muslims, or followers of Islam ‘Aql (عقل literally "something tied to an animal's feet to restrain it" (see ‘agal عقل "id In Sunni Islamic jurisprudence,the qiyas ( Arabic قياس is the process of analogical reasoning in which the teachings of the Quran are compared Most of the time this is attested by an issued certificate from his teachers. The Ayatollah can then teach in hawzas according to his speciality, can act as a reference for their religious questions, and act as a judge. There is an important difference from Shi'a Ayatollah's and "saints" in other religions and Sunni Islam. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic They are not regarded as enlightened by God Himself, but by the Word of God.

There are a few females which are equal in ranking to the Ayatollahs, and are known as Lady Mujtahideh. Ijtihad (Arabic اجتهاد is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources A current example of a Lady Mujtahideh is Zohreh Sefati. ^[1] Historically, there have been several Mujtahidehs in Shi'ism, most famously the women in the family of Allama Hilli. Jamal ad-Din Hasan ibn Yusuf ibn 'Ali ibn Muthahhar al-Hilli (جمال الدين الحسن بن يوسف الحلي ( December 15, 1250 - December 18,

History

According to author Baqer Moin, "the title `ayatollah` was introduced at the time of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1905 to honour those clerical leaders who signed the constitution. Baqer Moin is a BBC journalist and author He has been described as "a specialist on Iran and Islam and is head of the BBC's Persian Service" The Iranian Constitutional Revolution (also known as the Persian Constitutional Revolution or Constitutional Revolution of Iran) took place between 1905 and 1911 "^[2]

Grand Ayatollah

Main article: Marja

Only a few of the most important Ayatollah are accorded the rank of Grand Ayatollah (Ayatollah Ozma, "Great Sign of God"). Marja ( Arabic / Persian: مرجع also appearing as Marja Taqlid or Marja Dini ( Arabic / Persian: مرجع تقليد Marja ( Arabic / Persian: مرجع also appearing as Marja Taqlid or Marja Dini ( Arabic / Persian: مرجع تقليد This usually happens when the followers of one of the Ayatollahs refer to him in many situations and ask him to publish his Juristic book in which he answers the vast majority of daily Muslim affairs. The book is called Resalah, which is usually a reinvention of the book Al-Urwatu l-Wuthqah, according to their knowledge of the most authentic Islamic sources and their application to current life. A Resalah (Arabic for "journal" "pamphlet" or "book" (رسالة توضيح المسائل is a book written by a Shi'a

There is usually one Grand Ayatollah in Iraq that heads the Hawzas (currently Ali Sistani) and a few that coordinate with him like Ayatollah Bashir Najafi Mohammad Said Al-Hakim, Mohammad Ishaq Al-Fayyad, and Mohammad Taqi Modarresi. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Hawza ( Arabic / Persian: حوزة or ḥawza ˤilmiyya ( Arabic / Persian: حوزة علمیة is a Seminary of traditional Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husaini al-Sistani Arabic: السيد علي الحسيني السيستاني Persian: سید علی Grand Ayatollah Bashir al-Najafi (آية الله بشير النجفي (born 1942 is one of the four Grand Ayatollahs in Iraq. Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sa'id al- Tabataba'i al- Hakim is a Twelver Shi'a scholar residing Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq al-Fayyad (also Fayad, Fayyadh; Arabic: محمد إسحاق الفياض) (born in 1930 lives in Najaf There are more in Iran and wherever the Shi'a exist. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. There are more than 20 living world-wide; the most famous of them are Ali Khamenei, Ali Sistani, Makarem Shirazi, Malakouti, Montazeri, Fadlullah, Haeri and Sadiq Shirazi. This article provides the list of marja taqlid (supreme legal authorities since 1900 both current and deceased followed by Usuli Twelver Shi'a Muslims (fa علی حسینی خامنه‌ای born 17 July 1939 also known as Ali Khamenei, is an Iranian Azeri politician and cleric Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husaini al-Sistani Arabic: السيد علي الحسيني السيستاني Persian: سید علی TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi is one of the most influential Ayatollahs Grand Ayatollah Moslem Malakouti (Persian مسلم ملكوتی (born 13th August 1923 in Sarab, Azarbaijan, Iran) is an Iranian Twelver Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri (حسین علی منتظری styled His Honourable Eminence, (born in 1922 was one of the leaders of the Islamic Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh (محمد حسين فضل الله (also Muhammad Husayn Fadl-Allāh or Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Ayatollah Kazem Husseini Haeri (كاظم حسيني حائري is a prominent Twelver Shi'a leader Grand Ayatollah Sadiq Hussaini Shirazi (Arabic سيد صادق الحسيني الشيرازي born 20

See also

• List of Ayatollahs
• List of Grand Ayatollahs
• Clericalism in Iran

References

External links

• [1]
• Towards an Understanding of the Shiite Authoritative Sources

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