Ayatollah (Persian: آيتالله āyatollāh from Arabic: آية الله, āyatu l-Lāh "Sign of God") is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin.
The title is currently granted to top Shia mujtahid, after completing sat'h and kharij studies...
more
Ayatollah (Persian: آيتالله āyatollāh from Arabic: آية الله, āyatu l-Lāh "Sign of God") is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin.
The title is currently granted to top Shia mujtahid, after completing sat'h and kharij studies in the hawza. 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). 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 ayatollahs and "saints" in other religions and Sunni Islam. They are not regarded as enlightened...
less
