List of titles used by the followers of Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam.
The titles are of Persian and Arabic origin.
Nizari Ismaili titles[edit]
The hierarchy (hudūd) of the organization of the Nizari Ismailis of the Alamut period was as follows:
- Imām (امام), the descendants of Nizar
- Dā'ī ad-Du'āt (داعی الدعات literally "Da'i of the Da'is"), "Chief Da'i"
- Dā'ī kabīr (داعی کبیر) – "Superior Da'i", "Great Da'i"
- Dā'ī (داعی, literally "missionary") – "Ordinary Da'i", "Da'i"
- Rafīq (رفیق, literally "companion, assistance, fellow-traveler"), plural rafīqān (رفیقان)
- Lāṣiq (لاصق, literally "adherent"). Lasiqs had to swear a special oath of obedience to the Imam.
- Fidā'ī (فدائی, literally "self-sacrificer")
Imam and da'is were the elites, while the majority of the sect consisted of the last three grades who were peasants and artisans.[1]
Other titles include:
The titles Bābā (بابا; Persian equivalent of the Arabic Shaykh, "Old Man") and Sayyidinā (Sayyidnā) (سیدنا; literally "Our Lord" or "Our Master") was used by the Nizaris to refer to Hassan-i Sabbah.[2]
- Kiyā (کیا) – a ruler[3] or commander. Notably held by Buzurg-Ummid.
- Muhtasham[4] (محتشم) – a governor of Quhistan.[5]
- Mahdī - the rightly guided one
- Qāim - the one who rises
- Nāṭiq (ناطق) - the messenger-prophet
- Waṣī (وصي) - the prophet's "legatee"
- Bāb - literally "gate"
- Hujjah - literally "proof"
- Dā'ī al-Balagh - regional missionary
- Dā'ī al-Mutlaq - absolute missionary
- Mādhun - assistant
- Mukāsir - debater
- Shaykh - elder in Arabic
- Pīr - senior elder in Persian
- Mukhi - headman
- Kāmādia - treasurer
- Vāras/Vizier - minister
- Aāmilsaheb - agent
- Shāhzāda - prince
- Allāma - scholar
- Mu'allim - teacher
- Mullāh - lesser elder in Persian
- President - national leadership title
- Amīr - commander
- Amīr al-mu'minīn - commander of the faithful
- Begum - noble lady
- Māta Salāmat - Mother of Peace
- Sayyid - descendant
- Hakīm - doctor
- Khwājah - master
- Mawlānā - our master
- Murshid - guide-master
- Wali - guardian
- Qādī - judge
- Murīd - follower
- Mustajib - respondent
- Hājī - pilgrim
- Khalif - deputy
- Sitt - noble lady
Other titles[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Petrushevsky, I. P. (January 1985). Islam in Iran. SUNY Press. p. 253. ISBN 9781438416045.
- ^ Farhad Daftary, “ḤASAN ṢABBĀḤ,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, XII/1, pp. 34-37, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hasan-sabbah (accessed on 30 December 2012).
- ^ Joveynī, ʻAlā al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malek (1958). The history of the World-Conqueror. Harvard University Press. p. 640.
- ^ Also mistakenly transliterated as muhtashim.
- ^ Landolt, Herman; Kassam, Kutub; Sheikh, S. (2008). An Anthology of Ismaili Literature: A Shi'i Vision of Islam. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-84511-794-8.
- ^ Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Ismāʻı̄lı̄s: their history and doctrines (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-35561-5.