Ayatollah
Ayatollah (
Arabic:
آية الله;
Persian:
آيتالله) is a high rank given to major
Shi'a clerics. The word means "Sign of
God" and those who carry the title are
experts in
Islamic studies such as
jurisprudence,
ethics,
philosophy and
mysticism and usually teach in schools (
howzeha) of Islamic sciences. The next lower clerical rank is
Hojætol-Islam ("Authority on Islam").
The rank is granted by consensus, rather than ceremonially: an esteemed religious scholar who has earned the respect and admiration of his teachers for his knowledge and behavior after completing his
howze studies. By then he would be able to issue his own edicts from the sources of religious laws:
Qur'an,
Sunnah,
Ijmāˤ and
Aql "intellect" (the equivalent of the Sunnī principle of
Qiyas). Most of the time this is attested by an issued certificate from his teachers. This Ayætollah then can teach in religious
howzeha according to his speciality and can act as a reference for their religious questions and as a judge.
Only a few of the most important Ayatollah are accorded the rank of
Grand Ayatollah (
Ayætollah-e Ozme, "Great Sign of God") or
Mærjæ'e Tæqlid ("Reference for Emulation"). 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
Resale-ye Elmiye, 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.
There is usually one Grand Ayatollah in
Iraq that heads the
Howzeha (currently
Ali al-Sistani) and a few that coordinate with him like
Mohammad Said Al-Hakim,
Mohammad Ishaq Al-Fayyad, and
Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi. There are more in
Iran and wherever the
Shi'a exist. There are more than 20 living world-wide; the most famous of them are
Jawad Tabrizi,
Ali Khamenei,
Ali Sistani,
Kazem al-Haeri,
Grand Ayatolah Sadiq Rohani,
Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani,
Grand Ayatollah Ali Montazeri,
Mohammad Hussein Fadlullah, and
Sadiq Hussaini Shirazi.
When Westerners say "the Ayatollah", they usually mean
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who brought the word into the international limelight during the
1979 Iranian Revolution; a possible secondary meaning would be the term's use to indicate the serving
Supreme Leader of Iran.
"The Ayatollah" is also the name of the celebration performed by
Wales rugby captain
Gareth Thomas when he scores a
try, and the celebration performed by
Cardiff City fans when their team scores. The celebration itself consists of using both arms to pat the head at the same time, and is derived from some of the mourning actions that were displayed when
Ayatollah Khomeini died, and is intended to symbolize the opposing team's grief at conceding a
goal.
Glamorgan and
England cricket player
Simon Jones also used the celebration when he took the
wicket of
Simon Katich in the first innings of the
fourth Test of the
2005 Ashes Series.
*
List of Ayatollahs*
Ruhollah Khomeini*
Anti-Ayatollahs*
Slate Magazine's "So you want to be an Ayatollah", explaining how Shiite clerics earn the title
* http://www.al-shia.com/html/ara/ola/?mod=hayat
*
Foundation for Democracy in Iran
