List of Ismaili titles

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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ Petrushevsky, I. P. (January 1985). Islam in Iran. SUNY Press. p. 253. ISBN 9781438416045.
  2. ^ 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).
  3. ^ Joveynī, ʻAlā al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malek (1958). The history of the World-Conqueror. Harvard University Press. p. 640.
  4. ^ Also mistakenly transliterated as muhtashim.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Ismāʻı̄lı̄s: their history and doctrines (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-35561-5.