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Ayatollah (UK: / ˌ aɪ ə ˈ t ɒ l ə /, also US: / ˌ aɪ ə ˈ t oʊ l ə /; Arabic: اية الله, romanized: ʾāyatu llāh; Persian: آیتالله, romanized: âyatollâh [ɒːjjætˌolˈlɒːh]) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. it came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
This is a partial list of ayatollahs, a title given to high ranked Twelver Usuli Shi'a Muslim clerics. Its ranking is higher than Hujjat al-Islam, and the next higher clerical rank is Grand Ayatollah also known as Marja'.
Ayatollah Khomeini's paternal grandfather, Seyyed Ahmad Musavi Hindi, was born in Kintoor. [22] [24] He left Lucknow in 1830, on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Ali in Najaf, Ottoman Iraq (now Iraq), and never returned. [21] [24] According to Moin, this migration was to escape from the spread of British power in India. [25]
[2] [4] Since around 1940, marja-i taqlids are often referred to by their followers with the honorific title of Ayatollah al-`Uzma (Grand Ayatollah – "ayatollah" meaning "sign of God"). [2] Among the functions of marja-i taqlids is the collection and distribution of religious taxes (zakat and khums). [2] [3]
In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini dismissed Ayatollah Montazeri as his political successor, giving the position to Khamenei instead. Because Khamenei was neither a marja' or ayatollah, the Assembly of Experts had to modify the constitution to award him the position of Iran's new Supreme Leader (a decision opposed by several grand ayatollahs). [71]
The office was established by the Constitution of Iran in 1979, pursuant to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's concept of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, [16] and is a lifetime appointment. [17] Originally the constitution required the Supreme Leader to be Marja' -e taqlid , the highest-ranking cleric in the religious laws of Usuli Twelver ...
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Ayatollah Khomeini was a senior Islamic jurist cleric of Twelver Shi'i Islam (which makes up about 80% of the Shi'i population). [11] Shia theology holds that Wilayah or Islamic leadership (political and religious) belongs to a divinely-appointed line of Shia Imams descended from a cousin ( Ali ) and daughter ( Fatima ) of the Islamic prophet ...