This article forms part of the series Islam

Vocabulary of Islam

Five Pillars

Profession of faith

Prayer · Alms · Fasting

Pilgrimage to Mecca

People

Muhammad

Prophets of Islam

Caliphs · Shia Imams

Companions of Muhammad

Holy Cities

Mecca · Medina · Jerusalem

Najaf · Karbala · Kufa

Kazimain · Mashhad · Samarra

Events

Hijra · Islamic calendar · Eid ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Adha · Aashura · Arba'in

Buildings

Mosque · Minaret · Mihrab · Kaaba

Islamic architecture

Functional Religious Roles

Muezzin · Imam · Mullah

Ayatollah · Mufti

Interpretive Texts & Practices

Qur'an · Hadith · Sunnah

Fiqh · Fatwa · Sharia

Sects

Sunni: Hanafi · Hanbali · Maliki · Shafi'i

Shi'a: Ithna Asharia · Ismailiyah · Zaiddiyah

Others: Ibadi · Kharijite · Murjite · Mu'tazili

Movements

Sufism · Wahhabism · Salafism

Non-Mainstream Sects / Movements

Ahmadiyyah · Nation of Islam

Zikri · Druze

Related Faiths

Babism · Bahá'í Faith · Yazidi

Ayatollah (Arabic: آية الله; Persian: آیت‌الله) is a high title given to major Shia clergymen. The word means 'sign of God', and those who carry the title are experts in Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, ethics, philosophy and mysticism, and usually teach in schools (hawza) of Islamic sciences. A handful of the most important Ayatollahs are accorded the title Grand Ayatollah, or Marja al-taqlid ("object of emulation"). There is usually only one Grand Ayatollah in Iraq and a few in Iran. Currently there are five living Grand Ayatollahs, including Ali Khamenei, Ali al-Sistani, Sayyid Ali , Kazem al-Haeri, and Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi .

When Western people 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.

See also: List of Ayatollahs

External link

• Slate Magazine's "So you want to be an Ayatollah" http://slate.msn.com/id/2098364/ , explaining how Shiite clerics earn the title