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Shia clergy

In Shi'a Islam the guidance of clergy (collectively called the ulema) and keeping such a structure holds great importance. There are several branches of Shi'ism, of which Twelver Shi'ism is by far the largest, and each of the branches has different clergy structures. Individual clerics are referred to as mullā or ākhūnd, but since those terms have developed "a somewhat pejorative connotation" since at least the 1980s, the term rūḥānī has been "promoted" as an alternative, "especially by the clerical class itself".[1]

teacher for a maktab

for a village

mullah

pīshnamāz (prayer leader)

mutawallī (custodian) of a shrine or endowment

Historical role in politics and society[edit]

Modern history[edit]

The Shia clerics in this period were closely tied with the bazaars that were in turn strongly linked with the artisans and farmers that together formed traditional socioeconomic communities and centers of associational life with Islamic occasions and functions tying them to clerics who interpreted Islamic laws to settle commercial disputes and taxed the well-to-do to provide welfare for devout poorer followers. A succession of prayer meetings and rituals were organized by both clergy and the laity. Bazaars also enjoyed ties with more modern sectors of Iranians society as many Iranian university students were from the merchant class. But since the 1970s, the Shah of Iran aroused the defense and oppositions of the bazaar by attempts at bring under control their autonomous councils and marginalizing the clergy by taking over their educational and welfare activities. This combined with the growing public and clerical dissatisfaction with Shah's secular policies and his reliance on foreign powers, particularly the United States, led to a nationwide revolution, that saw a high-ranking cleric Ayatollah Khomeini and his clerical disciples as its top leadership, that deposed the Pahlavi Shah and founded the Islamic Republic of Iran.[15]

Ali Mohaqiq Nasab

Asif Mohseni

Muhammad al-Fayadh

Mohaqiq Kabuli

Akhoond

Hawza

Imamzadeh

Ulama

List of ayatollahs

Lists of maraji

Algar, Hamid (18 August 2011) [15 December 1987]. . In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Fasc. 2. Vol. III (Online ed.). New York, NY: Bibliotheca Persica Press. p. 133.

"ĀyatallāH"

Fischer, Michael M. J. (1980). Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution. Harvard University Press]. p. 2016.  9780674466159.

ISBN

Religion and Politics in Iraq. Shiite Clerics between Quietism and Resistance, M. Ismail Marcinkowski ( 9971-77-513-1).

ISBN

(1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. New Haven, CT; London, England: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300035314.

Momen, Moojan

Momen, Moojan (2015), Shi'I Islam: A Beginner's Guide, Oneworld Publications,  9781780747880

ISBN