Using Personal Titles: Using Personal Titles #13: Islamic Religious Titles

Using Personal Titles #12:
Islamic ReligiousTitles

 

Islam, a major religion with believers throughout the world,
also uses special titles. Because these titles are generally in
Arabic (or, sometimes, in Persian), most are not well-known
in the English-speaking world. Here are a few that are either
well-known or becoming more commonly used:

title		use with:
Imam--one who leads public prayers in a masjid (mosque)		a full name
Sheikh--a religious leader; a wise person		a full name
Hafiz--someone who has memorized all of the Koran (the Muslim holy book)		a full name
Mullah--someone who is very knowledgeable about Islamic religious law		a full name
Sayid--someone who is a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammed		a full name

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Special Note:

There are various subgroups within Islam (Sunni, Shiite, 
Ismaili, Wahabi, etc.) and these groups often have special 
titles (such as Ayatollah--a Shiite religious leader) that 
are not generally used by other Islamic groups.