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

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

Aga Khan^[6]

References

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

[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.

[DaftaryIsmailis2ed-6] Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Ismāʻı̄lı̄s: their history and doctrines (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-35561-5.

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