Akhoond
Encyclopedia
An akhoond is a Persian
name for a Muslim
cleric, common in Iran
, Afghanistan
and Azerbaijan
. The Dungani word for imam
"ahond", in Mandarin
"阿訇", used in particular by the Dungans(Hui people
), also derives from this term.
s, deliver religious sermons and perform religious ceremonies, such as birth rites and funeral services. They also often teach in Islamic schools known in Iran as hozeh
and in other countries as a madrassa.
Akhoonds will usually have completed some studies (of varying levels) in a madrassa, studying various Islamic and non-Islamic subjects, such as Sharia
(Islamic law), Fiqh
(Islamic jurisprudence), Qur'an
ic studies, and basic mathematics. They commonly dress in religious attire. In the Swat valley
, akhoonds (see Akhund of Swat
) had been in political charge of the theocratic, non-permanent precursor of the State of Swat
until it was made into a secular princely state
in 1849, which was part of British India till 1947 and then of Pakistan, but only ceased to exist in 1969 at the death of its last Wali
.
Khomeini himself used the term "Akhoond" as an insult against those clerics that he considered hypocrites and misguided (mostly low-level seminarians who collaborated with the Shah
, and unqualified, ignorant village preachers who falsified their own credentials). In Iran
, they are also called mullah
, molavi, sheikh
, haj-agha or rohani. The word 'rohani' means 'spriritual' or 'holy'. 'Rohani' is considered as a more polite term for Muslim clerics, used by Iranian national television and radio, and by devout Muslim families. The term "Akhoond" in Iran is increasingly outmoded, usually with only the older clerics having the title "Akhoond" as part of their name. It has not been used widely as a title since the Qajar era.
In Afghanistan, and among the Pashtun tribes of the Afghan-Pakistan border region, the term is still current in its original sense as an honorific one.
Other names for similar Muslim clerics include Shaykh and Maulana
.
surname Akhundov (as in e.g. Mirza Fatali Akhundov
) is formed from the word akhund.
Akhund (or Akhwand) is also a surname/title used by families in Dera Ghazi Khan
and Sindh
, Pakistan
. Their ancestors came in from Afghanistan
around 200 years ago and settled in the old Dera Ghazi Khan
. After the major floods of early 1900s that washed away the city, they moved into the new Dera Ghazi Khan settled in Block 11.
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
name for a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
cleric, common in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. The Dungani word for imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
"ahond", in Mandarin
Mandarin
-Officials:* Mandarin , a bureaucrat of Imperial China , Vietnam, and by analogy, any senior government bureaucrat-Language:...
"阿訇", used in particular by the Dungans(Hui people
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
), also derives from this term.
Duty
Akhoonds are responsible for leading religious services in a community. Akhoonds lead the prayers in the mosqueMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s, deliver religious sermons and perform religious ceremonies, such as birth rites and funeral services. They also often teach in Islamic schools known in Iran as hozeh
Hawza
Hawza or ḥawza ʻilmiyya is a seminary of traditional Islamic school of higher learning. It is a term used mostly by the Shi'a Muslims communities to refer to a traditional Shi'a centre where clerics are trained...
and in other countries as a madrassa.
Akhoonds will usually have completed some studies (of varying levels) in a madrassa, studying various Islamic and non-Islamic subjects, such as Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
(Islamic law), Fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
(Islamic jurisprudence), Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
ic studies, and basic mathematics. They commonly dress in religious attire. In the Swat valley
Swat (Pakistan)
Swat is a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located close to the Afghan-Pakistan border. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif, but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora...
, akhoonds (see Akhund of Swat
Akhund of Swat
The Akhund of Swat Abdul Ghafur was a Muslim saint who exercised great influence and authority over Muslims over large parts of central Asia....
) had been in political charge of the theocratic, non-permanent precursor of the State of Swat
State of Swat
Swat was a province of the Mughal Empire ruled by local rulers known as the Akhwands, then until 1947 a princely state of the British Indian Empire, which was dissolved in 1947, when the Akhwand acceded to Pakistan...
until it was made into a secular princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
in 1849, which was part of British India till 1947 and then of Pakistan, but only ceased to exist in 1969 at the death of its last Wali
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
.
Old usage
This term was traditionally a slang term in Iran, and it has been completely a derogatory term since the Shah's efforts at westernization. Today in Iran it is almost invariably used as a term of insult, ridicule or disparagement. Ironically, AyatollahAyatollah
Ayatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...
Khomeini himself used the term "Akhoond" as an insult against those clerics that he considered hypocrites and misguided (mostly low-level seminarians who collaborated with the Shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
, and unqualified, ignorant village preachers who falsified their own credentials). In Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, they are also called mullah
Mullah
Mullah is generally used to refer to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word مَوْلَى mawlā , meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...
, molavi, sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
, haj-agha or rohani. The word 'rohani' means 'spriritual' or 'holy'. 'Rohani' is considered as a more polite term for Muslim clerics, used by Iranian national television and radio, and by devout Muslim families. The term "Akhoond" in Iran is increasingly outmoded, usually with only the older clerics having the title "Akhoond" as part of their name. It has not been used widely as a title since the Qajar era.
In Afghanistan, and among the Pashtun tribes of the Afghan-Pakistan border region, the term is still current in its original sense as an honorific one.
Other names for similar Muslim clerics include Shaykh and Maulana
Maulana
Mawlānā is an Arabic word literally meaning "our lord" or "our master" ....
.
Use in personal names
The AzerbaijaniAzerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
surname Akhundov (as in e.g. Mirza Fatali Akhundov
Mirza Fatali Akhundov
Mirza Fatali Akhundov , former – Akhundzade , was a celebrated Azerbaijani author, playwright, philosopher, and founder of modern literary criticism, "who acquired fame primarily as the writer of European-inspired plays in the Azeri language"...
) is formed from the word akhund.
Akhund (or Akhwand) is also a surname/title used by families in Dera Ghazi Khan
Dera Ghazi Khan
Dera Ghazi Khan is a city located in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. Dera Ghazi Khan is one of the most populous cities in Southern Punjab, and it is the largest district in Punjab in terms of area, being approximately in extent....
and Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Their ancestors came in from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
around 200 years ago and settled in the old Dera Ghazi Khan
Dera Ghazi Khan
Dera Ghazi Khan is a city located in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. Dera Ghazi Khan is one of the most populous cities in Southern Punjab, and it is the largest district in Punjab in terms of area, being approximately in extent....
. After the major floods of early 1900s that washed away the city, they moved into the new Dera Ghazi Khan settled in Block 11.
See also
- Akhundism
- Clericalism in IranClericalism in IranClericalism in Iran has a long history and had remarkable impact on Iranian society, politics as well as on Islamic theology.-Emergence:There are controversies about the emergence of clericalism in Iran...
- Hadhrat Molana Pir Fakir-u-llah BakotiHadhrat Molana Pir Fakir-u-llah BakotiHadhrat Molana Pir Faqir-u-llah Bakoti was a religious leader in the resistance movement against British rule. He used the idea of Tassawaf to recruit his followers by promising freedom...
- Islamic term
- UlemaUlemaUlama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...