n. Islam.

1. A high-ranking Shiite religious authority regarded as worthy of imitation in matters of religious law and interpretation.
2. Used as a title for such a leader.

[Persian āyatollāh, from Arabic ’āyatu llāh, sign of God : ’āyatu, bound form of ’āya, sign, Koranic verse + allāh, Allah; see Allah.]

Ayat Allah, ‘a miraculous sign, a mark, an exemplar of God’. This is a designation which came into use in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries among the Imamis, or Twelvers, the majority tradition in Shi'i Islam. Ayatollahs are found in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. ‘Ayatollah’ denotes a religious scholar of outstanding quality and reputation. He is a mujtahid, a specialist in law who is capable of formulating through independent reasoning interpretations (ijtihad) in legal and theological matters based on the Jafari school of jurisprudence. Mujtahids are ulama (recognized religious scholars). Among the Imamis, by the end of the seventeenth and into the eighteenth centuries, mujtahids came to perform a more enhanced role within the Shi'i ulama.

During the fourteenth century, a practice had emerged that all Shi'i throughout their lifetime should follow the religious guidance of a mujtahid and, should the mujtahid die, choose a successor. The individual Shi'i decides which mujtahid he or she will follow. A mujtahid of the Imamis came to be regarded as representing the will of the Hidden Imam (the twelfth Imam), as His deputy until His return. By the early nineteenth century, a further development in the differentiation of the Shi'i ulama led to the recognition of the marja i taqlid (source of imitation), that is, the most pre-eminent of the mujtahids. As the number of marja i taqlid grew, the designation ‘Ayatollah’ began to be used in the twentieth century to refer to the outstanding marja. Thus, a hierarchy came to exist among the Shi'i ulama unlike the Sunni ulama. Those that become pre-eminent among the mujtahids evidenced by the number of followers that he can attract emerge as Ayatollahs. Among the Ayatollahs a few will become known as Grand Ayatollahs (Ayat Allah al-uzma). It is from these that the one that is able to attract an exceptional following will emerge as the marja—the apex of the Shi'i hierarchy. This particular evolution of an informal hierarchy arrived at via consensus within the Shi'i ulama had the effect, amongst other things, of facilitating the accommodation of the religion to the changing times.

Ayatollahs also act as administrators: as collectors of religious taxes, managing pious gifts and property, dispenser of grants and alms, responsible for schools, orphanages, publishing houses, libraries and other social services institutions. Ayatollahs can at time attract considerable following abroad as evidenced by the popularity of the now deceased Ayatollah al-Khu'i, well known for his erudition in Shi'i jurisprudence and pious works in many countries.

— Barbara Allen Roberson

For more information on ayatollah, visit Britannica.com.

"Sign of God." A title used in Iranian Islamic Shiism for the most highly honored members of the ulama.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - ayatollah

Nederlands (Dutch)
sjiitisch religieuze leider (Iran)

Français (French)
n. - ayatollah

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ajatollah, Ayatollah, (Schiitischer religiöser Führer im Iran)

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αγιατολάχ

Italiano (Italian)
ayatollah

Português (Portuguese)
n. - aiatolá (m) (Rel.)

Русский (Russian)
аятолла, мусульманский религиозный лидер

Español (Spanish)
n. - ayatollah

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ayatollah

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
依朗回教什叶特派的宗教领袖

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 依朗回教什葉特派的宗教領袖

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 어야톨라(이란 회교 시아파 지도자의 칭호)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アーヤトッラー

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) لقب للزعيم المسلم في ايران‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮איתוללה ("אות אלוהים") - מנהיג דתי שיעי באירן‬

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