A rabbi is to Judaism as what is to Islam?

Answer 1

In Sunni Islam, the imam of a masjid is simply a well educated man who should also be adherent to (of course) and have some level of knowledge of people traditions. His education may be formal or not, depending on availability within a particular community. Often, he is the one who has memorized most of The Qur'an; who also has good education in Islamic jurisprudence, or "Fiqh".

The imam is not a 'holy man'. There does not reside, in him, any special power. As there is no power except of God alone. So the imam is a pious, knowledgeable person who helps guide a community and serves the individual needs of its members. The imam must, in all cases when he expresses an opinion, bring proofs in support of his opinion. Proofs come first from the text of The Qur'an, then from the 'sunnah' of Prophet Muhammad ( the record of what Muhammad said, did and permitted ), then from the consensus of the widely-recognized scholars.

Women are not imams, but they can be scholars. There were many notable women scholars in history - beginning with Aisha the wife of Prophet Muhammad. She is responsible for passing on more of his sayings than any other single person.

Islam equalised between men and women but with reserving rights and duties for both. The Imamah is a sole function of men:

"And they (women) have rights (over their husbands as regards living expenses, etc.) similar (to those of their husbands) over them (as regards obedience and respect, etc.) to what is reasonable, but men have a degree (of responsibility) over them. And Allâh is All-Mighty, All-Wise" 1:228

and Imamah is one of these responsibilities of men.

Women do recite The Qur'an, of course. The only restriction is that a woman will not hold the printed Qur'an in her hand if she is having her period. And if a group of women are to pray together, the imam can be a woman.

A Rabbi is to Judaism as an Imam is to Islam. Both are supposed to be the scholars of their religion who guide and lead people.

Someone answered this question earlier and stated that "...an imam in Islam is a very high ranked person...", therefore, he is not comparable to a Rabbi.

This observation roots from comparing what an Imam ought to be to what Rabbis are perceived to be as today. Unfortunately, some Imams (some scholars of the Muslim Ummah) have mislead their people, much like many Rabbis have mislead Jews This was prophesied by both, prophet Moses and prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

A Rabbi is supposed to be educated with the Torah and is supposed to guide the members of the Jewish community, much like an Imam.

Both give sermons, or "KHutbah", lead marriage seremonies/Nikah, funerals and preside in a synagogue/masjid. Hence, a Rabbi is to Judaism as an Imam is to Islam.

Quick supplementOutside the Arabic-speaking Muslim world--Iran and any country that ends in -Stan suffix and Bangladesh are prime examples--religious leaders are called mullahs.

answer:

it can be Imam or Khalifa

they are also called ayatollah, but this is a Persian word, not an Arabic one, so they're only called ayatollahs in Iran, some parts of Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan.

It is important to remember that a rabbi goes to a rabbinical school (seminary) to take the specific role as a rabbi.

The imam (Sunni) is not a "priest" like a rabbi, he is just an individual that is well versed in the Quran and Hadiths. A person with even rudimentary knowledge of Islam could be an imam if no one else had more knowledge than he did. (think of a small village or a place where there not many Muslims & had no better spiritual guide).

ayatollah = the Pope of the Shiites, and imam is the offspring of muhamad, in the shiite the rabbai is the

for the sunnis the rabbai is the imam .