BARAQĪ, ḴᵛĀJA ʿABD-ALLĀH, first of the successors appointed by Ḵᵛāja Yūsof Hamadānī (d. 555/1160, q.v.) to exercise spiritual authority after…

BARĀQ BĀBĀ (655-707/1257-58-1307-08), a crypto-shamanic Anatolian Turkman dervish close to two of the Mongol rulers of Iran. The name Barāq…

BAḤR-AL-ʿOLŪM, SAYYED MOḤAMMAD MAHDĪ (1155/1742-1212/1797), a Shiʿite scholar who exercised great influence both in Iraq and in Iran through the…

BAHĀʾ-AL-DĪN MOḤAMMAD WALAD B. ḤOSAYN B. AḤMAD ḴAṬĪB BALḴĪ (546-628/1151-1231), father of Mawlānā Jalāl-al-Dīn Rūmī (q.v.), the great Sufi poet…

BAHĀʾ-AL-DĪN NAQŠBAND, ḴᵛĀJA MOḤAMMAD B. MOḤAMMAD BOḴĀRĪ (718-91/1318-91), eponym of the Naqšbandīya, one of the most vigorous and widespread Sufi…

BAḠDĀDĪ, MAWLĀNĀ ḴĀLED ŻĪĀʾ-AL-DĪN (1193-1242/1779-1827), the founder of a significant branch of the Naqšbandī Sufi order—named Ḵāledī after him—that has…

BAḠDĀDĪ, ABU’L-FAŻL (d. 550/1155), sixth/twelfth century Sufi whose name appears in the initiatic chain of the Neʿmatallāhī order. Together with…

BĀFQĪ, AYATOLLAH MOḤAMMAD-TAQĪ (1292-1365/1875-1946), a religious scholar known for his forthright opposition to Reżā Shah Pahlavī. Born to a merchant,…

BADĪLĪ, SHAIKH AḤMAD, a Sufi shaikh in 6th/12th-century Sabzavār, renowned for his mastery of the exoteric as well as the…

BADAḴŠĪ, MOLLĀ SHAH (also known as Shah Moḥammad), a mystic and writer of the Qāderī order, given both to the…

BĀBĀ SAMMĀSĪ, ḴᵛĀJA MOḤAMMAD, Central Asian Sufi of the line known as selsela-ye ḵᵛājagān (line of the masters) which was…

BĀBĀ SANKŪ (or SANGŪ), ecstatic Central Asian dervish of disorderly habits, contemporary with Tīmūr and one of several Sufis with…

BĀB, a title given to certain Sufi shaikhs of Central Asia. It appears to be a localized variant of bābā…

ĀYATALLĀH (Sign of God), an honorific title awarded by popular usage to mojtaheds, particularly the foremost among them, presumably with…

AWLĪĀʾ (more fully, awlīāʾ allāh, the “friends of God”), a term commonly translated in European languages as “saints” or the…

ʿATABĀT  “thresholds,” more fully, ʿatabāt-e ʿalīyāt or ʿatabāt-e (or aʿtāb-e) moqaddasa “the lofty or sacred thresholds,” the Shiʿite shrine cities…

ĀŠTĪĀNĪ, ḤĀJJ MĪRZĀ MAHDĪ, known as Mīrzā Kūček (1306-1372/1888-89 to 1952-53), a scholar who excelled in both the traditional (manqūl)…

ĀŠTĪĀNĪ, ḤĀJJ MĪRZĀ ḤASAN (or MOḤAMMAD ḤASAN) B. MĪRZĀ JAʿFAR (d. 1319/1901), late nineteenth-century moǰtahed who played an important role…

ASTARĀBĀDĪ, FAŻLALLĀH ŠEHĀB-AL-DĪN B. BAHĀʾ-AL-DĪN (or B. ABŪ MOḤAMMAD) (d. 796/1394), founder of the Ḥorūfī religion that achieved some prominence…

ASRĀR AL-TAWḤĪD FĪ MAQĀMĀT AL-ŠAYḴ ABĪ SAʿĪD, principal source for the life and teachings of the well-known mystic of Khorasan,…

ĀQĀ (or ĀḠĀ) BOZORG ṬEHRĀNĪ, SHAIKH MOḤAMMAD-MOḤSEN (1293-1389/1876-1970), Shiʿite scholar and bibliographer. He was born on 11 Rabīʿa I 1293/6…

ĀQĀ KHAN, title of the imams of the Nezārī Ismaʿilis since early 19th century. i. Āqā Khan I Maḥallātī. ii….

ANQARAVĪ, ROSŪḴ-AL-DĪN ESMĀʿĪL B. AḤMAD, (also known as Rosūḵī Dede) (d. 1041/1631), a shaikh in the Mawlawī order and author…

ANJOMAN-E TABLĪḠĀT-E ESLAMĪ (The Society of Islamic Propagation), an Islamic cultural and educational society established in 1941 by ʿAṭāʾallāh Šehābpūr….

ANJOMAN-E SAʿĀDAT (The Association of Felicity), an organization of Iranians resident in Istanbul, devoted to furthering the cause of the…

ANJOMAN (gathering, association, society), general designation of many private and public associations: i. Political (anǰoman-e sīāsī). ii. Religious (anǰoman-e maḏhabī)….

ANĪS AL-ṬĀLEBĪN WA ʿODDAT AL-SĀLEKĪN, one of the most important sources extant for the life and dicta of Bahāʾ-al-dīn Naqšband,…

ANGAJĪ, ḤĀJJ MĪRZĀ ABŪ’L-ḤASAN (1282-1357/1865-1939), a leading moǰtahed of Tabrīz, politically active during both the Constitutional Revolution and the reign…

AMĪR(-E) KABĪR, MĪRZĀ TAQĪ KHAN (1222-68/1807-52), also known by the titles of Atābak and Amīr-e Neẓām; chief minister to Nāṣer-al-dīn…

AMĪNĪ, SHAIKH ʿABD-AL-ḤOSAYN, also known as ʿAllāma-ye Amīnī (1320-90/1902-70), Shiʿite scholar and author of the encyclopedic al-Ḡadīr fi’l-ketāb wa’l-sonna wa’l-adab….

ʿAMĀMA (or ʿAMMĀMA, Arabic ʿEMĀMA), the turban. Imbued with symbolic significance, the turban was once the almost universal headgear of…

ʿALĪ KANĪ, MOLLĀ (1220-1306/1805-88), an influential and wealthy moǰtahed of Tehran who played a decisive role in obtaining the cancellation…

ʿALĪ AL-AʿLĀ (d. 822/1419), also known as Amīr Sayyed ʿAlī, principal successor of Fażlallāh Astarābādī, founder of the Ḥorūfī sect….

AḴYĀR (pl. of Arabic ḵayyer), “the chosen” (Persian, bargozīdagān), a category sometimes encountered in accounts given by Sufi writers of…

ĀL-E ʿABĀ, “The Family of the Cloak,” i.e., the Prophet Moḥammad, his daughter Fāṭema, his cousin and son-in-law ʿAlī, and…

ĀḴŪNDZĀDA (in Soviet usage, AKHUNDOV), MĪRZĀ FATḤ-ʿALĪ (1812-78), Azerbaijani playwright and propagator of alphabet reform; also, one of the earliest…

ĀḴŪND (or ĀḴOND), a word of uncertain etymology with the general meaning of religious scholar. Various Persian origins have been…

AḴBĀRĪ, MĪRZĀ MOḤAMMAD (1178-1233/1765-1818), a leading exponent of the Aḵbārī school of feqh and a violent polemicist against its opponents….

ABŪ YAʿQŪB YŪSOF B. AYYŪB HAMADĀNĪ (440-535/1048-49 to 1140), important figure in the history of Iranian and Central Asian Sufism…

ABU’L-WAFĀʾ ŠĪRĀZĪ, SAYYED KAMĀL-AL-DĪN (fl. 10th/16th century), a Sufi of Shiraz, morīd of the well-known preacher, mystic and writer, Shah…

ABU’L-ḤASAN ṬĀLAQĀNĪ, ḤOJJAT-AL-ESLĀM (?-1350/1932), religious scholar and father of the celebrated Āyatallāh Maḥmūd Ṭālaqānī. Born in the village of Gelīrd…

ABU’L-ḤASAN ŠAMSĀBĀDĪ, ĀYATALLĀH (1326-96/1908-76), an influential moǰtahed of Isfahan who was murdered on 7 April 1976 under mysterious circumstances. Born…

ABU’L-ḤASAN KHAN MOJTAHED, MĪRZĀ (1121-1279/1806-63), member of a prominent family of Shiraz who led a turbulent life alternating between government…

ABU’L-ḤASAN EṢFAHĀNĪ, ĀYATALLĀH (1284-1365/1867-1946), an Iranian moǰtahed who was a leading religious authority in the Shiʿite world for more than…

ABU’L-FAŻL MOḤAMMAD B. ḤASAN ḴOTTALĪ (d. 453/1061?), preceptor of Abu’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī Hoǰvīrī (d. 465/1073), the author of the celebrated Persian…

ABU’L-FATḤ MĪRZĀ, MOʾAYYED-AL-DAWLA (d. 1330/1912), Qajar prince who held a number of governorships. His father was Solṭān Morād Mīrzā Ḥoṣām-al-salṭana,…

ABU’L-BAQĀ B. ḴᵛĀJA BAHĀʾ-AL-DĪN B. ḴᵛĀJA AḤMAD, author of Jāmeʿ al-maqāmāt on the life of the Naqšbandī saint, Mawlānā Ḵᵛāǰagī…

ʿABDALLĀH MĀZANDARĀNĪ, SHAIKH (1256-1330/1840-1912), a theologian (moǰtahed) who, through his fatvās and proclamations, lent powerful support to the constitutional movement….

ʿABDALLĀH BEHBAHĀNĪ (1256-1328/1840-1910), theologian (moǰtahed) and a prominent leader of the constitutional movement. Born in Naǰaf in 1256/1840, he was…

ʿABD-AL-KARĪM GAZĪ (or JAZĪ, 1272-1339/1856-1921), a respected religious leader of Isfahan. Born to one Mollā Mandī in the village of…

ʿABD-AL-HĀDĪ ŠĪRĀZĪ, ĀYATALLĀH ḤĀJJ SAYYED (1305-82/1888-1962), a Šīʿī scholar of Naǰaf, highly regarded for his learning and piety. His father,…

ʿABD-AL-FATTĀḤ GARMRŪDĪ (ca. 1200-64/1786-1848), a scribe and minor author of the mid-Qajar period. He was born into a clerical family…

ʿABĀʾ (in Arabic, also ʿabāʾa and ʿabāya), a loose outer garment, generally for men, worn widely throughout the Middle East,…