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Ayatollah (Arabic: آية الله; Persian: آيت‌الله); is a high ranking title given to Shi'a clerics. The word means "Sign of God" and those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in seminaries of Islamic science. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin.

The title is currently granted to top Shia mujtahid, after completing sat'h and kharij studies in the hawza. By then he would be able to issue his own edicts from the sources of religious laws: Qur'an, Sunnah, Ijmāˤ and 'Aql "intellect" (rather than the Sunnī principle of Qiyas). Most of the time this is attested by an issued certificate from his teachers. The Ayatollah can then teach in hawzas according to his speciality, can act as a reference for their religious questions, and act as a judge. There is an important difference from Shi'a Ayatollah's and "saints" in other religions and Sunni Islam. They are not regarded as enlightened by God Himself, but by the Word of God.

There are a few females which are equal in ranking to the Ayatollahs, and are known as Lady Mujtahideh. A current example of a Lady Mujtahideh is Zohreh Sefati.^[1] Historically, there have been several Mujtahidehs in Shi'ism, most famously the women in the family of Allama Hilli.

Main article: Marja

Only a few of the most important Ayatollah are accorded the rank of Grand Ayatollah (Ayatollah Ozma, "Great Sign of God"). This usually happens when the followers of one of the Ayatollahs refer to him in many situations and ask him to publish his Juristic book in which he answers the vast majority of daily Muslim affairs. The book is called Resalah, which is usually a reinvention of the book Al-Urwatu l-Wuthqah, according to their knowledge of the most authentic Islamic sources and their application to current life.

There is usually one Grand Ayatollah in Iraq that heads the Hawzas (currently Ali Sistani) and a few that coordinate with him like Mohammad Said Al-Hakim, Mohammad Ishaq Al-Fayyad, and Mohammad Taqi Modarresi. There are more in Iran and wherever the Shi'a exist. There are more than 20 living world-wide; the most famous of them are Ali Khamenei, Ali Sistani, Makarem Shirazi, Malakouti , Montazeri, Fadlullah, Haeri and Sadiq Shirazi.

Westerners who say "the Ayatollah" usually mean Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who brought the word into the international limelight during the 1979 Iranian Revolution and rulership that followed; a possible secondary meaning would be the term's use to indicate the serving Supreme Leader of Iran.

• List of Ayatollahs
• List of Grand Ayatollahs
• Clericalism in Iran

• [1]
• [2] Ayatollah only news blog
• Towards an Understanding of the Shiite Authoritative Sources
• [3] AYATOLLAHS.NET