muslim priest

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atabitaraf

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Hello, I wanted to ask you, native English people, what do you call a Muslim priest? They wear like this.
Thank you!
 

charliedeut

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Hello, I wanted to ask you, native English people, what do you call a Muslim priest? They wear like this.
Thank you!

Imam is the name given to Muslim priests. Now, about what they wear on the head, the only word that comes to mind is "turban", but I'm not sure.

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birdeen's call

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I don't think imams and mullas are what you'd normally call priests. They're closer to Protestant pastors I believe.
 

charliedeut

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I don't think imams and mullas are what you'd normally call priests. They're closer to Protestant pastors I believe.

However, I believe the OP used the expression "Muslim priest" for want of a better way to make him/herself understood.
 

birdeen's call

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Right, I should have given a better word. "Cleric" is used.
 

5jj

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It seems to me that atabitaraf's 'muslim priest' is what many non-muslims might use in such a question.
 

birdeen's call

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It seems to me that atabitaraf's 'muslim priest' is what many non-muslims might use in such a question.

That doesn't make it correct though, in my opinion. A priest is a medium of intercourse between a god and the god's worshippers. He or she is sacred, set apart from among the worshippers to have a special relationship with the god, which usually involves the god manifesting his or her power though the priest. For example, the ancient priests divined, and the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox priests absolve the faithful from their sins. I know little about Islam, but, as far as I know, that is not the case with imams or mullas.
 

5jj

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That doesn't make it correct though, in my opinion. A priest is a medium of intercourse between a god and the god's worshippers. He or she is sacred, set apart from among the worshippers to have a special relationship with the god, which usually involves the god manifesting his or her power though the priest. For example, the ancient priests divined, and the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox priests absolve the faithful from their sins. I know little about Islam, but, as far as I know, that is not the case with imams or mullas.
I don't dispute what you say.

If a member wrote, "An imam is a muslim priest", then you would be justified in correcting that statement. charlie's response, post #2 needed correction.

However, as charliedeut and I have suggested, the OP's "I wanted to ask you, native English people, what do you call a Muslim priest?" is a reasonable question for a non-muslim to ask. If charlie had worded his response as I suggest below, then there would have been no problem:

"Imam is the name given to the closest muslim equivalent to priests."
 

birdeen's call

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I don't dispute what you say.

If a member wrote, "An imam is a muslim priest", then you would be justified in correcting that statement. charlie's response, post #2 needed correction.

However, as charliedeut and I have suggested, the OP's "I wanted to ask you, native English people, what do you call a Muslim priest?" is a reasonable question for a non-muslim to ask. If charlie had worded his response as I suggest below, then there would have been no problem:

"Imam is the name given to the closest muslim equivalent to priests."
I agree, though the question could be better too. I wasn't contesting the fact that atabitaraf had managed to ask a question good enough to get an answer that was good enough too. I just thought it was worth pointing out that there had been imprecision in the whole process.
 

atabitaraf

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Thank you all, but you see a Muslim priest in this shape, what do you call him?
I am from Iran and it's clear nearly everyone here (98%) is Muslim as am I :)
Imam is used for great religious leaders as you can call Imam Khomeini, the great leader during the Revolution against the last deposed dictator.
Mullah or mollah are good words but here have a negative potential we use it when we want to criticize them or for fun! Please be careful they may get hurt hearing Mullah! :lol:
Ayatollah is another word I expected at the beginning but I didn't want to make a preview affecting your own opinion. But it is used for great religious leaders below Imam.
My question is that in political essays what do you call a common religious leader in this shape?
 

5jj

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Thank you all, but you see a Muslim priest in this shape, what do you call him?
My question is that in political essays what do you call a common religious leader in this shape?
You are muslim. Use the word that is acceptable to you. We non-muslims might use an inappropriate word.
 

Raymott

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Thank you all, but you see a Muslim priest in this shape, what do you call him?
I am from Iran and it's clear nearly everyone here (98%) is Muslim as am I :)
Imam is used for great religious leaders as you can call Imam Khomeini, the great leader during the Revolution against the last deposed dictator.
Mullah or mollah are good words but here have a negative potential we use it when we want to criticize them or for fun! Please be careful they may get hurt hearing Mullah! :lol:
Ayatollah is another word I expected at the beginning but I didn't want to make a preview affecting your own opinion. But it is used for great religious leaders below Imam.
My question is that in political essays what do you call a common religious leader in this shape?
Almost no one in the West knows that a Shiite imam and a Sunni imam are completely different things. My understanding was that there was only one Imam in Shia Islam who is currently in occultation.
Who is you audience? "Mullah" would be acceptable for most Westerners.
What about "teacher"?
 

atabitaraf

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Almost no one in the West knows that a Shiite imam and a Sunni imam are completely different things. My understanding was that there was only one Imam in Shia Islam who is currently in occultation.
Who is you audience? "Mullah" would be acceptable for most Westerners.
What about "teacher"?
I'm afraid it becomes a cultural thread but I like it since some teachers believe culture could be considered the fifth skill for learning a language.
The truth is that it is not about Shia and Sunni, it is about Arabic and Persian Languages. In Arabic language Imam means someone in front of the others. In Persian it is used only for the greatest leaders in the history. In both languages Imam functions as a title for respecting a leader but the amount of respecting is different.
Mullah in Persian has a negative connotation nowadays.
Teacher is too general, I believe. And some of them can be only researchers or speakerpersons not teachers.

One of the advantages of these international weblogs is that we could share our opinions not to make misunderstanding in our essays. As the title Mullah makes in Persian.
Thanks,
 

Raymott

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How about 'mufti'?
 

atabitaraf

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'Mufti' is a good general title for Sunni religious-leaders but not for the Shiite.
 

5jj

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Your original question was, "I wanted to ask you, native English people, what do you call a Muslim priest"

Whether we are right or wrong, most of us seem to use 'imam', with probably 'mullah' as second choice.
 

emsr2d2

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One of my British Muslim friends says that he consults his imam when he wants advice. As far as I'm aware, that's the person who leads prayers etc at his mosque. Before I knew my friend, the only meaning I knew for imam was that he was the person who did the call to prayer from the top of a mosque. I may be completely wrong about that!

On the British news in the last few years, we have heard the phrase "Muslim cleric" many times particularly with regard to one story. I assumed that a cleric was perhaps some kind of preacher and would come lower down the hierarchy than an imam.

As I said, without personal knowledge of the religion, most of what I have gleaned has come from TV and from one friend.
 

charliedeut

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the only meaning I knew for imam was that he was the person who did the call to prayer from the top of a mosque. I may be completely wrong about that!

Hi,

Just for your knowledge: muezzin (I didn't know the word in English, but I did in Spanish, so I had it translated ;-)).

charliedeut
 

SoothingDave

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That doesn't make it correct though, in my opinion. A priest is a medium of intercourse between a god and the god's worshippers. He or she is sacred, set apart from among the worshippers to have a special relationship with the god, which usually involves the god manifesting his or her power though the priest. For example, the ancient priests divined, and the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox priests absolve the faithful from their sins. I know little about Islam, but, as far as I know, that is not the case with imams or mullas.

Priests offer sacrifices as well.
 

TomUK

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Hello, I wanted to ask you, native English people, what do you call a Muslim priest?

Out of curiosity I asked a colleague at work. He happens to be Muslim and he said the appropriate word would be 'imam', especially if you are referring to a person leading the prayers in a mosque.

TomUK
 
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