[enfoires]

Mufti, Alim, Hafiz, Mawlana, Faqih, Muhadith, Mujaddid, Wali, Imam, Pir, Sheikh.

Which title gives greatest credibility of opinions in descending order

What are the differences amongst them?

Please add Islamic titles which are missing in the response.

[Lilji]

There is no hierarchy except maybe the khalif has a Shaykh ul Islam...anyway credibility is given when their views have better proof than others, not their title, and it depends on the subject a Mufti will not specialise on Sufism his expertise is Fqh (or jurisprudence).

Maybe the faqih and the muhaddith will out rank a sufi shaykh who is not an alim.

Mufti, Alim, Hafiz, Mawlana, Faqih, Muhadith, Mujaddid, Wali, Imam, Pir, Sheikh.

Which title gives greatest credibility of opinions in descending order

What are the differences amongst them?

Please add Islamic titles which are missing in the response.

[Zjohkrbi]

Please add Islamic titles which are missing in the response.

Grand Ayatollah

[Beauseaccerce]

even among muftis there are different degrees.

[xanonlinexan]

Something relevant on this if you know urdu:

Go to #5

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...LelVDaVE#gid=0

[pymnConyelell]

you missed buzurg in your list.

[Alexeryy]

There is no cleregy system in Islam but a meritocratic system. Those with limited knowledge feels there is no such thing and for them everyone tom Joe blogg are the same in their knowledge and piety.

A Mufti who has undertaken study of ifta and as such an expert in Fiqh. This mean they had to have studied tafsir and Hadith sciences along with other islamic sciences.

A hafiz means who has memorized both Quran and Hadith. In history this means they would have perhaps memorised other related texts.

A Mawlana means a teacher. A mufti or any scholars can be referred to as maulana.

Muhadith: someone who has studied hadith sciences and is a master in the field of hadith study.

Shaikh means an elderly person / wise. In religious circle depending on where you are in the world, the term shaikh is used in many ways i.e Shaikhul Hadith - someone who teaches hadith and its sciences and has ijaza and isnad.

Imam: generally used as someone who leads salat. This term is also used for the highest ranking scholars i.e Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik etc.

Mujadid: a term used for those who revive the religious understanding and contributes in scholarly field as well as to the betterment of ummah. Hence Mujadid can be used for the Imams or an expert in any religious field.

Wali: Anyone who reminds you of Allah are Allahs friend. A sincere humble believer could be a wali whose words, action and silence and inaction makes reminds you of Allah and his Rasul (AS).

Pir: Generally means a spiritual guide. Someone who has the capability to guide a person for spiritual betterment of any muslims. A Mufti or a muhaddith could be under a spiritual guide. They deal with only internal aspects / Tassawuf.

[Peapeuddedbaw]

as_salaamu "alaykum

There are also the following titles:

Al_bahru_l_muhaqqaq

Al_hibru_l_mudaqqaq

Shaykhu_l_"ilm

all above that of shaykh_l_islaam

These were the titles of shaykh-ul-ilm shaykhu-l-islaam -> abd-ullaah abuw-bakr abd-ullaah abuw-bakr umr muSTafaa sulaymaan abd-ullaah ahmad sulaymaan aliy as-sajjaad husayn aliy imraan shayba amru-l-ulaa al-mughiyra zayd

[TimoDass]

There is no hierarchy ...

I too have the same feeling that Allah (SWT) can elevate some one without diminishing others.

And we also know that for Allah (SWT) we are ranked according to our Taqwa.

[EvaQWmrm]

Please add Islamic titles which are missing in the response.

and wa iyyakum
Khwaja and Sidi, too, I think.

also: Can someone explain what saheb means? I know it's more of a term of respect than a title, but from my limited understanding of Arabic and my even lesser understanding of Urdu it seems to have different meanings/connotations in each language.

[metrocartockasur]

and wa iyyakum
Khwaja and Sidi, too, I think.

also: Can someone explain what saheb means? I know it's more of a term of respect than a title, but from my limited understanding of Arabic and my even lesser understanding of Urdu it seems to have different meanings/connotations in each language.

Think of it as an equivalent of mister.
Of course in eastern culture Sahab not only includes respect but love also.

[bubborn]

Think of it as an equivalent of mister.
Of course in eastern culture Sahab not only includes respect but love also.