Flashcards: Religious leadership roles

A marabout (Arabic: مَربوط‎‎ marbūṭ or مُرابِط murābiṭ, "one who is attached/garrisoned") is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and (historically) in the Maghreb.

Abbot, meaning father, is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity.

A caliphate (Arabic: خِلافة‎‎ khilāfa) is an area containing an Islamic steward known as a caliph (Arabic: خَليفة‎‎ khalīfah )—a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad (Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullāh), and a leader of the entire Muslim community.

In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles (Greek: ἀπόστολος, translit. apóstolos, lit. 'one who is sent away'), particularly the Twelve Apostles (also called the Twelve Disciples), were the primary historical disciples of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity.

An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Syriac Orthodox Church, Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop.

Originally, a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family.

In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi (Arabic: مهدي‎‎, ISO 233: mahdī "guided one") is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for five, seven, nine, or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations) before the Day of Judgment (yawm al-qiyamah / literally, the Day of Resurrection) and will rid the world of evil.

In the Christian churches, holy orders are ordained ministries such as bishop, priest or deacon.

In the Byzantine Empire, an exarch (/ˈɛksɑːrk/; Ancient Greek: ἔξαρχος exarchos) was a governor with extended authority over a province at some distance from the capital Constantinople.

High Priest (Heb. כהן גדול kohen gadol; with definite article הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל hakohen hagadol, the High Priest; Aramaic kahana rabba) was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post-Exilic times until the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Ulama (/ˈuːləˌmɑː/; Arabic: علماء‎‎ ʿUlamāʾ, singular عالِم ʿĀlim, "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ulema; feminine: alimah (singular) and uluma (plural)), is defined as the "those recognized as scholars or authorities" in the "religious hierarchy" of the Islamic religious studies.

The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (Russian: Святейший Патриарх Московский и всея Руси Svyateyshy Patriarkh Moskovsky i vseya Rusi), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the official title of the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body.

An apostle (Greek: ἀπόστολος, translit. apóstolos, lit. 'one who is sent away') is a messenger and ambassador.