Religious leadership roles

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

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.

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.

A vardapet or vartabed (Armenian: վարդապետ, Armenian pronunciation: [vɑɾtʰɑˈpɛt]) is a highly educated archimandrite in the Armenian Apostolic Church tradition who holds a Doctorate in Theology.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mullah (/ˈmʌlə, ˈmʊlə, ˈmuːlə/; Arabic: ملا‎‎, Kurdish: Melle‎, Persian: ملا‎‎, Turkish: Molla, Albanian: Mullah) is derived from the Quranic term Mawla.

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.

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

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.

Shah Muhammad Ali Hisâm-ad-Dîn Naqshbandî (Arabic: الشيخ مُحَمَّدْ علي حسام الدين نقشبندي, Persian: محمد علي حسام الدین نقشبند‎‎, Turkish: Şâh Ali Hüsâmeddîn) also known as Hâzrat-i Shâh and Bâbâ Ali (b. 1861 Tawella, Iraq / d. 1939 Bahakon, Iraq) was a 19th-century sufi, awliya' and Islamic scholar born in Tawella village which was part of Ottoman Empire lands at that time.

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

Sheikh ‘Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Al-Naqshbandi (Arabic: الشيخ عثمان طويلة نقشبندي, Turkish: Osman Sirâceddîn Nakşibendi) known as Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn at-Tavîlî or Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Al-Awal (b. 1781 Tawella, Iraq / d. 1867 Tawella, Iraq) was an 18th-century influential sufi, awliya' and Islamic scholar.

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

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.

A cardinal (Latin: sanctae romanae ecclesiae cardinalis, literally cardinal of the Holy Roman Church) is a senior ecclesiastical leader, considered a Prince of the Church, and usually (now always for those created when still within the voting age-range) an ordained bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.

Shaikh Habib Al-Raee (Urdu: شیخ حبیب الراعی‎) was an elevated Sufi saint and maintains a grand status amongst all the Shaikhs.

Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi II (Urdu: پير صبغت الله شاه راشدي شهيد‎; (Sindhi) صبغت الله شاهه راشدي ), Pir Pagaro the sixth, was a spiritual leader of the Hur Movement during Sindh's independence struggle against British colonial rule.

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.