sheikh

I

or shaykh

Among Arabic-speaking tribes, especially Bedouin, the male head of the family, as well as of each successively larger social unit making up the tribal structure.

The sheikh is generally assisted by an informal tribal council of male elders. Within the broader Arabic-speaking community, the word may also be used as a title or form of respectful address or to designate a religious authority. Its significance may vary from region to region.

II

(as used in expressions)

Qasimi Sheikh SulTan ibn Muhammad al

Jabal al Shaykh

Junayd Shaykh

Shaykh Ahmad ibn Zayn al Din Ibrahim al Ahsai

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▪ Arabic title

also spelled  Sheik, Shaikh, or Shaykh,  Arabic  Shaykh, 

      Arabic title of respect dating from pre-Islāmic antiquity; it strictly means a venerable man of more than 50 years of age. The title sheikh is especially borne by heads of religious orders, heads of colleges, such as Al-Azhar University in Cairo, chiefs of tribes, and headmen of villages and of separate quarters of towns. It is also applied to learned men, especially members of the class of ulamas (ulama) (theologians), and has been applied to anyone who has memorized the whole Qur'ān, however young he might be.

      Shaykh al-jabal (“the mountain chief”) was a popular term for the head of the Assassins and was mistranslated by the crusaders as “the old man of the mountain.” By far the most important title was shaykh al-islām, which by the 11th century was given to eminent ulamas and mystics and by the 15th century was open to any outstanding mufti (canonical lawyer). In the Ottoman Empire the use of this title was restricted by Süleyman I (1520–66) to the mufti of Istanbul, who, equal in rank to the grand vizier, was head of the religious institutions that controlled law, justice, religion, and education. Because of his right to issue binding fatwās (Islāmic legal opinions), this official came to wield great power. In 1924, under the Turkish Republic, the last vestiges of the institution were abolished.

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