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Shaykh
OED Definition
1. a. The chief of an Arab family or tribe; the headman of an Arabian village; an Arab chief; an Eastern governor, prince, king. Now also used among Arabs as a general title of respect.
2. a. The head of a Muslim religious order or community; a great religious doctor or preacher; now esp. a saint having a local cultus.
b. Sheikh-ul-Islam (properly Sheikhu ‘l Islam): the supreme authority in matters relating to religion and sacred law; in Turkey, the mufti.
Term Variants: Shaikh, Sheik, Sheikh
How this term should be used
Whilst for some Muslims, “Shaykh” may have a technical meaning, for others, it is more honorific. As such any usage of the term other than when it is a title of an individual, should be clearly explained.
Shaykh is an honorific title which predates the revelation of Islam and has been variously translated as “elder”, “leader”, “chief” and “patriarch.” In its oldest and most literal sense it refers to someone “whose age appears advanced and whose hair has gone white.” [1] Scholars of the Quran and heads of religious orders have achieved the title of Shaykh but it is not a hereditary title. [2] It is a title of respect for Muslims who have mastered the religious sciences (Quran, Tafsir, Hadith), for administrators of mosques and madrasas and for masters of Sufism who have guided their disciples on the path to spiritual enlightenment. [3]
The term Shaykh al-Islam, meanwhile, is “an honorific title applied essentially to religious dignitaries in the Islamic world up to the early 20th century. Under the Ottomans, ~ was given to the individual in the Ottoman empire in whom the right to issue an opinion on a point of law, Fatwa, was vested exclusively. [4]
