Īshān ( chg, ایشان; kk, ишан; ky, эшен; tg, эшон; tt-Cyrl, ишан; tk, işan; ug, ئىشان; uz, eshon; ; russian: иша́н; all deriving from

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

'they') is an honorific title given to

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

leaders in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. Quoting Jianping Wang, "In the Sufi doctrine found in E stTurkestan, the ''ishan'' has a divine nature, acting as an intermediary between

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

and

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

. An ''ishan'' has absolute power in his group, and can nominate his khalifa and hafiz as well as initiating maulid and buwi into the suborder. Usually, an ''ishan'' will have inherited his position from within his family and pass it on to his descendants."

List of īshāns

* Āfāq Khwāja * Dūkchī Īshān

References

{{authority control Persian words and phrases Religious leadership roles Sufism

List of īshāns

See also

References