Īshān (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 ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

leaders in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

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

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

and

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

. An ''ishan'' has leadership over his group, and can nominate his khalifa and hafiz as well as initiating maulid and buwi into the sub-order. Usually, an ''ishan'' will have inherited his position from within his family and pass it on to his descendants."

List of īshāns

Afaq Khoja Afaq Khoja (), born Hidayat Allah (; ), also known as Apaq Xoja or more properly Āfāq Khwāja (), was a Naqshbandi īshān and political leader with the title of Khoja (Turkestan), Khwaja in Kashgaria (in present-day Southern Xinjiang, China). ...

Muhammad Ali Madali Muhammad Ali Madali (also known as Dukchi Eshon in Uzbek language or ''Iyikchi Eshen'' in Kyrgyz language, Kyrgyz) was an īshān of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, who led an 1898 Andijan Uprising, 1898 revolt against Russian domination, centred in th ...

* Hazrat Ishaan

References

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

List of īshāns

See also

References