imam
/ɪˈmɑːm
/noun
1The person who leads prayers in a mosque.On Fridays Muslims attend a service at a mosque in which an imam leads the prayer and usually gives a sermon....
- Muezzins invoke a call to prayer, reminding everyone it is either time to pray or to call them to the mosque, and imams lead the prayers.
- Cell phones also ring at other mosques while imams give their Friday sermon and lead the five daily prayers.
1.1 (Imam) A title of various Muslim leaders, especially of one succeeding Muhammad as leader of Shiite Islam: Imam Khomeini
Derivatives
imamate
- This involves only a small change to the black (ymh for mh), but it nevertheless serves to refocus the verse on the central Shi ite theme of the imamate, the leadership of the Muslim community.
- Less than ten percent of the Iranian population practices the Sunni version of Islam, a sect that differs from Shi'ism in its attitude toward the imamate, the spiritual descendants of Muhammad.
Origin
From Arabic 'imām 'leader', from 'amma 'lead the way'.