Ayatollah

Ayatollah is a title conferred on Shia Muslim clerics who are considered expert in Islamic studies. It's literal meaning is "Sign of Allah" The title of Grand Ayatollah is reserved for those who have reached the very highest standards of expertise in Islamic jurisprudence.

In the West the term has become synonymous with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran, Mohammmad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Khomeini died of natural causes in 1989.

Khomeini's successor, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on February 28, 2025.