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An akhoond (akhund or akhwand) [1] (Persian: آخوند) is a Persian name for a Muslim cleric, common in Iran, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. The Dungani word for imam "ahond", in Mandarin "阿訇", used in particular by the Dungans(Hui people), also derives from this term.
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Akhoonds are responsible for leading religious services in a community. Akhoonds lead the prayers in the mosques, deliver religious sermons and perform religious ceremonies, such as birth rites and funeral services. They also often teach in Islamic schools known in Iran as hozeh and in other countries as a madrassa. Akhoonds will usually have completed some studies (of varying levels) in a madrassa, studying various Islamic and non-Islamic subjects, such as Sharia (Islamic law), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Qur'anic studies, and basic mathematics. They commonly dress in religious attire. In the Swat valley, akhoonds (see Akhund of Swat) had been in political charge of the theocratic, non-permanent precursor of the State of Swat until it was made into a secular princely state in 1849, which was part of British India till 1947 and then of Pakistan, but only ceased to exist in 1969 at the death of its last Wali.[2]
This term was traditionally a slang term in Iran, and it has been completely a derogatory term since the Shah's efforts at westernization. Today in Iran it is almost invariably used as a term of insult, ridicule or disparagement. Ironically, Ayatollah Khomeini himself used the term "Akhoond" as an insult against those clerics that he considered hypocrites and misguided (mostly low-level seminarians who collaborated with the Shah, and unqualified, ignorant village preachers who falsified their own credentials). In Iran, they are also called mullah, molavi, sheikh, haj-agha or rohani. The word 'rohani' means 'spriritual' or 'holy'. 'Rohani' is considered as a more polite term for Muslim clerics, used by Iranian national television and radio, and by devout Muslim families. The term "Akhoond" in Iran is increasingly outmoded, usually with only the older clerics having the title "Akhoond" as part of their name. It has not been used widely as a title since the Qajar era.
In Afghanistan, and among the Pashtun tribes of the Afghan-Pakistan border region, the term is still current in its original sense as an honorific one.
Other names for similar Muslim clerics include Shaykh and Maulana.
The Azerbaijani surname Akhundov (as in e.g. Mirza Fatali Akhundov) is formed from the word akhund.
Akhund (or Akhwand) is also a surname/title used by families in Dera Ghazi Khan and Sindh, Pakistan. Their ancestors came in from Afghanistan around 200 years ago and settled in the old Dera Ghazi Khan. After the major floods of early 1900s that washed away the city, they moved into the new Dera Ghazi Khan settled in Block 11.