ISHAN
Īshān (from Persian ایشان 'they'; Chagatay: ایشان; Kazakh: ишан; Kyrgyz: эшен; Tajik: эшон; Tatar: ишан; Turkmen: işan; Uyghur: ئىشان; Uzbek: eshon; Chinese: 依禪; pinyin: yīchán) is an honorific title given to Sufi leaders in Central Asia. Quoting Jianping Wang, "In the Sufi doctrine found in E[ast] Turkestan, the ishan has a divine nature, acting as an intermediary between Muslims and Allah. 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."
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