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Akhund
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This article is about the Persian title. For the villages in Iran, see Akhund, Iran (disambiguation). For other uses, see Akhund (disambiguation).
Akhund (Persian: آخوند) is a Persian title or surname for Islamic scholars,[1][2][3] common in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Azerbaijan. Other names for similar Muslim Scholar include Sheikh and Mullah.[4]
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The Standard Chinese word for Imam (Chinese: 阿訇; pinyin: āhōng), used in particular by the Hui people, also derives from this term.[2] Other similar Chinese terms (Chinese: 阿衡; pinyin: āhéng and Chinese: 阿洪; pinyin: āhóng) also exist.[5]