What it means
روحانیت (ruhâniyyat) refers to the clerical class or institution of religious scholars as a whole, roughly equivalent to “the clergy” in English. It is built entirely from Arabic morphology: روح (ruh, “spirit”) forms the base, the suffix -âni produces the adjectival form روحانی (ruhâni, “spiritual” or “cleric”), and the abstract noun ending -iyyat creates the collective institution. In formal political and academic writing, روحانیت designates the Shia clerical establishment as a social and political force. A single member of this class is called a روحانی (ruhâni). The word is formal; in spoken Persian you are more likely to hear آخوندها (âkhundhâ) or ملاها (mollâhâ) for the clergy informally.
How to use it
- روحانیت در سیاست ایران نقش مهمی داره. (ruhâniyyat dar siyâsat-e irân naqs-e mohimmi dâre.) “The clergy plays an important role in Iranian politics.”
- رابطهی روحانیت و دولت همیشه پیچیده بوده. (râbete-ye ruhâniyyat o dowlat hamishe pichide bude.) “The relationship between the clergy and the state has always been complex.”
- روحانیت سنتی با این تغییر مخالفه. (ruhâniyyat-e sonnati bâ in taghyir mokhâlefe.) “The traditional clergy is opposed to this change.”
- تاریخ روحانیت در ایران خیلی طولانیه. (târikh-e ruhâniyyat dar irân kheyli tulâniye.) “The history of the clergy in Iran is very long.”
Cultural note
In Iran, روحانیت as an institution gained unprecedented political authority after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which established the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih (guardianship of the Islamic jurist). This made the senior clerical class the formal governing authority of the state, a configuration unique in the Muslim world. The term appears frequently in Iranian newspaper headlines, academic texts, and political discourse, but is rarely heard in casual household conversation, where more colloquial words replace it.