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Guru vs Imam - What's the difference?

guru | imam |

Imam is a coordinate term of guru.



As nouns the difference between guru and imam

is that guru is a Hindu or Sikh spiritual teacher while imam is a Shi'ite Muslim leader.

guru

English

Alternative forms

* goru * gooroo

Noun

(en noun)
  • A Hindu or Sikh spiritual teacher.
  • * 1817 , William Ward, History, Literature and Religion of the Hindoos , vol II:
    • When the gooroo arrives at the house of a disciple, the whole family prostrate themselves at his feet, and the spiritual guide puts his right foot on the heads of the prostrate family.
  • * 2010 , Wendy Shanker, The Guardian , 10 May 2010:
    • Traditionally, a guru is a spiritual teacher who guides a student on the road to Enlightenment, or finding God.
  • (sometimes, humorous) An influential advisor or mentor.
  • * 2004 , ‘Vintage technology’, Time , 18 Oct 2004:
    • Many oenophiles rely on the ratings and recommendations of wine guru Robert Parker when selecting the perfect bottle.

    Derived terms

    * gurukul * Gurmukhi * guruship * Sadguru

    References

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    imam

    English

    Alternative forms

    * imaum

    Noun

    (wikipedia imam) (en noun)
  • A Shi'ite Muslim leader.
  • One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.

    • Quotations

    * 1901': Now it chanced that in one of the mosques was an '''Imam . (''footnote:'' The person specially appointed to lead the prayers of the congregation and paid out of the endowed revenues of the mosque to which he is attached) — John Payne, ''Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp * 2001': But then there's a Christian cleric and an '''imam on each of the country's three regional censorship boards, in Kaduna, Lagos and Onitsha, although more than one producer told me that the brown envelope worked the same magic here as in any other Nigerian Government department. — ''London Review of Books, 10 May 2001 * 2004': In the 1980s, roughly six hundred young Algerian men, many of them protégés of Muslim Brothers from Egypt and Wahhabi '''imams from Saudi Arabia, went to Afghanistan to join the anti-Soviet jihad. — ''London Review of Books, 7 Oct 2004, p.3

    Anagrams

    * * ----