Murshid

Murshid (Arabic: مرشد‎) is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher". Particularly in Sufism it refers to a Sufi teacher. The term is used by other branches of Islam as well, e.g. by the Nizaris, the main school of Ismā‘īlī Shiites. The path of Sufism starts when a student takes an oath of allegiance (bai'ath) with a teacher. After this oath, the student is called a murid.