Is it permissible to use the name "Ayatollah"?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. This questioner asks: What is the ruling on naming oneself "Ayatollah" or the like?
Answer:
This is among the Shi'ah, "the Great Ayatollah." This is among the Shi'ah a matter of exalting the title greatly. Yes, this is not befitting, for it also involves imitating them, the Shi'ah. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. This questioner asks: What is the ruling on naming oneself "Ayatollah" or the like?
Answer:
This is among the Shi'ah, "the Great Ayatollah." This is among the Shi'ah a matter of exalting the title greatly. Yes, this is not befitting, for it also involves imitating them, the Shi'ah. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [3436/1295] هل يجوز التسمي باسم "آية الله"؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.