An akhoond or akond is a Persian name for a Muslim cleric, common in Iran and Azerbaijan. Akhoonds are responsible for leading religious services in a community. Akhoonds lead the prayers in the mosques, deliver religious sermons and perform religious ceremonies, such as birth rites and funeral services. They also often teach in Islamic schools known as a madrassa.

Akhoonds will usually have completed some studies (of varying levels) in a madrassa, studying various Islamic and non-Islamic subjects, such as Sharia (Islamic law), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Qur'anic studies, Maths etc. The commonly dress themselves in religious attire.

In Iran, they are also called Mullahs or Maulvis. Other names for similar Muslim clerics are Mullah, Shaykh, Maulana, Maulvi, amongst several others.

I am sure I have heard something about such creatures, I will ask my mamaan next time i talk to her, she knows about legends and folklore and stuff.

very true. there are stories of countless lives being lost at the hands of the akhoond.  the worst akhoond cases reported were during the qajar period and todays islamic republic.

attempts have been made to stop the akhoonds and drain their mstical devil like powers, however, all attempts have failed and the perpetrators died at the hands of the akhoonds.

in the newest case, the USA has offered to eradicate the akhoonds but that option is still disputed by many, including iranians themselves.

how long these blood sucking akhoonds will remain is still unknown.

there relation with european vampires has still not been completely proven, however, furthur excavations in qom may lead to some clues. some hypothesize that dracula himself may have origionally been an akhoond, along with other cases. however, it is certain that these blood sucking creatures, from the americas to asia to africa, are related in some way.

if you need further information, just ask and i will make it up.

A mythological creature native to the area (more Iraq tho) is a Lilit.  This creature has popped up in muslim and jewish traditions both, tho its characteristics tend to change from society to society.  In short its a female demon that feeds on babies during the night.

The typical vampire you maybe thinking of is largely a European myth tho (slavic and romanian)

Not necessary though.Such mythological creature  already existed in Ancient Hellas centuries ago,as stated above.So why not in Middle East and Iran?Maybe as a God or sth?In Messopotemian cultures,such as Assyria and Sumeria?

I was wondering...Aren't vampires strictly from Slavic mythology? I thought that was the only mythology you would see the whole "I'm a horrible demonic creature and I need other people's blood to live" thing. No dissing intended, just curious.

Dude,you need to learn more.Go to Modern History or Search and search about a topic called Greek Folklore Vampires,posted by me.It is not only Dracula.

Zahak was not an arab, his original name is Azdahak which doesnt sound arabic at all.

some think he is an arab coz arab pronounced azdahak as dhahak which similar to the word means Laugher ! Persians dont pronounce "dh" and usually replace it with "Z" so from that came Zahak as a new name of Azdahak.

how do you phonetically pronounce "dh"

just wondering...

from Wikipedia

edited i mistakenly put this letter (ﻅ),

while i meant this

Ḍād (ﺽ) is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet (the others being ṯāʼ, ḫāʼ, ḏāl, ẓāʼ, ġayn). It represents a pharyngealized voiced alveolar plosive (IPA [dˁ]). In name and shape, it is a variant of ṣād. The phoneme was considered unique to the Arabic language by early Arabic grammarians, and hence Arabic was also known as the "language of the Ḍād". South Semitic, however, also continues the phoneme, as South Arabian ḍ, and Ge'ez Ḍäppä ፀ.

In some reconstructions of Proto-Semitic phonology, there is an emphatic voiceless lateral fricative, ṣ́ (IPA [ɬˁ]), featuring as the direct ancestor of Arabic Ḍād, while merging with ṣ in most other Semitic languages.

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you cant find it in most of the languages in the world so really you need to hear it to know how its pronuced ,not sure if there are sites where you can listen to it.

 

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