Muqaddam

Muqaddam is an Arabic title, adopted in other Islamic cultures, for any of various civil or religious officials. The literal meaning is something like "expediter", "facilitator", or "assistant".

• in the Tijaniyyah, Shadhiliyyah, and other Sufi orders, a muqaddam is a student of the Sufi path (a murid or dervish) who has been authorized by his/her Guide (aka shaikh, pir, or murshid) to assist in teaching the path to other students.
• in Bengal, the muqaddam (in some places he was called mukhiya) was the village headman, through whom the government dealt with the peasants.
• As per the Persian documents of medieval India, a muqaddam was the headman of a village. He was, by profession, a peasant of the village which he headed. He could sell and buy land for the village and settle the common treasury. His position was hereditary; however, it could also be bought and sold. He was never a government servant, but he could be dispossessed of his status by the revenue official.
• in Mount Lebanon, the Muqaddams were the secular leaders of their religious community. The last Muqaddams disappeared in the beginning of the 16th Century.
• in the militaries (generally ground forces and sometimes air forces) of several Arab nations, Muqaddam is equivalent to the Anglophone rank of Lieutenant Colonel.