Baba ("father, grandfather, wise old man, sir")[1] is aPersianhonorific term,[2] used in severalWest Asian,South Asian,Balkan and African cultures.
It is used as a mark of respect to refer toHindu ascetics (sannyasis) andSikh gurus, as a suffix or prefix to their names, e.g.Sai Baba of Shirdi,Baba Ramdev, etc.[1][3]
Baba is also a title accorded toAlevi clerics ofShia Islam, also among Sunni leaders and heads of certainSufi orders, as inBaba Bulleh Shah,Baba Farid, andRehman Baba.[1]
One of the most reveredhigh priests inSamaritan tradition isBaba Rabba, literally "The Great Father".[4] He lived c. 3rd–4th century C.E.
Baba is also the title used for the IsraeliKabbalistic rabbis of theAbuhatzeira family, descendants of RabbiIsrael Abuhatzeira, originally from Morocco, who was called theBaba Sali, and his brother Isaac Abuhatzeira, the Baba Chaki.
The term was also adopted inMalaysia as an honorific of respect to addressChinese people born in theBritish Straits Settlement.[5][2]
Baba is also the familiar word for "father" in many languages (seemama and papa); in many different cultures it has even been adapted to address male children.[6] In West African Yoruba culture, “Baba” means father. It is also the root of “Babalawo”, which literally means “father of secrets. A Babalawo is a traditional priest in the Yoruba/Orisha spiritual tradition.[6][2]Baba also means grandmother in many countries, e.g., short for babushka (Russian for grandmother).
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