Modern Post-monarchy Use
wazīr is the standard Arabic word for a government minister. Prime Ministers are usually termed Ra'īs al-Wuzara (literally, President of the Ministers) or al-Wazīr al-'Awwal (Prime "First" Minister). The latter term is generally found in the Maghreb, while the former is typical of usage in the Mashriq (broadly defined, including Egypt, Sudan, Levant, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula). Thus, for example, the Prime Minister of Egypt is in Arabic a wazīr.
In Iran (Persia) the ministers of government are called Vazīr in Persian (e.g. foreign/health Vazīr), and prime minister of state before the removal of the post, was called as Nokhost Vazīr.
In Pakistan, the Prime Minister (de facto ruling politician, formally under the President) is called Vazīr-e Azam (Persian for Grand vizier), other Ministers are styled vazirs.
In the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan is sometimes given the honorific title of Wazir.
Read more about this topic: Vizier
Famous quotes containing the word modern:
“O born in days when wits were fresh and clear,
And life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames;
Before this strange disease of modern life,
With its sick hurry, its divided aims,
Its head o’ertaxed, its palsied hearts, was rife—”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)