The murshid is the spiritual director of a Sufi order, the master who initiates a disciple, prescribes the discipline, and corrects the disciple along the path.
The office of guidance
The murshid, also called the sheikh or pir, receives the disciple pledge, initiates him into the order, prescribes the litany and the practices of remembrance, and oversees his inward progress, correcting his faults and guiding him through the states and stations of the path, so the office is one of intimate and authoritative spiritual direction. The bond between master and disciple is the heart of the Sufi way, and the murshid is held to guide the seeker through experiences and dangers that he could not safely navigate alone, which is why the tradition insists so strongly on the necessity of a guide.
Authority through the chain
The authority of the murshid rests on his own initiation and training within the chain of transmission of the order, the silsila reaching back through his own masters to the founder and the Prophet, so that he is himself a link in the line and passes on what he received, and the right to guide and to initiate is transmitted through that chain. The office thus depends on lineage as well as on personal attainment. The murshid is the counterpart of the murid, the disciple, and the relationship between them, of guide and guided, master and seeker, is the fundamental structure of the Sufi order and the means by which its path is walked.