The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word DALAI LAMA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
A
L
A
I
L
A
M
A
More clues leading to the result DALAI LAMA
- First Buddhist artist to capture a creature, reportedly
- Nobel Prize winner whose parents include one resident in US city twice
- Young man returnsto be religious leader
- A country boy turned up to welcome American Buddhist
- Exile, a country boy brought up to embody peace at heart
- A country boy taking in a revolutionary religious leader
- Exiled leader overturned by advanced African country and American son
- A country boy returning without adult religious leader
- During an illness, almost over, trouble a spiritual leader
- A maid all up over a religious leader
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "religious leader" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case religious leader = dalai lama.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.