Refer to leaders of cult seen as backward or severe (7)
I believe the answer is:
ascetic
'severe' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'refer to leaders of cult seen as backward' is the wordplay.
'refer to' becomes 'cite' (synonyms).
'leaders of' indicates taking the first letters.
'backward' says the letters should be written backwards.
The initial letters of 'cult seen as' is 'csa'.
'cite'+'csa'='citecsa'
'citecsa' reversed gives 'ASCETIC'.
'or' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ascetic that I've seen before include "Mortifying the flesh" , "Person who lives severely simple life" , "Austere, abstinent" , "One practices self-denial as a spiritual discipline" , "Severely self-disciplined" .)