Sacred Hindu leader given permission (8)
I believe the answer is:
hallowed
'sacred' is the definition.
('hallowed' can be similar in meaning to 'sacred')
'hindu leader given permission' is the wordplay.
'leader' indicates taking the first letters.
'given permission' becomes 'allowed' (I've seen this before).
The first letter of 'hindu' is 'h'.
'h'+'allowed'='HALLOWED'
(Other definitions for hallowed that I've seen before include "Consecrated, blessed" , "Held holy" , "Made holy and honoured" , "Honoured as holy, having lewd halo" , "Made blessed" .)