A college or body composed of the hierarchy (the imams, or ministers of religion, the muftis, or doctors of law, and the cadis, or administrators of justice). That of Turkey alone now has political power; its head is the sheik ul Islam.
alt. ulama - the learned scholars and interpreters of Islamic religious and legal principles ( sharia )
Religious scholars. In modern Saudi Arabia, they meet weekly with the king and regulate religious life.
Scholars or doctors of religion.
plural of alim scholars of Islamic theology, not necessarily fuqaha.
The learned, knowledgeable people in Islam.
the body of mullahs (Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law) who are the interpreters of Islam's sciences and doctrines and laws and the chief guarantors of continuity in the spiritual and intellectual history of the Islamic community
a body of Islamic scholars trained in Islamic law
The doctors of Muslim religious law, tradition, and theology. (Fine, John V.A. Jr. The Late Medieval Balkans, 627)
Doctors of Islamic law, religious leaders of the Empire.
Ulema (, , singular: , , "scholar") (Islamic clergy) refers to the educated class of Muslim scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law. While the ulema are well versed in jurisprudence, some of them also go on to specialize in other sciences, such as philosophy, dialectical theology or Quranic hermeneutics.
