Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The Moslem doctors of sacred law and theological science, especially those belonging to the religious hierarchy of the Turkish empire, with the Sheik ul Islam at their head: a collective term.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Islam) 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.
WordNet 3.0
- n. 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
Etymologies
- From Arabic علماء (‘ulamā’), plural of عالم (‘ālim) ‘learned one’. (Wiktionary)
- Turkish 'ulemā, from Arabic 'ulamā', wise men, pl. of 'ālim, wise, learned, active participle of 'alima, to know; see ʿlm in Semitic roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Kandahar clerics sympathetic to the Taliban, however, say they understand why the Islamic scholars, known as ulema, are being targeted.”
The Wall Street Journal: Taliban Gag Kandahar's Clerics to Keep Grip on City
“This theme has ample support in the Koran, hadith, and rulings of the ulema, that is, usul al-fiqh (roots of Muslim jurisprudence).”
“All that matters is what do Allah (via the Koran) and his prophet Muhammad (through the Hadith) have to say about any given thing; and how Islam's greatest theologians and jurists-collectively known as the ulema, literally, the "ones who know" - have articulated it.”
“By the whole nation, I mean its people, its scholars, its 'ulema', its judiciary and law enforcement, i.e. each and every segment of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is equally responsible for his fate.”
“Atatürk created the Turkish nation-state by imposing a secularist constitution; adopting a secular legal system based on French and Belgian models; outlawing Islamic dress; expelling the traditional scholars of Islamic law ( 'ulema') from public office; forbidding polygamy; and rooting out Arabic words from Turkish and adopting the Latin alphabet, thus cutting the language off from its cultural antecedents.”
“A call from some ulema, or religious councils, for a ban on smoking will be discussed at the meeting in Padang Panjang, around 870 km (540 miles) north west of the capital Jakarta.”
“The ulema are men and women versed in Islamic law.”
USA Today: Islamic scholars to Libyans: It's a religious duty to rebel
“In Gadhafi's interpretation of Islam, both the role of the ulema (clerics) and the Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet) are delegitimized.”
“The self-proclaimed guardians of Pakistan's morality, the ulema i.e. religious right, has been silent on these atrocities.”
The Huffington Post: Samia Khan Bambrah: The Courage To Redefine Pakistan
“On July 5, two activists debated a member of the ulema on national TV on tolerance.”
The Huffington Post: Samia Khan Bambrah: The Courage To Redefine Pakistan
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ulema.
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