ulama

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun 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

Ultimately from Classical Nahuatl ōllamaliztli. Doublet of ullamaliztli.

It is customary for Muslim authors to place at the beginning of all their compositions the Arabic invocation— bi ’smi ’llāhi ’r-rahmānī ’r-rahīmī which Sale renders: “In the name of the most merciful God!” but which is more correctly translated: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!” The `Ulama, or professors of religion and law, interpret “the merciful” to signify “merciful in small things,” and “the compassionate,” as “merciful in great things.” This invocation, which is placed at the head of each chapter of the Kur’ān, except the ninth, is not only also prefixed to every Muhammadan book or writing, but is pronounced by Muslims on their undertaking every lawful act. — The Bakhtyār Nāma: A Persian Romance, Unknown

ulema

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