ulema

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

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish علما (ulemâ), from Arabic عُلَمَاء (ʕulamāʔ, plural of عَالِم (ʕālim, “learned one”)). Doublet of ulama and olema.

I shall suggest to the Ulema of the Imperial Ear that he advise inaction. — The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
His decision cannot be annulled by the authorities in Tripoli, but must be referred to the Ulemas at Constantinople. — Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846, James Richardson
But when the Ulemas were met, And the thing heard, they doubted not; But sentenced him, as the law is, To die by stoning on the spot. — Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold, Matthew Arnold

ulama

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