ulema Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. 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
    ulama.

WordNet

U*le"ma noun
Etymology
Ar. 'ulema the wise or learned men, pl. of 'alim wise, learned, fr. alima to know.
Definitions
  1. A college or corporation in Turkey composed of the hierarchy, namely, the imams, or ministers of religion, the muftis, or doctors of law, and the cadis, or administrators of justice.

Webster 1913