Found 2 items, similar to ulema.
English → English (WordNet)
Definition: ulema
ulema
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 [syn:
ulama]
English → English (gcide)
Definition: Ulema
Ulema
\U`le*ma"\, n. [Turk. & Ar. 'ulam[=a] the wise or learned
men, pl. of '[=a]lim wise, learned, fr. alima to know.]
(Mohammedanism)
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.
Note: The government of Turkey in 1998 is exclusively
secular.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]