Mullah (Persian: ملا) is a title given to some Islamic clergy, coming from the Arabic word mawla, meaning both 'vicar' and 'guardian.' Depending on the circumstances it can be either a term of respect (a learned man) or abuse (a bigot and fanatic). ^[1] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Madhhab or Mazhab (Arabic مذهب pl. ... Minhaj is the Arabic word for methodology. ... In Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, Qiyas is the process of analogical reasoning from a known injunction (nass) to a new injunction. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Ijmāʿ (إجماع) is an Arabic tern referring to the consensus of the ummah, the community of Muslims, those practicing Islam, or of the ulema, those learned in the relevant topic. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand, ca. ... An ijazah is a certificate used primarily by Muslims to indicate that one has been authorized by a higher authority to transmit a certain subject or text of Islamic knowledge. ... Istihlal (Arabic: ) is a term used in Islamic jurisprudence, or fiqh, to refer to the act of regarding some action as permissible, or halaal; the implication is that such a regard is an erroneous and improper distortion of Islamic law. ... Istihsan is an Arabic term for juristic preference and is one of the methods of reasoning for understanding the sources of shariah and itjihad. ... For other uses, see Risala (disambiguation). ... In Islamic context, the Ahkam (أحكام) are rulings and orders of the Quran and Sunnah. ... Halaal (حلال, halāl, halal) is an Islamic Arabic term meaning permissible. In English it is most frequently used to refer to food that is permissible according to Islamic law. ... Fard also farida (arabic فرض obligation, duty) is an Islamic term which denotes a religious duty. ... Fard (Arabic: ) also farida (Arabic: ) is an Islamic term which denotes a religious duty. ... Mustahab, recomended, is a Islamic term denoting a actions between Mubah (neutral) and Wajib (actions which must be performed). ... Mubah is an Islamic Arabic term denoting an action as neither forbidden nor commended; neutral. ... Acts and substances which should be evaded by muslims. ... harām (Arabic: حرام Ḥarām, Turkish: Haram, Malay: Haram) is an Arabic word, used in Islam to refer to anything that is prohibited by the faith. ... Batil is an Arabic word meaning falsehood, and can be used to describe a nullified or invalid act or contract according to the sharia. ... A term in Islam. ... Marja (Arabic/Persian: مرجع), also appearing as Marja Taqlid or Marja Dini (Arabic/Persian: مرجع تقليد / مرجع ديني), literally means Source of Emulation or Religious Reference. It is the label provided to Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and less-credentialed... Ulema (, transliteration: , singular: , transliteration: , scholar) (The people of Islamic Knowledge) refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. ... Omdurman, Sudan. ... A Mufti (Arabic: مفتى ) is an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law (Sharia), capable of issuing fataawa (plural of fatwa). // Role of a Mufti in governments In theocracies like Saudi Arabia and Iran, and in some countries where the constitution is based on sharia law, such... Qadi (قاضى) is an Arabic term meaning judge. ... A Faqih is an expert in fiqh, or, Islamic jurisprudence. ... Muhaddith is an Islamic title, referring to one who profoundly knows and narrates hadiths, the chains of their narration (saneed), and the original and famous narrators. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Maulvi (also spelled: Moulvi, Mawlawi and Mawlvi Persian: مولوی) is an honorific Islamic religious title often, but not exclusively, given to Sunni Muslim religious scholars or Ulema preceding their names, similar to the titles Maulana, Mullah or Shaykh. ... For other uses, see Sheikh (disambiguation). ... Sheikh (Arabic: شيخ ), meaning elder of a tribe, lord, revered old man, or Islamic scholar. ... For other uses, see Ayatollah (disambiguation). ... A Mujaddid (Arabic: مجدد), in Islamic tradition, refers to a person who, Muslims believe, is sent by God in the first half of every century of the Islamic calendar. ... Maulana is a title of respect, technically reserved for Muslim scholars or Ulema (plural of Aalim) who are knowledgable about Islam and have studied under a scholar or at a religious institution, e. ... “Farsi” redirects here. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... The word Mawla has two meanings. ...

In large parts of the Muslim world, particularly Iran, Turkey, central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, it is the name commonly given to local Islamic clerics or mosque leaders. ^[2]

Training and duties

Ideally, a trained Mullah will have studied Islamic traditions (hadith), and Islamic law (fiqh). They are often hafiz, i.e. have memorized the Qur'an. However, uneducated villagers often recognise a literate Muslim with a less than complete Islamic training as their "mullah" or religious cleric. Mullahs with varying levels of training lead prayers in mosques, deliver religious sermons, and perform religious ceremonies such as birth rites and funeral services. They also often teach in a type of Islamic school known as a madrasah. Aspiring students training to become mullahs in the Shia tradition (particularly Iran) are generally called Ayatollah, or (plural)Ayatollahs. This triumvirate of knowledge is applied mostly in interpreting Islamic texts (ie. the Quran, Hadiths, etc.) for matters of Shariah, ie Islamic law. Mullah's are often shown in western media as being extreme; it can be agreed that every muslim differs in the strenuousness of his/her practice, and belief in the teachings of Islam. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Hafiz (disambiguation). ... The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: , literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Al-Quran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand, ca. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ... The Hadith (الحديث, pl. ...

Usage

The term is most often applied to Shi'i clerics, as Shi'a Islam is the predominant tradition in Iran. However, the term is very common in Urdu, spoken throughout northern India, and it is used throughout the Indian subcontinent for any Muslim clergy, Sunni or Shi'a. Muslim clergy in Russia and other former Soviet republics are also referred to as mullahs, regardless of whether they are Sunni or Shi'a. Shia Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite or Shiite) is the second largest Islamic denomination; some 10-15% of all Muslims are said to follow a Shia tradition. ... The phrase Zaban-e Urdu-e Mualla written in Urdu Urdu () is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, and Sanskrit influence in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). ... Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ...

The term is seldom used in Arabic-speaking areas, where its nearest equivalent is shaykh (implying formal Islamic training), imam (prayer leader; not to be confused with the Imams of the Shiite world), or `ālim (plural `ūlamā') (scholar; see ulema). In the Sunni world, the concept of "cleric" is of limited usefulness, as authority in the religious system is relatively decentralized. Shaikh (شيخ, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh or Sheikh) is a word in the Arabic language meaning an elder or a revered old man. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Ulema (, transliteration: , singular: , transliteration: , scholar) (The people of Islamic Knowledge) refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. ...

The term is frequently used in English, although English-speaking Muslim clergy rarely call themselves mullahs. It was adopted from Urdu by the British rulers of India and subsequently came into more widespread use.

Mullahs have frequently been involved in politics, but only recently have they actually taken power. Islamists seized power in Iran in 1979, and later, in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... The Taliban (Pashto: , also anglicized as Taleban) are a Sunni Muslim Pashtun movement [2] that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by a cooperative military effort between the Northern Alliance, United States, and the United Kingdom. ...

Usage as a derogatory term

Iran

Until early 20th century, the term mullah was used in Iranian hawzas (seminaries) to refer to low-level clergy who specialized in telling stories of Ashura, rather than teaching or issuing fatwas. Today, the term mullah is sometimes used as a derogatory term for any Islamic cleric. It is common in Iran to refer to an ayatollah or other high level clerics, as a mullah, to ridicule his religious authority. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Hawza is an academy or school of traditional Islamic studies. ... The Day of Aashurah, sometimes spelled ‘Ashurah or Aashoorah, falls on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar. ... A fatwa (Arabic: فتوى) plural fataawa, is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. ... For other uses, see Ayatollah (disambiguation). ...

Pakistan

In Pakistan, it is usually referring to any person following the Wahhabi or Salafi school of Islam. People of these schools of thought customarily wear long beards, similar to those of high leveled clerics, and are referred to by the people as "mullahs" often in humor or ridicule. Wahhabism (sometimes spelled Wahabbism or Wahabism) is a movement of Islam named after Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (1703–1792). ... This article is on the beliefs of the followers of the Salaf. ...

References

Amir Taheri is an Iranian-born journalist and author based in Europe. ... Olivier Roy (born 1949) is the research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and a lecturer for both the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and the Institut dEtudes Politiques de Paris (IEP). ...

See also

• Akhoond
• Shaykh
• Maulvi
• Maulana
• Ayatollah
• Ulema
• Mullah Omar - Mullah Mohammed Omar (born c. 1959) leader of the Taliban