Ulama

In Islam, the term *ulama* (also spelled *ulema*; singular *alim*) refers to scholars and judges who specialize in Islamic doctrine and law. They are regarded as the keepers, transmitters, interpreters, and makers of religious knowledge. The word can describe a broad class of educated religious figures—such as theologians, muftis (canon lawyers), qadis (judges), professors, and high-ranking state religious officials—or, more narrowly, those who hold government positions within an Islamic state.

Traditionally, ulama are trained in religious institutions called madrasas. Their education does not center on a specific school but on seeking out renowned teachers. Once a student completes their studies, the teacher may grant them an *ijazat at-tadris wa 'l-ifta*—a license to teach and issue legal opinions (fatwas). This practice creates a chain of teachers and pupils that continues over generations.

The madrasa, the traditional place of higher learning, likely first appeared in Khurasan during the 10th century and spread across the Islamic world from the late 11th century onward. Famous early examples include the Sunni Nizamiyyas, founded by the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk in 11th-century Iran and Iraq. The Mustansiriyya Madrasa in Baghdad, established by the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir in 1234, was the first founded by a caliph and the first known to host teachers from all four major legal schools (*madhhab*). From the Persian Ilkhanate and Timurid periods onward, madrasas often became part of larger architectural complexes that included a mosque, a Sufi order, and other facilities like baths or hospitals.

Madrasas are considered sacred places of learning. They may provide boarding and salaries for a limited number of teachers, as well as housing for students, funded by religious endowments (*waqf*). Donors could specify subjects, teacher qualifications, or which legal school to follow. In later times, endowment deeds were often written in elaborate Islamic calligraphy, as seen in Ottoman *vakıf-name* books. Unlike medieval Western universities, madrasas generally lacked a fixed curriculum and did not issue diplomas. Their educational focus was on law and the "Sharia sciences," but they also included rational sciences such as philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine, sometimes reflecting the personal interests of donors.

Early in Islamic history, a mystical tradition emerged around the pursuit of spiritual perfection (*ihsan*). Hasan al-Basri was among the first to describe the sense of God’s distance and nearness in the language of love. By the 7th century, the ritual of *dhikr* developed as a way to free the soul from worldly distractions. Later scholars like Harith al-Muhasibi and Junayd al-Baghdadi further elaborated on mysticism.

The early Muslim conquests brought Islamic rule over much of the Hellenistic world. By the Umayyad period, scholars had become familiar with classical philosophical and scientific traditions. The translation of these works into Arabic sparked the Islamic Golden Age. Scholars like al-Kindi, often called the father of Islamic philosophy, encouraged seeking truth from any source. Works by Aristotle, especially his *Nicomachean Ethics*, deeply influenced figures such as al-Farabi, Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri, and Ibn Sina. Most Islamic philosophers saw no conflict between philosophy and religion, though al-Farabi argued that pure philosophy was for an intellectual elite, while ordinary people should follow the sharia. This distinction between a scholarly elite and the less educated masses became a common theme in Islamic thought.