mullah

/mul"euh, mool"euh, mooh"leuh/, n.

1. (in Islamic countries) a title of respect for a person who is learned in, teaches, or expounds the sacred law.

2. (in Turkey) a provincial judge.

Also, mulla, mollah.

[1605-15; < Pers or Urdu mulla < Ar mawla; see MAULVI]

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Muslim title applied to a scholar or religious leader, especially in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

It means "lord" and has also been used in North Africa as an honorific attached to the name of a king, sultan, or member of the nobility. The title is now given to a variety of religious leaders, including teachers in religious schools, scholars of canon law, leaders of prayer in the mosques (imams), and reciters of the Qurān (qurrā). The word can also refer to the entire class that upholds the traditional interpretation of Islam.

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▪ Muslim title

Arabic  Mawlā, or Mawlāy (“protector”),  French  Mūlāy, or Moulay,  

      a Muslim title generally denoting “lord”; it is used in various parts of the Islāmic world as an honorific attached to the name of a king, sultan, or other noble (as in Morocco and other parts of North Africa) or of a scholar or religious leader (as in parts of the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent). The term appears in the Qurʾān in reference to Allāh, the “Lord” or “Master,” and thus came to be applied to earthly lords to whom religious sanctity was attributed.

      The most common application of the title mullah is to religious leaders, teachers in religious schools, those versed in the canon law, leaders of prayer in the mosques (imams), or reciters of the Qurʾān (qurrāʾ). There are no formal requirements for acquisition of the title, but normally persons called by it have had some training in a madrasah, or religious school. The word is often used to designate the entire class that upholds the traditional interpretation of Islām.

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