BharatNotes Ulema
noun (collective; treated as singular or plural)Usage in a UPSC answer
In several Muslim-majority states, the ulema have historically acted as a counterweight to the executive, lending or withholding religious legitimacy to governance, so that any reform of personal law must reckon with their institutional authority over the popular conscience.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
alim (n, singular form), ulema (n, collective), No standard English derivatives
Root
Arabic ʿilm = knowledge, learning; ʿālim = learned person; ʿulamāʾ = plural form
Etymology
From Arabic ʿulamāʾ (عُلَمَاء), the plural of ʿālim (عَالِم, "scholar, learned person"), derived from the root ʿilm ("knowledge, learning").
Memory Hook
Root ʿilm = 'knowledge' (as in 'alim, the knowing one); the ULEMA are the "Ultimate LEarned MAsters" of Islamic knowledge.
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