Mullah

Mullahs in the court of a Qajar monarch, Iran.

Mullahs (Persian: ملا) are Islamic clergy. Ideally, they should have studied the Qur'an, Islamic traditions (hadith), and Islamic law (fiqh). They are often hafiz who know the Qur'an by heart. However, uneducated villagers often recognise a literate Muslim with a less than complete Islamic training as their "mullah" or religious cleric. Muslim schoolteachers are also often referred to as mullahs. The term is most often applied to Shi'a 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 Shia.

The term is not 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 ˤĀlim (plural ˤUlamā) (scholar; see ulema). In the Sunni world, the concept of "cleric" is of limited usefulness, as authority in the religious system is relatively decentralized.

The term is frequently used in English; it was adopted from Urdu by the British rulers of India. In English, it may carry overtones of condescension and disrespect; it is often found in the phrase "mad mullah". English-speaking Muslim clergy rarely call themselves mullahs.

Mullahs have frequently been involved in politics, but only recently have they actually taken power. Mullahs seized power in Iran in 1979, and later, in Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Mullah

See also