"The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "

There is no religious hierarchy or priestly class in Islam. However, despite the absence of any church, priests and sacraments , with the passage of time there emerged in the Muslim world a class of religious luminaries who possessed legislative, social and political authority. These scholars or rel...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Yunus Gilani
Format: Article
Language:Arabic
Published: SZIC University of Peshawar 2010-12-01
Series:الإيضاح
Online Access:http://al-idah.szic.pk/index.php/al-idah/article/view/422
_version_ 1818583073299628032
author Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Yunus Gilani
author_facet Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Yunus Gilani
author_sort Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Yunus Gilani
collection DOAJ
description There is no religious hierarchy or priestly class in Islam. However, despite the absence of any church, priests and sacraments , with the passage of time there emerged in the Muslim world a class of religious luminaries who possessed legislative, social and political authority. These scholars or religious leaders govern almost all the aspects of the human life for at least in theory; the religion and community are inseparable in Islam. They interpret the Qur’an and the Suunah, and need be, derive laws from these sources. They also make entirely new rules based on analogy to meet the challenges of the contemporary world, provided they do not violate Qur’an and Sunnah. They may have expertise in any of the disciplines, but collectively they are known as ‘ulama’. The present article attempts to trace the origin and early development of this institution of ‘ulama’. A review of the existing literature leaves room for and demands for this direct and detailed historical, etymological & critical study of this institution in the context of academic, social, juristic and legislative functions.
first_indexed 2024-12-16T07:59:29Z
format Article
id doaj.art-6ed20c95e58c4a9ca4978e587e633dcd
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2075-0307
2664-3375
language Arabic
last_indexed 2024-12-16T07:59:29Z
publishDate 2010-12-01
publisher SZIC University of Peshawar
record_format Article
series الإيضاح
spelling doaj.art-6ed20c95e58c4a9ca4978e587e633dcd2022-12-21T22:38:38ZaraSZIC University of Peshawarالإيضاح2075-03072664-33752010-12-01211113"The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Yunus Gilani 0Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Yunus Gilani, Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, (Currently associated with the International Islamic University Malaysia)There is no religious hierarchy or priestly class in Islam. However, despite the absence of any church, priests and sacraments , with the passage of time there emerged in the Muslim world a class of religious luminaries who possessed legislative, social and political authority. These scholars or religious leaders govern almost all the aspects of the human life for at least in theory; the religion and community are inseparable in Islam. They interpret the Qur’an and the Suunah, and need be, derive laws from these sources. They also make entirely new rules based on analogy to meet the challenges of the contemporary world, provided they do not violate Qur’an and Sunnah. They may have expertise in any of the disciplines, but collectively they are known as ‘ulama’. The present article attempts to trace the origin and early development of this institution of ‘ulama’. A review of the existing literature leaves room for and demands for this direct and detailed historical, etymological & critical study of this institution in the context of academic, social, juristic and legislative functions.http://al-idah.szic.pk/index.php/al-idah/article/view/422
spellingShingle Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Yunus Gilani
"The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "
الإيضاح
title "The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "
title_full "The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "
title_fullStr "The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "
title_full_unstemmed "The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "
title_short "The Institution of the ‘Ulama’: Origin and Early Development in the Formative period "
title_sort the institution of the ulama origin and early development in the formative period
url http://al-idah.szic.pk/index.php/al-idah/article/view/422
work_keys_str_mv AT drsayyidmuhammadyunusgilani theinstitutionoftheulamaoriginandearlydevelopmentintheformativeperiod