Mullah

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Part of a series on the Usul al-fiqh
Fiqh
Qur'an and Sunnah Taqlid (imitation) Ijtihad (interpretation) madh'hab (school of law) Minhaj (method) Qiyas (analogical reasoning) Urf (society custom) Islamic jurisprudence Ijma Bid‘ah Madrasah Istihlal Istihsan
Ahkam
Halaal — legal Mustahab — favored Mubah — neutral Makruh — disliked Haraam — illegal Fard/Wajib — obligation, duty Baatil — incorrect Fasiq — corrupt
Scholarly titles
Marja — ... Ulema Mufti Qadi Faqih Muhaddith Mullah Imam Mawlawi Sheikh Shaykh of Sufism Punjabi Shaikh Ayatollah Mujaddid Maulana This box: view • talk • edit</div>

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. However, uneducated villagers often recognise a literate Muslim with a less than complete Islamic training as their "mullah" or religious cleric. Mullahs with varying levels of training lead prayers in mosques, deliver religious sermons, and perform religious ceremonies such as birth rites and funeral services. They also often teach in a type of Islamic school known as a madrasah. In these respects, they perform duties in Islam comparable to that of the clergy of other faiths, such as priests, rabbis, and ministers.

The term is most often applied to Shi'i 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'i. 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 `ālim (plural `ūlamā') (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, although English-speaking Muslim clergy rarely call themselves mullahs. It was adopted from Urdu by the British rulers of India and subsequently came into more widespread use.

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.