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{{Short description|Title commonly given to local Islamic clerics or mosque leaders}}
{{about|the Islamic cleric|the Maldivian island|Mulah}}
{{Distinguish|Mula (disambiguation){{!}}Mula|Mulla (disambiguation){{!}}Mulla}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Usul al-fiqh}}

'''Mullah''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ʌ|l|ə|,_|ˈ|m|ʊ|l|ə|,_|ˈ|m|uː|l|ə}}) is an honorific title for [[Islam|Muslim]] clergy and [[mosque]] [[Imam|leaders]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Szczepanski |first=Kallie |title=Islamic Mullah |date=16 October 2019 |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-mullah-195356|access-date=2021-09-10|website=ThoughtCo|language=en}}</ref> The term is widely used in Iran, Afghanistan, and the Indian subcontinent, and is also used for a person who has higher education in [[Islamic theology]] and [[Sharia|sharia law]].

The title has also been used in some [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]], [[Iranian Jews|Iranian (Persian)]], [[History of the Jews in Afghanistan|Afghan]], [[Bukharan Jews|Bukharian]], [[Kaifeng Jews|Kaifeng]], and [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic Jewish]] communities in reference to the community's leadership, especially its religious leadership.<ref>See for example: [http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/journal/bukhara.htm "Rabbinic Succession in Bukhara 1790–1930"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507002428/http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/journal/bukhara.htm |date=7 May 2017 }}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The word ''mullah'' is derived from the [[Persian language|Persian]] word ''mullā'' ({{langx|fa|ملا‎}}), itself borrowed from the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word ''mawlā'' ({{langx|ar|مولى}}), meaning "master" and "guardian", with mutation of the initial short vowels.<ref name=":0" />

==Usage==

=== Historical usage ===
[[File:Painting of a mullah (Muslim scholar) reading a book. Gouache by an Indian artist, circa 19th century.jpg|thumb|Painting of a ''mullah'' (Muslim scholar) reading a book. Gouache by an Indian artist, {{Circa|19th century}}]]
The term has also been used among [[Iranian Jews]], [[Bukharian Jews]], and [[Afghan Jews]] to refer to the community's religious and/or secular leadership. In [[Kaifeng]], China, the [[history of the Jews in China|historic Chinese Jews]] who managed the synagogue were called "mullahs".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04kdAAAAMAAJ&q=mohammedan+roll+law+purchase|title=Chinese and Japanese repository of facts and events in science, history and art, relating to Eastern Asia, Volume 1|publisher=s.n.|year=1863|location=Oxford|page=48|access-date=2011-07-06}} (Original from the University of Michigan)</ref>

=== Modern usage ===

It is the term commonly used for village or neighborhood mosque leaders, who may not have high levels of religious education, in large parts of the [[Muslim world]], particularly [[Iran]], [[Turkey]], [[Caucasus]], [[Central Asia]], [[West Asia]], [[South Asia]],<ref name="Roy">{{cite book|last=Roy|first=Olivier|url=https://archive.org/details/failureofpolitic00royo/page/28|title=The Failure of Political Islam|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1994|isbn=0-674-29140-9|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=[https://archive.org/details/failureofpolitic00royo/page/28 28–29]|author-link=Olivier Roy (professor)}}</ref> [[Bahrain (historical region)|Eastern Arabia]], the [[Balkans#Religion|Balkans]] and the [[Horn of Africa]]. In other regions, a different term may be used, such as ''[[imam]]'' in the [[Maghreb]].<ref name="Roy" />

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the title is given to graduates of a [[madrasa]] or Islamic school, who are then able to become a mosque leader, a teacher at a religious school, a local judge in a village or town, or to perform religious rituals. A person who is still a student at a madrasa and yet to graduate is a ''talib''. The Afghan [[Taliban]] was formed in 1994 by men who had graduated from, or at least attended, madrasas. They called themselves ''taliban'', the plural of ''talib'', or "students". Many of the leaders of the Taliban were titled ''Mullah'', although not all had completed their madrasa education.<ref>{{cite book |last=Matinuddin |first=Kamal |date=1999 |title=The Taliban Phenomenon: Afghanistan 1994–1997 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BIyVMkjat2MC&dq=mullah+title&pg=PA15 |publisher=OUP |pages=15–16 |isbn=0195792742 |access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref> Someone who goes on to complete postgraduate religious education receives the higher title of [[Mawlawi (Islamic title)|Mawlawi]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Abdul Salam Zaeff |date=2010 |title=My Life with the Taliban |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yXf1AQAAQBAJ&dq=mawlawi+title+graduates&pg=PA302 |edition= |location= |publisher=C. Hurst |page=302 |isbn=9781849040266 |access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref>

In [[Iran]],<ref name="Algar">{{harvnb|Algar|1987}}</ref> until the early 20th century, the term ''mullah'' was used in Iranian [[hawza|seminarie]]s to refer to low-level clergy who specialized in telling stories of [[Day of Ashura|Ashura]], rather than teaching or issuing [[fatwa]]s. However, in recent years, among Shia clerics, the term ''ruhani'' (spiritual) has been promoted as an alternative to mullah and ''[[akhoond]]'', free of pejorative connotations.<ref>[[Moojan Momen|Momen, Moojan]], ''An Introduction to Shi'i Islam'', Yale University Press, 1985, p. 203</ref>

==Training and duties==
Ideally, a trained mullah will have studied the traditional Islamic sciences not limited to:
* Classical Arabic
** Nahw (syntax) 
** Sarf (word morphology)
** Balaaghah (rhetoric)
** Shi'r (poetry)
** Adab (literature)
* Tarikh (history) 
* Islamic law ([[fiqh]])
** Rulings pertaining to their school of jurisprudence and the rulings of other schools of jurisprudence
** The principles of jurisprudence pertaining to their school of jurisprudence and the principles of other schools of jurisprudence
** The evidences of their school of thought for principles and rulings, the evidences of others, how they differ and why
* Islamic traditions ([[hadith]])
** Exegesis
** The principles of exegesis
* [[Aqidah]] (Islamic creed)
* Mantiq (logic)
* Ilm-ul-Kalaam (philosophy)
* ([[Quran]])
** The meanings of the Quran
** Exegesis
** the principles and rules of Quranic exegesis
* [[Tasawwuf]] (Sufism)

Some mullahs will specialise in certain fields after completing the above foundational studies. Common specialties are:
* Iftah – after which they qualify as a [[mufti]] and can issue a [[fatwa]] (legal ruling)
* Takhasus fil Hadith – specialisation in hadith studies
* Takhasus fil Aqidah – specialisation in aqidah studies

Such figures often have memorized the Quran and historically would memorise all the books they studied. However in the modern era they instead memorise the founding books of each field (sometimes in the form of poetry to aid memorisation).

Uneducated villagers may frequently classify 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]]. Three kinds of knowledge are applied most frequently in interpreting Islamic texts (i.e. the Quran, hadiths, etc.) for matters of [[Sharia]], i.e., Islamic law.

Mullahs have frequently been involved in politics, but only recently have they served in positions of power, since [[Shia Islamism|Shia Islamists]] [[Iranian Revolution|seized power in Iran]] in 1979.

==Dress==
[[File:Akhoond 29.jpg|thumb|Mullahs teaching children]]
The dress of a Mullah usually consists of a turban ({{langx|fa|عمامه}} {{Transliteration|fa|[[Ammama|ammāme]]}}), a long coat with sleeves and buttons, similar to a [[cassock]] ({{lang|fa|قبا}} {{Transliteration|fa|[[Qaba|qabā]]}}), and a long gown or cloak, open at the front ({{lang|fa|عبا}} {{Transliteration|fa|abā}}). The ''aba'' is usually made either of brown wool or of black muslin. It is sleeveless but has holes through which the arms may be inserted. In Shiism, the turban is usually white, but those who claim descent from [[Muhammad]] traditionally wear a black turban.<ref>Seyyed Behzad Sa'adati-Nik [https://www.mehrnews.com/news/2781816/ ''Tarīkhche-ye Lebās-e Rūhānīat'' (The History of Clerical Dress)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102034847/https://www.mehrnews.com/news/2781816/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%DA%86%D9%87-%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%AA |date=2 November 2022 }}. Mehr News, 29 Tir 1394.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Allamah]]
* [[Marja']]
* [[Maulana]]
* [[Maulvi]]
* [[Ulema]]
* [[Seghatoleslam]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
* {{PD-old-text|title=Chinese and Japanese repository of facts and events in science, history and art, relating to Eastern Asia, Volume 1|year=1863}}

==External links==
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Mollah |year=1905 |short=x}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190710173717/http://globalimam.com/ International Imam Organization]
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[[Category:Arabic-language honorifics]]
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases in Sharia]]
[[Category:Islamic Persian honorifics]]
[[Category:Islamic Urdu honorifics]]
[[Category:Religious leadership roles]]
[[Category:Titles in Bangladesh]]