the body of Mullahs (Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law) who are the interpreters of Islam's sciences and doctrines and laws and the chief guarantors of continuity in the spiritual and intellectual history of the Islamic community
source: WordNet 3.0
A college or corporation in Turkey composed of the hierarchy, namely, the imams, or ministers of religion, the muftis, or doctors of law, and the cadis, or administrators of justice.
source: Webster 1913
A college or body composed of the hierarchy (the imams, muftis, and cadis). That of Turkey alone now has political power; its head is the sheik ul Islam.
