Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ulema \U`le*ma"\, n. [Turk. & Ar. 'ulam[=a] the wise or learned
   men, pl. of '[=a]lim wise, learned.] (Mohammedanism)
   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.

Ulema \U*le"ma\, n. [Ar. 'ulem[=a] the wise or learned men, pl.
   of '[=a]lim wise, learned, fr. alima to know.]
   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 : WordNet®

ulema
     n : 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 [syn: {ulama}]