Ulama (Arabic: علماء‎ ʿUlamāʾ , singular عالِم ʿĀlim, "scholar"), also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of sharia law. While the ulama are well versed in legal fiqh (jurisprudence) being Islamic lawyers, some of them also go on to specialize in other fields, such as hadith or tafseer.

In a broader sense, the term ulama is used to describe the body of Muslim scholars who have completed several years of training and study of Islamic disciplines, such as a mufti, qadi, faqih, or muhaddith. Some Muslims^[which?] include under this term the village mullahs and imams, who have attained only the lowest rungs on the ladder of Islamic scholarship; other Muslims^{[clarification needed]} would say that clerics must meet higher standards to be considered ulama. This is why it is claimed^[who?] that in Western society there are for the most of the time no ulama present, with the outcome of Muslims in the West searching for qualified knowledge from Islamic countries, to attain some accepted qualification. The Internet gives some streams of ulama speaking on a video record, which is very rare.