Mawlānā

Mawlānā (/mɔːˈlɑːnə/; from Arabic مولانا, literally "our lord/master") is a title, mostly in Central Asia and in the Indian subcontinent, preceding the name of respected Muslim religious leaders, in particular graduates of religious institutions, e.g. a madrassa or a darul uloom, or scholars who have studied under other Islamic scholars.

Although the word is derived from the Arabic word mawla, it adopted different meanings as it travelled from Rome to Persia, Turkey, Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

In Iran and Turkey the word normally refers to Rumi (Persian pronunciation Mowlana) (Turkish pronunciation Mevlana).

This word has been borrowed into the Swahili language, where it is used also as a title of respect for revered members of a community, religious or secular, roughly equivalent to the English "Sir". In some circles it is used to refer to Ron Karenga, the Afro-American activist.

In the mostly Muslim region of West Africa, the root has been proposed as a source for the words Mallam (Hausa language) and Maame (Wolof language), which are used to denote Islamic scholars, or in areas practising folk Islam or folk magic, a local shaman. Among the Hausas the word Mallam is additionally used as equivalent of English Mr. A more likely explanation for this word (and for the Swahili mwalimu) is the Arabic word mu'allim (معلم), which in Moroccan Arabic is pronounced "m'allam" and means ‘teacher’ or ‘master’ in a Qur'anic school.

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