page_title: Mullah
section_title: Dress
hierarchical_section_title: Mullah / Dress
caption_attribution_description: فارسی: از سمت راست به چپ&#160;: مهدی بازرگان ، روح الله خمینی ، اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی بهرمانی English: From right to left: Mehdi Bazargan, Ruhollah Khomeini, Rafsanjani Bahramani. Русский: Справа налево: Мехди Базарган, Рухолла Хомейни, Рафсанджани Бахрамани.
context_page_description: Mullah is derived from the Arabic word mawlā, meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian". However, since this word is used ambiguously in the Quran, some publishers have described its usage as a religious title as inappropriate. The term is sometimes applied to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. In large parts of the Muslim world, particularly Iran, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Eastern Arabia, Turkey and the Balkans, Central Asia, the Horn of Africa and other parts of the Indian subcontinent, it is the name commonly given to local Islamic clerics or mosque leaders.
  The title has also been used in some Sephardic Jewish communities to refer to the community's leadership, especially religious leadership.
  Mullah and its variation Mulla have also degenerated into a derogatory term for a Muslim priest, that connotes a semiliterate, backward, often bigoted village imam. "Although, interestingly enough, the holy Quran stridently denounces priesthood, the mullahs act virtually as priests, and presume it to be their sole prerogative to interpret Islam."
context_section_description: In Iran the usual dress of a mollah is a turban (Persian: عمامه‎ ammāme), a long coat with sleeves and buttons, similar to a cassock (Persian: قبا‎ qabā), and a long gown or cloak, open at the front (Persian: عبا‎ 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. The turban is usually white, but those who claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad traditionally wear a black turban.
caption: Hojjatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan.
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