The authenticity of some of these utterances has been questioned, but their content has shaped the self-image of the
ʿulamāʾ and their role in Muslim society.
The antecedents of the learned class of Islam may perhaps be sought in the ahl al-ṣuffah ("the people of the bench"), a group that customarily gathered outside the mosque in Medina for the cultivation of religious knowledge and from whom lines of transmission went forth to the great early authorities in Qur'anic exegesis, prophetic tradition, and law. Antecedents may be found also in certain individuals who excelled in a particular branch of learning (such as Ibn ʿAbbās, described by the Prophet as "the foremost of the exegetes"). It was not until the ninth century that a distinct class of learned men crystalized, bearing the title of ʿulamāʾ.
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