uloom

Uloom is the transliteration of the Arabic plural noun ulūm (علم) meaning "sciences" or "knowledge." In classical Arabic, ilm denotes knowledge in a broad sense, while ulūm refers to the various disciplines or branches of knowledge. The term is widely used in Muslim-majority and South Asian contexts to designate religious and secular disciplines collectively or to label departments and curricula that study Islamic sciences as well as general studies.

In linguistic terms, ilm is singular and refers to knowledge itself, while ulūm or uloom is the plural form, used in Urdu and other languages to denote a field of study. With the spread of education across the Muslim world, "Uloom" has become a common component of institutional names, particularly in madrasas and Islamic universities. It often appears in combinations such as Uloom-e-Islamia (Islamic sciences) or Uloom al-Quran (sciences of the Qur'an), though exact usage varies by institution.

Scholarly use of the term encompasses both religious sciences (such as Qur'anic exegesis, Hadith, Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, tafsir) and, in some contexts, secular disciplines within a broader curriculum. In modern South Asian higher education, catalogues sometimes translate or preserve "Uloom" in the names of departments, signaling a traditional framing of knowledge studies alongside modern disciplines. The term remains a recognized, if broad, label within Islamic studies and related educational traditions.