The umma of scholars.
Sunni Islam never built a church: authority pools wherever learning is deepest, and the ulama argue the tradition forward one ruling at a time.
Sunni Islam has no church, no synod, and no ordination: authority accrues to scholars through years of study with recognized teachers, and it is a reputational rather than institutional system. Consensus (ijma) of the scholars is a source of law in theory, though what counts as consensus is itself disputed. The modern era has destabilized this considerably — states appoint muftis, and anyone with a satellite channel or an account can claim an audience without the training the system assumed.
The same ground, other faiths
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