what was the traditional methods employed by ulama in the past to earn their livelihood? did they work for it? got paid for their service to the community? received donations? where there was community support - was it the same for every person who had knowledge of islam or was there some way of determining who was supported by the community and who was not? where there was community support - was this support given to every alim or was it limited to those who were employed as an alim and who provided a service to the community? did they have to have some level of knowledge or did they just need the title of alim to be eligible for financial support?