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91-508: The Marinids were prolific builders of madrasas , a type of institution which originated in northeastern Iran by the early 11th century and was progressively adopted further west. These establishments served to train Islamic scholars , particularly in Islamic law and jurisprudence ( fiqh ). The madrasa in the Sunni world was generally antithetical to more " heterodox " religious doctrines, including

182-592: A Sunni institution under Ayyubid rule (today's Al-Azhar University ). By the 900s AD, the Madrasa is noted to have become a successful higher education system. In the late 11th century, during the late ʻAbbāsid period, the Seljuk vizier Niẓām al-Mulk created one of the first major official academic institutions known in history as the Madrasah Niẓāmīyah , based on the informal majālis (sessions of

273-468: A mida'a (ablutions hall) which is located at its northern side. At the courtyard's eastern end is another decorated archway which grants entrance to the prayer hall. Most of the Marinid-era madrasas were oriented so that the main axis of the building was already aligned with the qibla (the direction of prayer), allowing the mihrab (niche symbolizing the qibla) of the prayer hall to be allowed with

364-559: A distinctive bell shape. In exceptional cases, the mihrab does not follow the qibla direction, such as is the Masjid al-Qiblatayn , or the Mosque of the Two Qiblas, where Muhammad received the command to change the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca, thus it had two prayer niches. In 1987 the mosque was renovated, the old prayer niche facing Jerusalem was removed, and the one facing Mecca

455-425: A future career. He wrote that this was a transitional stage and that there needs to be flexibility regarding the age in which pupils graduate, as the student's emotional development and chosen subjects need to be taken into account. During its formative period, the term madrasah referred to a higher education institution, whose curriculum initially included only the "religious sciences", whilst philosophy and

546-445: A guide to teachers working at maktab schools. He wrote that children can learn better if taught in classes instead of individual tuition from private tutors , and he gave a number of reasons for why this is the case, citing the value of competition and emulation among pupils, as well as the usefulness of group discussions and debates . Ibn Sīnā described the curriculum of a maktab school in some detail, describing

637-408: A large block of stone initially marked the north wall which was oriented towards Jerusalem (the first qibla), but this was moved to the south wall in the second year of the hijra period (2 AH or 624 CE ), when the orientation of the qibla was changed towards Mecca. This mihrab also marked the spot where Muhammad would plant his lance ( 'anaza or ḥarba ) prior to leading prayers. During

728-531: A larger külliye or a waqf -based religious foundation which included other elements like a mosque and a hammam (public bathhouse). The following excerpt provides a brief synopsis of the historical origins and starting points for the teachings that took place in the Ottoman madrasas in the Early Modern Period: Taşköprülüzâde's concept of knowledge and his division of the sciences provides

819-623: A madrasa would be referred to as a localized area or center within the mosque for studies and teachings relating the Quran. Among the first advanced topics featured at a madrasa was Islamic law . There was a premium fee required to study Islamic law, which was sometimes fronted by state or private subsidiaries. The topics of this higher education also expanded larger than the Islamic time and area. Arab translations of Greco-Roman classical texts were often examined for mathematical and grammatical discourse. Since

910-529: A manner consistent with its original architectural style. Today it is open as a historic site and tourist attraction. The madrasa is a two-story building accessed via an L-shaped bent entrance at the eastern end of Tala'a Kebira street. The vestibule leads to the main courtyard of the building, entered via an archway with a wooden screen ( mashrabiya ). The south and north sides of the courtyard are occupied by galleries with two square pillars and two smaller marble columns, which support three carved wood arches in

1001-424: A mosque, and funded by an early charitable trust known as waqf . Madrasas were largely centred on the study of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). The ijāzat al-tadrīs wa-al-iftāʼ ("licence to teach and issue legal opinions") in the medieval Islamic legal education system had its origins in the ninth century after the formation of the madhāhib (schools of jurisprudence). George Makdisi considers

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1092-616: A much larger scale. The emergence of the maktab and madrasa institutions played a fundamental role in the relatively high literacy rates of the medieval Islamic world. Under the Anatolian Seljuk , Zengid , Ayyubid , and Mamluk dynasties (11th-16th centuries) in the Middle East, many of the ruling elite founded madrasas through a religious endowment and charitable trust known as a waqf . The first documented madrasa created in Syria

1183-519: A rigorous balance between different elements, marking the period of highest achievement in Marinid architecture. The main courtyard demonstrates this in particular. The floor pavement and the lower walls and pillars are covered in zellij (mosaic tilework ). While most of the zellij is arranged to form geometric patterns and other motifs, its top layer, near eye-level, features a band of calligraphic inscriptions on sgraffito -style tiles running around

1274-479: A scalloped shell-like hood. Eventually, the niche came to be universally understood to identify the qibla wall, and so came to be adopted as a feature in other mosques. A sign was no longer necessary. Today, mihrabs vary in size, but are usually ornately decorated. It was common for mihrabs to be flanked with pairs of candlesticks, though they would not have lit candles. In Ottoman mosques, these were made of brass, bronze or beaten copper and their bases had

1365-470: A starting point for a study of learning and medrese education in the Ottoman Empire. Taşköprülüzâde recognises four stages of knowledge—spiritual, intellectual, oral and written. Thus all the sciences fall into one of these seven categories: calligraphic sciences, oral sciences, intellectual sciences, spiritual sciences, theoretical rational sciences, and practical rational sciences. The first Ottoman medrese

1456-516: A starting point for higher education for Muslim India. Babur of the Mughal Empire founded a madrasa in Delhi which he specifically included the subjects of mathematics, astronomy, and geography besides the standard subjects of law, history, secular and religious sciences. Although little is known about the management and inner workings of these places of Islamic higher education, religious studies bore

1547-434: A student "had to study in a guild school of law, usually four years for the basic undergraduate course" and ten or more years for a post-graduate course. The "doctorate was obtained after an oral examination to determine the originality of the candidate's theses", and to test the student's "ability to defend them against all objections, in disputations set up for the purpose." These were scholarly exercises practised throughout

1638-420: A university, however, is جامعة ( jāmiʻah ) . The Hebrew cognate midrasha also connotes the meaning of a place of learning; the related term midrash literally refers to study or learning, but has acquired mystical and religious connotations. In English, the term madrasah or "madrasa" usually refers more narrowly to Islamic institutions of learning. Historians and other scholars also employ

1729-700: A university-level or post-graduate school as well as to a primary or secondary school. For example, in the Ottoman Empire during the Early Modern Period , madrasas had lower schools and specialised schools where the students became known as danişmends . In medieval usage, however, the term madrasah was usually specific to institutions of higher learning, which generally taught Islamic law and occasionally other subjects, as opposed to elementary schools or children's schools, which were usually known as kuttāb , khalwa or maktab . The usual Arabic word for

1820-486: Is also a bit different from a normal mihrab due to its scale. It takes up a whole room instead of just a niche. This style of mihrab set a standard for other mihrab construction in the region. The use of the horseshoe arch, carved stucco , and glass mosaics made an impression for the aesthetic of mihrabs , "although no other extant mihrab in Spain or western North Africa is as elaborate." The Great Mosque of Damascus

1911-419: Is chiseled with a background of arabesque or vegetal motifs, as well as a small Kufic script composition inside each of the octagonal stars in the wider geometric pattern. This design marks an evolution and refinement of the earlier Almoravid -era bronze-plated decoration on the doors of the nearby Qarawiyyin Mosque. Another piece of notable metalwork in the madrasa is the original bronze chandelier hanging in

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2002-532: Is estimated from the first day of " nabuwwat " to the first portion of the Umayyad Caliphate . At the beginning of the Caliphate period, the reliance on courts initially confined sponsorship and scholarly activities to major centres. In the early history of the Islamic period, teaching was generally carried out in mosques rather than in separate specialized institutions. Although some major early mosques like

2093-528: Is nonetheless considered by many as the starting point for the proliferation of the formal madrasah across the rest of the Muslim world, adapted for use by all four different Sunni Islamic legal schools and Sufi orders . Part of the motivation for this widespread adoption of the madrasah by Sunni rulers and elites was a desire to counter the influence and spread of Shi'ism at the time, by using these institutions to spread Sunni teachings. Dimitri Gutas and

2184-588: Is obtained," from the root word 𐩢𐩧𐩨 ḥrb "to perform a certain religious ritual (which is compared to combat or fighting and described as an overnight retreat) in the 𐩣𐩢𐩧𐩨 mḥrb of the temple." It may also possibly be related to Ethiopic ምኵራብ məkʷrab "temple, sanctuary," whose equivalent in Sabaic is 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 mkrb of the same meaning, from the root word 𐩫𐩧𐩨 krb "to dedicate" (cognate with Akkadian 𒅗𒊒𒁍 karābu "to bless" and related to Hebrew כְּרוּב kerūḇ " cherub (either of

2275-571: Is the one that was added to the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus when it was built by Al-Walid between 706 and 715. This was then followed by a mihrab added to the Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As in Fustat in 710–711. Subsequently, concave mihrabs became widespread across the Muslim world and were adopted as a standard feature of mosques. The oldest surviving concave mihrab today is a marble mihrab housed at

2366-460: Is the raised platform from which an imam (leader of prayer) addresses the congregation, is located to the right of the mihrab . The origin of the word miḥrāb is complicated, and multiple explanations have been proposed by different sources and scholars. It may come from Old South Arabian (possibly Sabaic ) 𐩣𐩢𐩧𐩨 mḥrb meaning a certain part of a palace , as well as "part of a temple where 𐩩𐩢𐩧𐩨 tḥrb (a certain type of visions)

2457-746: Is tied to the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 which set a basis of importance for Muslim education. Under control of the Delhi Sultanate, two early important madrasas were founded. The first was the Mu’zziyya named after Muḥammad Ghuri of the Ghorid Dynasty and his title of Muʿizz al-Dīn and founded by Sultan Iltutmish. The other madrasa was the Nāṣiriyya, named after Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd and built by Balban. These two madrasas bear importance as

2548-510: Is used as a place of convergence in the mosque, where visitors could be amazed by its beauty and gilded designs. The entrance is covered in mosaics "which links to the Byzantium tradition, produced by the craftsmen sent by Emperor Nicephorus II. These mosaics extend along the voussoirs with a geometric and plant-based design, but also in the inscriptions which record verses from the Koran". This mihrab

2639-523: Is widely credited to Nizam al-Mulk , a vizier under the Seljuks in the 11th century, who was responsible for building the first network of official madrasas in Iran, Mesopotamia , and Khorasan . From there, the construction of madrasas spread across much of the Muslim world over the next few centuries, often adopting similar models of architectural design. The madrasas became the longest serving institutions of

2730-464: The ijāzah to be the origin of the European doctorate. However, in an earlier article, he considered the ijāzah to be of "fundamental difference" to the medieval doctorate, since the former was awarded by an individual teacher-scholar not obliged to follow any formal criteria, whereas the latter was conferred on the student by the collective authority of the faculty. To obtain an ijāzah ,

2821-539: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy consider the period between the 11th and 14th centuries to be the " Golden Age " of Arabic and Islamic philosophy , initiated by al-Ghazali 's successful integration of logic into the madrasah curriculum and the subsequent rise of Avicennism . In addition to religious subjects, they taught the "rational sciences," as varied as mathematics , astronomy , astrology , geography , alchemy and philosophy depending on

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2912-452: The Andalusian cities of Córdoba , Seville , Toledo , Granada , Murcia , Almería , Valencia and Cádiz during the Caliphate of Córdoba . In the Ottoman Empire during the early modern period, "Madaris were divided into lower and specialised levels, which reveals that there was a sense of elevation in school. Students who studied in the specialised schools after completing courses in

3003-562: The Arab world , the word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the religion of Islam (loosely equivalent to a Christian seminary ), though this may not be the only subject studied. In an architectural and historical context, the term generally refers to a particular kind of institution in the historic Muslim world which primarily taught Islamic law and jurisprudence ( fiqh ), as well as other subjects on occasion. The origin of this type of institution

3094-620: The Arab-Muslim conquests of the region. Like madrasas (which referred to higher education), a maktab was often attached to an endowed mosque. In the 11th century, the famous Persian Islamic philosopher and teacher Ibn Sīnā (known as Avicenna in the West), in one of his books, wrote a chapter about the maktab entitled "The Role of the Teacher in the Training and Upbringing of Children", as

3185-510: The Great Mosque of Damascus or the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Cairo had separate rooms which were devoted to teaching, this distinction between "mosque" and "madrasa" was not very present. Notably, the al-Qarawiyyin ( Jāmiʻat al-Qarawīyīn ), established in 859 in the city of Fes , present-day Morocco , is considered the oldest university in the world by some scholars, though the application of

3276-605: The Iraq Museum . It is believed to date from the 8th century, possibly made in northern Syria before being moved by the Abbasids to the Great Mosque of al-Mansur in Baghdad. It was then moved again to the al-Khassaki Mosque built in the 17th century, where it was later found and transferred to the museum. This mihrab features a combination of Classical or Late Antique motifs, with the niche flanked by two spiral columns and crowned by

3367-763: The Ottoman Empire , during the Early Modern Period, the study of hadiths was introduced by Süleyman I . Depending on the educational demands, some madrasas also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic literature , English and other foreign languages, as well as science and world history. Ottoman madrasas along with religious teachings also taught "styles of writing, grammar, syntax, poetry, composition, natural sciences, political sciences, and etiquette." People of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming imams . The certificate of an ʻālim , for example, requires approximately twelve years of study. A good number of

3458-446: The Qur'an and are devotions to God so that God's word reaches the people. Common designs amongst mihrabs are geometric foliage that are close together so that there is no empty space in-between the art. The mihrab in the Great Mosque of Cordoba is a highly decorated piece of art that draws one's attention. It is a contribution made by Al-Hakam II that is not just used for prayer. It

3549-445: The apse of Christian churches , others to the alcove shrines or niches of Buddhist architecture . Niches were already a common feature of Late Antique architecture prior to the rise of Islam, either as hollow spaces or to house statues . The mihrab niche could have also been related to the recessed area or alcove that sheltered the throne in some royal audience halls. The next earliest concave mihrab to be documented

3640-403: The mihrab has been theorized as the motif of a pearl, due to the indications that dome of the mihrab has scalloped edges. There have been other mosques that have mihrabs similar to this that follow the same theme, with scalloped domes that are "concave like a conch or mother of pearl shell. The original main mihrab of the mosque has not been preserved, having been renovated many times, and

3731-516: The mihrab " . The earliest mihrabs generally consisted of a simple stripe of paint or a flat stone panel in the qibla wall. They may have originally had functions similar to a maqsura , denoting not only the place where the imam led prayers but also where some official functions, such as the dispensation of justice, were carried out. In the Mosque of the Prophet ( Al-Masjid al-Nabawi ) in Medina ,

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3822-401: The secular sciences were often excluded. The curriculum slowly began to diversify, with many later madrasas teaching both the religious and the "secular sciences", such as logic , mathematics and philosophy . Some madrasas further extended their curriculum to history , politics , ethics , music , metaphysics , medicine , astronomy and chemistry . The curriculum of a madrasah

3913-696: The ḥuffāẓ (plural of ḥāfiẓ ) are the product of the madrasas. The madrasas also resemble colleges, where people take evening classes and reside in dormitories. An important function of the madrasas is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide them with education and training. Madrasas may enroll female students; however, they study separately from the men. Features Types Types Features Clothing Genres Art music Folk Prose Islamic Poetry Genres Forms Arabic prosody National literatures of Arab States Concepts Texts Fictional Arab people South Arabian deities In

4004-645: The Arabic language, the word مدرسة madrasah simply means the same as school does in the English language, whether that is private, public or parochial school, as well as for any primary or secondary school whether Muslim , non-Muslim, or secular. Unlike the use of the word school in British English, the word madrasah more closely resembles the term school in American English, in that it can refer to

4095-510: The Ayyubids built many more madrasas across their territories. Not only was the madrasa a potent symbol of status for its patrons but it could also be an effective means of transmitting wealth and status to their descendants. Especially during the Mamluk period, when only former slaves ( mamālīk ) could assume power, the sons of the ruling Mamluk elites were unable to inherit. Guaranteed positions within

4186-461: The Latin title licentia docendi 'licence to teach' in the European university may have been a translation of the Arabic, but the underlying concept was very different. A significant difference between the ijāzat al-tadrīs and the licentia docendi was that the former was awarded by the individual scholar-teacher, while the latter was awarded by the chief official of the university, who represented

4277-485: The Ottoman Empire, beginning service in 1330 and operating for nearly 600 years on three continents. They trained doctors, engineers, lawyers and religious officials, among other members of the governing and political elite. The madrasas were a specific educational institution, with their own funding and curricula, in contrast with the Enderun palace schools attended by Devshirme pupils. The word madrasah derives from

4368-576: The Quran is the core of all learning, it is described in this journal as the “Spine of all discipline” A typical Islamic school usually offers two courses of study: a ḥifẓ course teaching memorization of the Qur'an (the person who commits the entire Qur'an to memory is called a ḥāfiẓ ); and an ʻālim course leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic , tafsir (Qur'anic interpretation), sharīʻah (Islamic law), hadith , mantiq (logic), and Muslim history . In

4459-620: The best examples of their kind in this period. The madrasa also features notable examples of Marinid-era ornamental metalwork . The doors of the madrasa's entrance are made of cedar wood but are covered in decorative bronze plating. The current doors in place today are replicas of the originals which are now kept at the Dar Batha Museum . The plating is composed of many pieces assembled together to form an interlacing geometric pattern similar to that found in other medieval Moroccan art forms such as Qur'anic or manuscript decoration. Each piece

4550-506: The collective faculty, rather than the individual scholar-teacher. Mihrab Mihrab ( Arabic : محراب , miḥrāb , pl. محاريب maḥārīb ) is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla , the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a mihrab appears is thus the " qibla wall". The minbar , which

4641-454: The courtyard. Above this, in general, is a zone of extensive and intricately-carved stucco decoration , including another layer of calligraphic decoration, niches and arches sculpted with muqarnas , and large surfaces covered in a diverse array of arabesques (floral and vegetal patterns) and other Moroccan motifs. Lastly, the upper zones generally feature surfaces of carved cedar wood, culminating in richly sculpted wooden eaves projecting over

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4732-499: The curricula for two stages of education in a maktab school. Ibn Sīnā wrote that children should be sent to a maktab school from the age of 6 and be taught primary education until they reach the age of 14. During which time, he wrote, they should be taught the Qur'an, Islamic metaphysics , Arabic, literature , Islamic ethics , and manual skills (which could refer to a variety of practical skills). Ibn Sīnā refers to

4823-678: The curriculum of the specific institution in question. The madrasas, however, were not centres of advanced scientific study; scientific advances in Islam were usually carried out by scholars working under the patronage of royal courts. During the Islamic Golden Age , the territories under the Caliphate experienced a growth in literacy , having the highest literacy rate of the Middle Ages , comparable to classical Athens ' literacy in antiquity but on

4914-703: The doctrine espoused by the Almohad dynasty . As such, it only came to flourish in Morocco under the Marinid dynasty which succeeded the Almohads. To the Marinids, madrasas played a part in bolstering the political legitimacy of their dynasty. They used this patronage to encourage the loyalty of Fes's influential but fiercely independent religious elites and also to portray themselves to the general population as protectors and promoters of orthodox Sunni Islam. The madrasas also served to train

5005-498: The east side of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi mosque. Ubada ibn as-Samit was appointed there by Muhammad as teacher and among the students. In the curriculum of the madrasa, there were teachings of The Qur'an, The Hadith, fara'iz, tajweed , genealogy , treatises of first aid , etc. There was also training in horse-riding, the art of war, handwriting and calligraphy , athletics and martial arts . The first part of madrasa-based education

5096-423: The entrance of the main courtyard. However, the space into which the al-Attarine Madrasa was built evidently did not allow for this layout, and instead the mihrab is off to the side on the southern wall of the prayer hall, on an axis perpendicular to the main axis of the building. The prayer hall itself is rectangular, but a triple-arched gallery on its north side allowed architects to place a square wooden cupola over

5187-479: The focus amongst most other subjects, particularly the rational sciences such as mathematics, logic, medicine, and astronomy. Although some tried to emphasize these subjects more, it is doubtful that every madrasa made this effort. While " madrasah " can now refer to any type of school, the term madrasah was originally used to refer more specifically to a medieval Islamic centre of learning, mainly teaching Islamic law and theology , usually affiliated with

5278-449: The focus of theology and legal study was utmost, specified law schools began their own development. On the theological side however, these remained mainly at the general madrasa since it was more common and easier for the lower-level students to approach. The requirement of competent teachers to keep a madrasa up and running was also important. It was not uncommon for these scholars to be involved in multiple fields such as Abd al-Latif who

5369-405: The front and the most honorable." The Mosques in Islam (p. 13), in addition to Arabic sources, cites Theodor Nöldeke and others as having considered a mihrab to have originally signified a throne room. The term was subsequently used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad to denote his own private prayer room. The room additionally provided access to the adjacent mosque, and Muhammad entered

5460-494: The hall consists of a "lambrequin"-style arch whose intrados are carved with muqarnas. The upper walls of the chamber, below the wooden cupola, also feature windows of coloured glass which are set into lead grilles (instead of the much more common stucco grilles of that period) forming intricate geometric or floral motifs. The marble (or onyx ) columns and the engaged columns of the courtyard and prayer hall also feature exceptionally elegant and richly-carved capitals , among

5551-505: The heavenly creatures that bound the Ark in the inner sanctuary )"). Arab lexicographers traditionally derive the word from the Arabic root ح ر ب (Ḥ-R-B) relating to "war, fighting or anger," (which, though cognate with the South Arabian root, does not however carry any relation to religious rituals) thus leading some to interpret it to mean a "fortress", or "place of battle (with Satan ),"

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5642-712: The late 13th century, the first madrasas were being built in Morocco under the Marinid dynasty , starting with the Saffarin Madrasa in Fes (founded in 1271) and culminating with much larger and more ornate constructions like the Bou Inania Madrasa (founded in 1350). During the Ottoman period the medrese ( Turkish word for madrasah ) was a common institution as well, often part of

5733-452: The latter due to mihrabs being private prayer chambers. The latter interpretation though bears similarity to the nature of the 𐩢𐩧𐩨 ḥrb ritual. The word mihrab originally had a non-religious meaning and simply denoted a special room in a house; a throne room in a palace, for example. The Fath al-Bari (p. 458), on the authority of others, suggests the mihrab is "the most honorable location of kings" and "the master of locations,

5824-432: The lower levels became known as danişmends ." Mosques were more than a place of worship as they were also utilized as an area to host community transactions of business. It was the center of most of a city's social and cultural life. Along with this came trades of information and teachings. As the mosque was a starting ground for religious discourse in the Islamic world, these madrasas became more common. In this context,

5915-435: The main space in front of the mihrab. This unusual but elegant solution to the limited and awkward space available for construction demonstrates the ingenuity and rational approach to design that Marinid architects had achieved by this time. Although its exterior is completely plain (like most traditional Moroccan buildings of its kind), the madrasa is famous for its extensive and sophisticated interior decoration, which exhibits

6006-412: The medieval Islamic world, an elementary school (for children or for those learning to read) was known as a ' kuttāb' or maktab . Their exact origin is uncertain, but they appear to have been already widespread in the early Abbasid period (8th-9th centuries) and may have played an early role in socializing new ethnic and demographic groups into the Islamic religion during the first few centuries after

6097-455: The medreses which was to continue until the end of the empire. The term "Islamic education" means education in the light of Islam itself, which is rooted in the teachings of the Qur'an - the holy book of the Muslims. Islamic education and Muslim education are not the same. Because Islamic education has epistemological integration which is founded on Tawhid - Oneness or monotheism . To Islam,

6188-478: The middle and two smaller stucco muqarnas arches on the sides. Above these galleries are the facades of the second floor marked by windows looking into the courtyard. This second floor, accessed via a staircase off the southern side of the entrance vestibule, is occupied by 30 rooms which served as sleeping quarters for the students. This makes for an overall arrangement similar to the slightly earlier Madrasa as-Sahrij . The entrance vestibule also grants access to

6279-493: The mosque through this room. This original meaning of mihrab  – i.e. as a special room in the house – continues to be preserved in some forms of Judaism where mihrabs are rooms used for private worship. In the Qur'an , the word (when in conjunction with the definite article) is mostly used to indicate the Holy of Holies . The term is used, for example, in the verse "then he [i.e. Zechariah ] came forth to his people from

6370-508: The mosque, they provided accommodations for students, particularly those coming from outside of Fes. Many of these students were poor, seeking sufficient education to gain a higher position in their home towns, and the madrasas provided them with basic necessities such as lodging and bread. However, the madrasas were also teaching institutions in their own right and offered their own courses, with some Islamic scholars making their reputation by teaching at certain madrasas. The al-Attarine madrasa

6461-581: The new madrasas (and other similar foundations) thus allowed them to maintain some status and means of living even after their fathers' deaths. Madrasas built in this period were often associated with the mausoleums of their founders. Further west, the Hafsid dynasty introduced the first madrasas to Ifriqiya , beginning with the Madrasa al-Shamma῾iyya built in Tunis in 1238 (or in 1249 according to some sources ). By

6552-557: The prayer hall, which includes an inscription praising the madrasa's founder. Madrasa Madrasa ( / m ə ˈ d r æ s ə / , also US : /- r ɑː s -/ , UK : / ˈ m æ d r ɑː s ə / ; Arabic : مدرسة [mædˈræ.sæ, ˈmad.ra.sa] , pl. مدارس , madāris ), sometimes transliterated as madrasah or madrassa , is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution , secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning. In countries outside

6643-453: The region of Iran in the 11th century under vizier Nizam al-Mulk and subsequently spread to other regions of the Islamic world. The first institute of madrasa education was at the estate of Zayd ibn Arqam near a hill called Safa , where Muhammad was the teacher and the students were some of his followers. After Hijrah (migration) the madrasa of "Suffa" was established in Madina on

6734-565: The reign of the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (Al-Walid I, r. 705–715), the Mosque of the Prophet was renovated and the governor ( wāli ) of Medina, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz , ordered that a niche be made to designate the qibla wall (which identifies the direction of Mecca), which became the first concave mihrab niche. This type of mihrab was called miḥrāb mujawwaf in historical Arabic texts . The origin of this architectural feature has been debated by scholars. Some trace it to

6825-616: The scholars and elites who operated their state's bureaucracy. The al-Attarine Madrasa, along with other nearby madrasas like the Saffarin and the Mesbahiyya , was built in close proximity to the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque/University, the main center of learning in Fes and historically the most important intellectual center of Morocco. The madrasas played a supporting role to the Qarawiyyin; unlike

6916-498: The secondary education stage of maktab schooling as a period of specialisation when pupils should begin to acquire manual skills, regardless of their social status. He writes that children after the age of 14 should be allowed to choose and specialise in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine , geometry , trade and commerce , craftsmanship , or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for

7007-520: The shaykhs). Niẓām al-Mulk , who would later be murdered by the Assassins ( Ḥashshāshīn ), created a system of state madrasas (in his time they were called the Niẓāmiyyahs, named after him) in various Seljuk and ʻAbbāsid cities at the end of the 11th century, ranging from Mesopotamia to Khorasan . Although madrasa-type institutions appear to have existed in Iran before Nizam al-Mulk, this period

7098-419: The student's "career as a graduate student of law." After students completed their post-graduate education, they were awarded ijaza s giving them the status of faqīh 'scholar of jurisprudence', muftī 'scholar competent in issuing fatwās ', and mudarris 'teacher'. The Arabic term ijāzat al-tadrīs was awarded to Islamic scholars who were qualified to teach. According to Makdisi,

7189-505: The term "university" to institutions of the medieval Muslim world is disputed. According to tradition, the al-Qarawiyyin mosque was founded by Fāṭimah al-Fihrī , the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Muḥammad al-Fihrī . This was later followed by the Fatimid establishment of al-Azhar Mosque in 969–970 in Cairo, initially as a center to promote Isma'ili teachings, which later became

7280-483: The term to refer to historical learning institutions throughout the Muslim world , which is to say a college where Islamic law was taught along with other secondary subjects, but not to secular science schools, modern or historical. These institutions were typically housed in specially designed buildings which were primarily devoted to this purpose. Such institutions are believed to have originated, or at least proliferated, in

7371-623: The time, required the endowment of a habous , a charitable trust usually consisting of mortmain properties, which provided revenues to sustain the madrasa's operations and upkeep, set up on the sultan's directive. This provided for the madrasa to host an imam , muezzins , teachers, and accommodations for 50-60 students. Most of the students at this particular madrasa were from towns and cities in northwestern Morocco such as Tangier , Larache , and Ksar el-Kebir . The madrasa has been classified as historic heritage monument in Morocco since 1915. The madrasa has since been restored many times, but in

7462-493: The top of the walls. Wooden artwork is also present in the pyramidal wooden cupola ceiling of the prayer hall, carved with geometric star patterns (similar to that found more broadly in Moorish architecture ). The wood-carving on display here is also considered an example of the high point of Marinid artwork. The prayer hall also features extensive stucco decoration, especially around the richly-decorated mihrab niche. The entrance of

7553-532: The triconsonantal Semitic root د-ر-س D-R-S 'to learn, study', using the wazn ( morphological form or template) مفعل(ة) ; mafʻal(ah) , meaning "a place where something is done". Thus, madrasah literally means "a place where learning and studying take place" or "place of study". The word is also present as a loanword with the same general meaning in many Arabic-influenced languages, such as: Urdu , Pashto , Baluchi , Persian , Turkish , Azeri , Kurdish , Indonesian , Somali and Bosnian . In

7644-428: Was an expert in medicine, grammar, linguistics, law, alchemy, and philosophy. The choice of freedom in inquiry was also important. Muslim higher education at madrasas offered not only mastery in specified fields but also a more generalized, broader option. In Muslim India , the madrasa started off as providing higher education similarly to other parts of the Islamic world. The primary function for these institutions

7735-482: Was built between 1323 and 1325 on the orders of the Marinid sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman II. The supervisor of construction was Sheikh Beni Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Qasim al-Mizwar. According to the Rawd el-Qirtas (historical chronicle), the sultan personally observed the laying of the madrasa's foundations, in the company of local ulema . The creation of the madrasa, as with all Islamic religious and charitable institutions of

7826-409: Was created in İznik in 1331, when a converted Church building was assigned as a medrese to a famous scholar, Dâvûd of Kayseri. Suleyman made an important change in the hierarchy of Ottoman medreses. He established four general medreses and two more for specialised studies, one devoted to the ḥadīth and the other to medicine. He gave the highest ranking to these and thus established the hierarchy of

7917-415: Was left. Mihrabs are a relevant part of Islamic culture and mosques. Since they are used to indicate the direction for prayer, they serve as an important focal point in the mosque. They are usually decorated with ornamental detail that can be geometric designs, linear patterns, or calligraphy. This ornamentation also serves a religious purpose. The calligraphy decoration on the mihrabs are usually from

8008-488: Was started by al-Walid in 706. It was built as a hypostyle mosque, built with a prayer hall leading to the mihrab, "on the back wall of the sanctuary are four mihrabs , two of which are the mihrab of the Companions of the Prophet in the eastern half and the great mihrab at the end of the transept". The mihrab is decorated similarly to the rest of the mosque in golden vines and vegetal imagery. The lamp that once hung in

8099-698: Was the Madrasa of Kumushtakin, added to a mosque in Bosra in 1136. One of the earliest madrasas in Damascus, and one of the first madrasas to be accompanied by the tomb of its founder, is the Madrasa al-Nuriyya (or Madrasa al-Kubra) founded by Nur al-Din in 1167–1172. After Salah ad-Din (Saladin) overthrew the Shi'a Fatimids in Egypt in 1171, he founded a Sunni madrasa near the tomb of al-Shafi'i in Cairo in 1176–1177, introducing this institution to Egypt. The Mamluks who succeeded

8190-520: Was to train and prepare workers for bureaucratic work as well as the judicial system. The curriculum generally consisted of logic, philosophy, law, history, politics, and particularly religious sciences, later incorporating more of mathematics, astronomy, geography, and medicine. Madrasas were often subsidized and founded by states or private individuals, and well-qualified teachers filled in the role for professors. Foundations of Islamic higher education in India

8281-572: Was usually set by its founder, but most generally taught both the religious sciences and the physical sciences. Madrasas were established throughout the Islamic world, examples being the ninth century University of al-Qarawiyyin , the tenth century al-Azhar University (the most famous), the eleventh century Niẓāmīyah , as well as 75 madrasas in Cairo, 51 in Damascus and up to 44 in Aleppo between 1155 and 1260. Institutions of learning were established in

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