Thomas Threlkeld

Rhodes College
December 8, 2015
Professor Kazi, Intro to Islam

A History of the Muslim Education System

The goal of this research paper is to provide a detailed analysis of the evolution of the
education system in Islam. Rather than just present the colorful history of Islamic education in a
strictly chronological fashion, this research paper pulls from sources that also concern
themselves with, what one source refers to as, a history of social phenomena. By looking at
the evolution of education in Islam through both a chronological and anthropological lens we are
given a more complete view of the education system as a whole and how it differs from nonmuslim systems. As Amjad M. Hussain points out in his work, A Social History of Education in
the Muslim World. From the Prophetic Era to Ottoman Times, The appropriate way of
education in the Western civilization is based on Plato so its not derived from divine revelation,
its based on philosophy, on the love of (human) wisdom. The Muslim education system is
rooted entirely in the divine. The Quran repeatedly pushes Muslims to pursue knowledge
because knowledge brings one closer to God. This research paper will periodically delve into
specific quranic scriptures to highlight this fundamental difference between the human-centric
Western education and the divinely-centric Muslim education.

By combining specific terms mentioned in the Quran with those mentioned in the hadith,
one can more easily define the role of education from the Islamic perspective. From the Quran
we get the Arabic terms tarbiyah and talim. Tarbiyah essentially translates to fostering
growth and refers to the idea that pursuing education is an appropriate method of administering
nurturement and development. Talim is derived from the root alima meaning to be informed/to

perceive and it deals with the receiving or imparting of knowledge via training or teaching. One
Arabic term tadib, mentioned in the hadith, comes from the root word aduba meaning refined
or cultured. Tadib essentially refers to the process of character development and carries more
of a moralistic connotation. On the micro level, tadib deals with ones social behavior within a
personal community. On a macro level, tadib also extends its reach to refer to ones behavior
within society as a whole. So what is the relationship between these three terms? One Islamic
contemporary philosopher by the name of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas describes how he
thinks that the terms talim and tarbiyah are incapable of conveying the true meanings of
education. He describes tadib as having a higher level of abstraction than tarbiyah and talim. In
other words, tadib encompasses the importance of both talim and tarbiyah and holds a deeper
meaning than sole instruction or training. Al-Attas philosophy concerning education draws
attention to individual development while emphasising the sociality of achieving said
developement. Critics of al-Attas philosophy scrutinize the fact that tadib and its etymological
context do not appear in the Quran whatsoever. Furthermore, these same critics argue that
while tadib may concern ethical and social educational aspects, it does not necessarily include
specific instruction in the sciences. The rest of this research paper will provide a deeper look at
this dichotomy, taking chronological data from the time of Muhammads creation of the Mosque
in Medina leading up to present day Islam, and supplementing this data with social context.

The pursuit of knowledge and call of cogitation are recurrent Islamic themes that lay at
the root of a variety of Quranic scriptures. One thing about the Quran is that words of high
importance are repeated a great amount throughout the text. Its almost a way of embedding
certain concepts in the minds of its readers. Some prime examples of this pertain to words like
Allah, which is repeated 2,800 times, the word Rab(the Sustainer) repeated 950 times, and the
word llm(knowledge) repeated 750 times. Muslim rulers saw the repetition as a sign of
importance and thus held heavy emphasis on educating the general populous with this

information. Another example of a commonly repeated word is the very first word of the very first
revelation to Muhammad, Iqra. Iqra is a command for learning that systematically shows up
throughout both the Quran and the prophet Mohammeds teachings. Iqra really highlights the
importance of a compulsory education. The idea behind the compulsory education is that no
person should miss out on learning opportunities. It is written that the prophet Mohammed was
known to make special teaching sessions for the women of Medina who could not attend the
normal educational sessions at the Mosque due to family/domestic responsibilities. The Quran
even calls to educate slave girls, who did not have access to proper education. There are
plenty of verses that can be pulled from the Quran to exemplify this ideology, for instance: The
Say [unto them, O Muhammad]: Can those who know and those who do not know be deemed
equal? But only those who are endowed with insight will keep this in mind(Quran 39: 9).
Another example with the same encompassing message is the following: And He has
subjected to you, [as a gift] from Him, all that is in the heavens and on the earth: behold, in that
are messages indeed for people who think.(Qur'an 45:13). Elementary education became close
to universal amongst the Muslim populous.

The only way to cast such an all-encompassing educational net though is to have a
concrete location that all can go to and learn at. Such a concrete and consistent location came
in the form of the Mosque. The concept for the mosque originated during the life of Muhammad
after he built the first mosque during his priesthood in Medina. Mosques took on a very dynamic
role within the community, serving as a place for worship as well as functioning as a political and
social hub. Muhammad would deliver addresses from the mosques and meet with both
followers and emissaries. Being the dynamic centre that it was, it is no surprise that mosques
were also used as places of education. Both religious and worldly sciences were taught at the
mosque. It is very easy to see the importance that mosques played in the lives of Muslims. The
mosque played a huge part in the spread of Islam as well. To this day the mosque is a symbol

of education in the muslim world. One of the reasons muslim sciences thrived throughout
certain points in history is due to the fact that wherever Islam took hold, mosques would be built
and education would take root. Once taking hold in a community, these mosques would
flourish into well-established institutions of learning. Depending on the area established in,
these mosques could support hundreds to thousands of regular attending students. This also
meant that they were often equipped with vast libraries. Examples of some of the more
prominent libraries are the mosques in Damascus, Medina, and Cairo. The first of these
schools to form was the school in Medina. The school in Medina was formed around 653CE
with Damascus school forming around 744CE. Since learning religious rituals was an important
skill to have from an early age, children usually began schooling around five years old. In these
early stages of education they would have been taught to perform basic Salah as well as
recitation of the Quran. During the formation of these schools muslim primary students were
taught to write and read Arabic. Nowadays though, while it is common for muslim students to
know how to recite the Quran, they arent necessarily taught the skills to able to read or write in
the Arabic language. There are plenty of examples that show how the lessons being taught to
the students went hand in hand with aspects of the religion. For instance, students were taught
basic arithmetic so that they would be able to make the appropriate calculations pertaining to
the Zakat or charity. If students were seeking higher or more advanced education they could
seek out larger Mosques with more resources. A lot of prominent Muslim universities formed
from Mosques that were very well attended or held some level of prestige. The Arabic word
Jamia means university. This word is derived from the Arabic word for Mosque, Jami. One
of the most famous muslim learning institutions has to be the world-famous Al-Azhar University
as it is the oldest university in the world. It came into existence roughly around 969CE. Even
now in this day and age Al-Azhar is home to over a hundred thousand students. The University
of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco is the oldest degree-granting university in the entire world
having been founded in 859CE.

The great fervor with which Muslim communities sought universal education was without
a doubt a huge factor in the bringing on of the Islamic Golden Age. The Islamic Golden Age
traditionally dates from the middle of the seventh century to the middle of the 13th century.
During this time Muslim rulers managed to build one of the largest empires in the history of the
world. The Islamic Golden Age gave rise to some of the brightest philosophers, geographers,
engineers, scholars, artists, and traders. These great minds helped to contribute to huge
advances in arts, industry, law, agriculture, economics, literature, technology, medicine,
sciences, navigation, and a plethora of other fields. Its as if all these beautiful minds were
thriving off of each others successes and contributions to their respective fields. Education was
both the fuel and the flame for the constant innovation. The successes of the Islamic Golden
Age can be traced back to the emphasis that the Quran places on the pursuit of knowledge. The
Quran says something along the lines of: The scholars ink is more sacred than the blood of the
martyrs. During this time period the House of Wisdom was established in the city of Baghdad.
The House of Wisdom was a place where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars would meet to
collect, analyze, and translate the vast amounts of knowledge that they held into Arabic. This
was known as the first Translation movement and it is the reason that we have a bulk of the
texts that we have today. There were countless ancient works and texts that would have
absolutely been lost to the world had they not been translated to Arabic during this the period.
Eventually these texts that were translated to Arabic would also be translated to Turkish, Sindhi,
Persian, Hebrew, and thankfully for the western world: Latin. Some of the literary and scientific
works that Muslim scholars translated into Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age were originally
from ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia, India, China, Rome, Ancient Egypt, North Africa,
Ancient Greece, and even the Byzantine empire. Great attempts to preserve knowledge like the
one made in Baghdad at the House of Wisdom were also being made at countless other
prominent Muslim universities. This created a vast network of cities with phenomenal collections

of written texts and manuscripts. Much of the innovation stemmed from the fact that the Islamic
Empire was a true cultural melting pot. It united together groups of peoples ranging from the
Indians, Africans, Chinese, Middle East, and even white Europeans. One of the biggest
innovations that came from the Islamic Golden Age was the invention of an easy to produce
paper. Before this time the secret of paper was held closely by the Chinese. And rightly so, the
ability to mass produce paper was an absolutely crucial element to the cultural and scientific
boom that the Islamic Empire produced. How did the Muslims obtain this secret paper making
process from the Chinese? It happened when Islamic might pressured prisoners taken at The
Battle of Talas in 751AD. The newfound skill quickly spread through the already growing Islamic
Empire acting as yet another catalyst for growth. After perfecting the Chinese papermaking
method, libraries and books began to spread all over the Eastern World and eventually Western
World.

One important aspect of the Islamic Empire that fostered so much education and
development was the fact that the Islamic holy city of Mecca held a crucial role as the center of
trade throughout Arabia. This is important because it brought different trades, products, skills,
and ways of thinking from all over the Middle East to one central location. The pilgrimage to
Mecca also played a huge role in the citys position as a center for growth and innovation.
Meccas position as a merchant trading powerhouse was an absolutely enormous benefit for the
Islamic Empire. The tight hold on the trade routes led to unheard of economic growth and
prosperity. This in turn increased the overall productiveness of the Empire. The wealthy
merchants used their vast stores of money to invest in such industries as textiles and farming
plantations.

The Islamic Golden Age was both a product of, and a platform for growth for the Muslim
education system. A significant amount of the institutions that we take for granted today only

exist in our modern world as a result of the monumental scientific and cultural strides made by
those minds coming out of Muslim universities. A few examples of these institutions are as
follows: the hospital, the public library, the space observatory, and much more. Its hard to even
quantify the impact that the Islamic education system had on the field of medicine. The very
first educational institutions to issue diplomas were the medical university hospitals of the
medieval Islamic world. The success of medical education in the Muslim world can be highly
attributed to the legitimacy of the Medical training at the time. Medical studies at Muslim
institutions required training in the fields of pharmacognosy, physiology, alchemy, and much
more. These initial studies were followed by intense clinical training and field work in active
hospitals. While training at these hospitals, medical students performed a wide variety of
training activities such as simple physical examinations, basic rounds, and lectures on a wide
variety of important clinical topics. If students are successful in their completion of all prior
training than the soon to be doctors had to pass rigorous oral, written, and practical tests to
receive any sort of licensing. In typical Islamic fashion, Medicine was not just a field of physical
science rather a combination of philosophical perceptions rooted in the religion and culture of
Muslim society. It is for this reason that adhering to an agreed upon code of ethics was
necessary for hopeful doctors. One natural mutual evolution that grew with medical training was
the growth and improvement of medical facilities and inpatient treatment. Muslime hospitals
were the finest in the world and were known far and wide for their lack of any sort of
discrimination. No ethnic or gender based biases were allowed to interfere with a patient's
access to the best healthcare in the world.

Like nearly every other success that the muslim world produced, the spread of modern
medicine can be traced back to Quranic scripture. The Prophet Muhammad was a proponent of
medical research saying that For every disease, Allah has given a cure. Following such
teachings fueled Arab scientists, scholars, and doctors to pour over ancient medical

manuscripts and elaborate upon and improve on their methodologies, documenting every step
of the way. The remainder of this section will highlight specific Muslim medical pioneers as
mentioned by Matthew E Falagas in his article entitled Arab Science in the Golden Age and
Today. This article was featured in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology. Here are a few of the most well known Medical innovators mentioned by
Falagas: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya ar-Razi was the first to differentiate smallpox from
measles. He also described the laryngeal branch of the recurrent nerve as well as introduce
mercurial ointments and hot moist compresses in Surgery. And if that is not enough, ar-Razi
wrote a famous 30 volume medical encyclopedia known as the Al-Hawi. Another scientist
Yuhanna ibn Masawayh was the first to perform dissections and describe allergies. Az-Zahrawi
is commonly referred to as the father of surgery. He performed tracheotomies and lithotomies,
introduced cotton into medical surgeries and practices, documented twin pregnancies, breast
cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases. Another Medical pioneer by the name of Ibn Sina
held honors for differentiating meningitis from a host of other neurological diseases, he
described and documented Anthrax and Tuberculosis, introduced urethral drug instillation,
stressed the importance of hygiene, dietetics, and he introduced a holistic approach to
medicine. Probably Ibn Sinas greatest accomplishment is his production of the medical
textbook al-Qanun fil Tibb, also known as The Canon of Medicine. This textbook remained as
the top medical textbook for over 500 years. That is an unprecedented amount of time for a
scientific textual work or book to remain relevant and state-of-the-art. Overall, the collective
work of Muslim scientists, scholars, and doctors, the Islamic Golden Age contributed immensely
in all medical fields ranging from dentistry, anatomy, dietetics, surgery, hygiene, anaesthesia,
cardiology, orthopaedics, urology, obstetrics, neurology, ophthalmology, and many more
subfields of Medicine.

As clearly laid out in previous sections of this research paper, advances in medical
sciences were far from the only fields affected by the successes of Muslim educational
progressiveness. The strides made in the fields of mathematics and astronomy were equally
impressive and vastly important to the knowledge that our scientists know and accept today.
One fine example of a muslim scholar revolutionizing the sciences of his time is Al-Khwarizmi.
Al-Khwarizmi was a 9th century Muslim mathematician, geographer, and astronomer. Among his
many discoveries were the number 0, the discipline of Algebra, the development of the decimal
system, and much more. Al-Khwarizmis name is even the etymological background for the word
algorithm. Other scientific breakthroughs to come from the Muslim education system were
products of scientists like Jabir Ibn Hayyan who is the father of chemistry, or Al-Kindi who
discovered the science of cryptanalysis, or Al-Rhazi who wrote the first recipe for soap. Other
scientists include Ibn-Al-Haytham who made huge contributions to the field of optics, or Al-Biruni
who is thought of as the creator of trigonometry, or Al-Idrisi who created the first globe. The list
could span hundreds of pages itself but other contributions by muslim scholars included the
mechanical clock, the discovery of circulating blood, and the flying of the first manned rocket.
While sending a man into space was still quite a while away, discoveries made by Muslim
astronomers did more than pave the way for the scientists that did put mankind into space. Why
did Muslim scholars have an obsession with the night sky? It is likely tied to the wonder and awe
that the Quran creates surrounding the topic of the heavens. The following excerpts of Quranic
Scripture should provide backing for this claim. Scripture 21:33 says that: It is He who created
the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon: all celestial bodies swim along, each in its
orbit. Another passage describes the following: God is the One who has set out for you the
stars, that you may guide yourselves by them through the darkness of the land and of the sea.
We have detailed the signs for people who know.(Quran 6:97). One verse that I found
particularly interesting come from (Quran 55:5). This verse say that The Sun and the Moon

follow courses computed. One verse that really ties together the scientific reason with religious
mystique comes from the Quran verse 2:164. This verse states the following:

Verily, in the creation of the heavens and of the earth, and the succession of night and
day; and in the ships that speed through the sea with what is useful to man; and in the
waters which God sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after it had
been lifeless, and causing all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon; and in the
change of the winds, and the clouds that run their appointed courses between sky and
earth; (in all this) there are messages indeed for people who use their reason.

Whats important about these particular scriptures is the same thing that bridges all Muslim
sciences back to the religion. the importance is that under these scientific phenomena that are
being produced by this thriving civilization lies an instinctive system that Islam encourages
followers to explore. For instance, Islamic interest in astronomy came from the need to be able
to accurately tell the time of day so that one can do each of the five prayers in time. Another
reason is that Muslims pray towards Mecca so they need to know how to locate its direction
using the sky. Lastly, it was very important that Muslims can keep track of the lunar calendar so
that they know when to fast for Ramadan, attend the Hajj, and celebrate other various Islamic
holidays. All in all, Muslim astronomers made huge contributions to the field of astronomy.
During the Golden Age over 3,000 stars were given Arabic names as it was the prominent
language in the land. Muslim astronomy furthermore gave us methods of calculating time,
measuring months, navigating the seas, and locating coordinates. It is sad that a lot of this
information is left out of Western textbooks and lost to most generations of youthful western
minds.
After the Abbasid Caliphate was disintegrated, the Seljuk Caliphate had just
started(1057CE). By this point in time the Islamic Empire had lost its unity and iron throne

because of religious conflicts and assassinations. Other factors that led to their downfall include:
The Crusades and the Mongol invasions.

http://www.fasebj.org/content/20/10/1581.full
http://www.electrummagazine.com/2012/11/muslim-astronomers-in-the-islamic-golden-age/
http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/education-islam-role-mosque#sec2
file:///Users/willcobb/Downloads/A_Social_History_of_Education_in_the_Mus.pdf
http://ijsse.com/sites/default/files/issues/2013/v3i4/papers/Paper-28.pdf
https://books.google.com/books?
id=vEwrN_yrw0gC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=a+history+of+muslim+education&source=bl&ots

=D6L22jK2p_&sig=utR3acKn_hW2xp6JrqbOw3LurVw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiK9Yvlu8rJ
AhVsjoMKHTEpAVEQ6AEIOTAF#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://ies.hypotheses.org/252
https://books.google.com/books?id=RPUWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT40&lpg=PT40&dq=Ta
%27lim+meaning+islam&source=bl&ots=TVIdeEqHhw&sig=OaeuYX31cR3ZH7frjH8_ZnjTk4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ1J7jzsrJAhVmoYMKHeTyB44Q6AEIQjAG#v=onep
age&q&f=false