Islamic Studies (Islamabad) 26:4 (1987)

I s l d c Studies. 2 6 : 4 (1987)

MUSLIM EDUCATION PRIOR TO

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MADRASAH
MUNIR D. AHMED
The Roots of the Muslim Educational System

The roots of the Muslim educational system can be traced

back to the early days of Islam, when Prophet M*ammad used to
sit among his companions to expound the injunctions of the Qur'Zn
and to instruct them in the teachings of Islam. His assembly
[ma$%) was destined to set the pattern for educational instruction
during the subsequent centuries. His mbsque (Mabjkl &-Nu& Mabjkl
&-R&), where he habitually convened his rnajEd, was not only the
seat of the first educational institution in the M u s l i m history, i t
also came to set a tradition for the mosques as such to be also
seats of learning. For centuries the mosques occupied the premier
position among the places. where educational activity was centred.
Last but not least, the way Prophet Mulpmmad conveyed his
massage to his companions orally, or in other words, the method by
which his companions learned from him through his "words of
mouth", was destined to be recognized as a principle by which the
instruction was to take place. The students were required to learn
from their teachers through their "words of mouth". This was how
the principle of audition (barnii') came to be regarded as the
premier method, by which the transmission of knowledge had to
take place. This method implied a&ia that no one was supposed
to transmit that which he or she had not himself or herself he.&
from the teacher directly, on whose authority it was transmitted.'

Evidently the hadith which undoubtedly occupied the central

position among the sciences of the Muslims, was responsible for the
principle of &miL. The underlying idea was to hear from the words
of the Prophet through an unbroken chain of transmitters, thereby
implyin3 to be present in the ma$% of the Prophet. During the
earlier period, the students would "collect" hadith from individual
scholars, rather than "learning" it in regular classes. The very
notion of "collection" shows that the character of the assemblies.
where hadith was recited or transmitted, was more of reli.gious or
pious gatherings, than of educational institutions, into which they
undoubtedly developed with the passage of time.

© Dr Muhammad Hamidullah Library, IIU, Islamabad. http://iri.iiu.edu.pk/

322 I s l d c Studies, 26:L ( 1987)

Educational Activities in the Early Days of Islam

Very little is known about educational activity during the
early ~uslim period, especially as regards to its organizational
pattern. Most probably the transmission of the Qur'k, which was
learnt by an exceedingly large number of Muslims by heart, was
initially at the core of all educational endeavours. Perhaps the
first formal educational institution was the so-called Uiit
a&Qurta.c2', where 'AbdallSh b. Umm Makth and M+'ab b. 'Umayr are
said to have stayed on their migration to Madinah after the battle
of It has even been suggested that the +44ah, an enclosure
connected to the Mosque of the Prophet in Madinah, was in fact a
"regular residential school where reading, writing, Muslim Zaw,
memorising of chapters of the Qur'k, tujwid (how to recite the
Qur'Zn cokectly), and other Islamic sciences were taught under the
direct supervision of the P r o ~ h e t " . ~Leaving aside the question
whether or not +44ah was a regular residential school, at least
this much can be said with certainty that the Prophet devoted
much time to teaching. Besides his regular sittings after the
prayers which were more or less for teaching purposes, he was
asked questions pertaining to the matters of belief and conduct by
the members of his community in or outside of the mosque.. It is
further reported that he would instruct his hearers, who used to
sit in the form of a circle (ha4qah) around him, repeating each of
his teachings three times5 Instructors for teaching the Qur'k were
sent to the tribes by the Prophet and later on by the Caliph
'Umar.' By the way, a ma* was said to have been established in
M a d m for the study of Islamic sciences.' It is further stated
that a group of ahe at-L& was formed for spreading the h ~ d i t l t . ~

The life of the Muslim community revolved around the

mosque, as i t came to be the centre of all devotional as well as
social activities. Throughout the centuries the mosques have played,
besides being the places of worship, the role of community houses,
where the judges (qti@l would hold their courts and the stranger
may occasionally be allowed to stay over-night. AbG Zakariyyii al-
Tabrizi lodged in the minaret of the Jbi' of Damascus.' Last but
not least, the mosques occupied the central position in . the
educational activity of the community, being the very seat of
learning, where lessons were imparted and regular classes were
held.

Of course, every mosque was not a seat of learning and

teaching was carried out also in places other than the mosques.
Evidence is even available for the erection of special buildings for
use as educational institutions. The famous muQaddith AbG Ehkr
Mdpnmad b. Eiashsk al--6 al-Bun& (d. 252/866) had entrusted
2000 dirhams to his pupil Ibn Kharriish (AbG Muhammad 'Abd
Islanu'c Studies. 2 6 : L (1987) 323

al-RakpGn b. YSuf al-9fip) (d. 283/896-7) to build a room

( h u j h h ) where he may report hadith. But he died before the
completion of the room." It is reported about s A l i b. M*ammad
al-BazzZz (d. 330/942) that he had a House of Learning (Bayt
d-'Z5n)." Abii p t k al-Busti (born 277/890) is credited with
founding a D& &-'I.& with a library and apartments for out-of-
town students, whom he gave stipends also.lf The madZris of the
earlier period in Nishapur were in fact established by scholars
privately. '
1) PRIVATE HOUSES

In many cases private houses of the scholars also played the

role of educational institutions. The house of Abii Mdpmmad
Sulaymh b. Mihriin al-Asmash (d. 148/765) was, for example, a
centre of learning in Kiifah.'. There is an interesting story about
a poor student, who was unable to pay the tuition fee and was
hence asked by the teacher Ibn Lu'lii (d. 377/987) to leave the
class which was being held a t his residence. The boy went out of
the room, but took a seat in the adjoining corridor of the house.
The fellow, who was reading the text on behalf of the class to the
teacher, wanted to help his unfortunate companion. Therefore, he
started r ~ a d i n gin a voice which was loud enough to be heard in
the corridor. The teacher realized the conspiracy and asked his
maid servant to pound potash in the mortar vessel so that the
student sitting in the corridor could not understand the lesson.15

A renowned academic institution of Baghdad was Majlis

al-Mat@mali which was established in 270/883. It was mainly
devoted to legal and theological discussions and was held- a t the
residence of A E 'Abdallah al-Fsayn b. Ism23 a1:DhabbiQ
al-wiimali. The sittings were held regularly every ~ e d n e s d aand
~
presided over by @$ al-Mu@mlT till his death in 330/941-2.'C
Wednesday seems to have been popular with scholars for
teaching. '
Another important meeting for disputation (Mawd-
Napztl in Baghdad of the fiftweleventh century was that of @$
al-Simnh- (Abii Jasfar Mufpmmad b. Alpad) (d. 444/1052) which
was held a t his residence. The known grammarian Abii 'l-'Abb&
Tha'lab (Alpad b. YahyZ b. Zaid) (d. 291/904) narrated that he
attended the class of lexicography (Ma* d-Lughahll of his
teacher Ibr5hh al-Wbi (d. 285/898) a t latter's house for fifty
years." The grammarian al-FarrZ' (d. 207/822-3) used to teach a t
his home." The same was said about Abu Bakr b. al-Siriij al-N+wi
(d. 316/928).2 *

2) SHOPS

The shops of the scholars-in fact many scholars were

traders-seem also to have occasionally been used for teaching
purposes. There is the example of a teacherof sfid-Fandi'@. It is
324 Islarnic Studies, 26 :b ( 1987)

said that he used to hold classes a t his shop between the prayers
of the sunset (magiuib] and the nightfall (Li&Zl?z Al-Khafib
al-Baghdiidi (AbG Bakr Alpad b. m b i t ) (d. 463/1071-2) received
lessons from a teacher a t the shop of Ibn IshZq." Alpad b.
I$mbal (d. 240/856) reported tadith a t the shop of a weaver."
Many instances of this kind can be cited from various centuries.

3) MOSQUES
The mosques were essentially the first choice for educational
activity. Makbd related that the Prophet found ten of his
companions busy in learning in the mosque of QubS and that it
found his a p p r o ~ a l . ' ~But the existence of educational institutions
in the mosques or otherwise was more or less confined to bigger
towns. It is very rare, i f a t all, to find an educational institution
in a village or some other remote place. In metropolitan cities like
Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo educational institutions were numerous
and teaching was carried out in many smaller or bigger mosques of
the city.

In big cities the mosques were of two types: firstly, mosques

of the common type ( m a j d l , where five daily prayers were held
and secondly, congregational mosques (Jcmi' I, where Friday congre-
gational prayers were performed. There could be more than- one
Jifmi' in a city of considerable size. Baghdad, for example, had six
Jiimi' mosques in the middle of the fifthleleventh century, and the
total number of the mosques (majidl in the same city a t that time
was said to have been three thousand.
A mosque may have had just one or more than one classes or
sittings for a single or more subjects. No uniform rules seem to
have existed about whether or not permission .was to be obtained
from the care-taker (mutaw&] of the mosque, as most mosques
happened to have been built and were maintained by endowments
(waq61 or whatever authority was available to look after the
affairs of the mosques. In the case of congregational mosques
(jami' such. restrictions existed. def initly. Al-Khalib al-BaghdZdi
requested the Caliph al-QS9im bi9lI.Zh for permisiion to dictate
@fith in Jifmi' & - M a w which was a t that time the central
congregational mosque of the capital as well as the most
prestigious educational institution. The Caliph wrote a letter of
recommendation to the Naqib al-NuqabZ' (the marshal of the
&himites and as such the chief registrar of the Sharifs, the
descendents of the Prophet), who either had the supervision over
the affairs of the said mosque or was responsible for the safe
conduct of teaching in that mosque,'a stronghold of the &mbalis,
to facilitate teaching for al-Khafib al-BaghdZdi. The Naqib
al-Nugas' appeared himself in the first sitting to oversee that
everything went well.2c
I s l m i c Studies, 26 :4 ( 1987) 325

Occasionally the founder would devote the mosque to one or

more subjects of study. Or the mosque would become known
specifically as a seat of learning for some particular science
because of the reputation of the scholar or scholars, who happened
to teach there. In such cases the mosques were some times
designated by the name of scholars who had taught there. The
example a t hand is that of the ,Masjid named after Ruwaym b. Yazid
(d. 211/826-71, the famous reciter of the Qur'iin (muqk?) which was
located in Darb al-Qallayiin in Baghdad." This name was still in
use in the year 374/984-5, when ' Abdallih b. al-TammZr reported
&fi.fh there.L' Another mosque of Baghdad was named after
' Abdalm b. al-MubZrak (d. .181/797), who was not an inhabitant
of Baghdad, but might have taught there during his many visits t o
the city. This mosque had retained its name even in the
fifthleleventh century, when the known ShZfi'i jurisconsult AbE
m i d al-lsfarz'ini (Alpad b. Mdpnmad b. Alpad) (d. 406/1015)
was teaching there. By that time the mosque had become a famous
institution of learning and was regarded as one of the attractions
of Baghdad. Students from all parts of the Muslim world gathered
to attend al-IsfarZ'ini's classes. Al-Khafib al-BaghdZdi was
informed that 700 students were being taught there.L'

The mosques retained this function for centuries, in fact,

even after the establishment of the madrasah, for which separate
buildings were erected. Every madrasah had a mosque within i t s
precincts.

ACADEMIC GATHERINGS: MAJLIS AND IJALQAH

T)?e foremost term used to designate academic gatherings or

classes was m a w with its various possibilities of application, for
example, for a hall, where the teaching took place, or the lesson,
or the place, where the teacher would sit to take a class-it could
be a place next t o a piller, or a chair or any other location in ti
building. The purpose of the assembly was indicated by means of a
complementary word or phrase, such as; ma* d-k& (gathering
for teaching), m a w d-&u6atLi' (assembly of the poets!.

A majlis might be named after the person around whom i t

gathered, as was the case with M a w d-Mahiim& which was, mainly
devoted to legal and theological discussions and was held a t
~ Z h a l T ' sresidence. But Majlis al-ShZfi6i ( Abii 'AbdallSh M@ammad
(d. 204/819-20) was held in JZmi' al-MaqG in Baghdad. Both
institutions continued to be designated by their respective names
long after the death of these scholars. In fact, these institutions
survived their founders and had become academic chairs, to which
renowned scholars were appointed. By the way, Majlis al-Mal@nali
was still in existence during the life time of al-Khatib alrBaghdSdi
(392-463/1002-1071), who reported that he had attended it.
 326 I s l a i c Studies. 26:4 (1987)

The second term used to designate academic gatherings was

ha4qah (study circle) which probably originated from the seating
arrangement in a class. Students used to sit in the form of a
circle around, but preferabIy in front of the teacher. Although the
term ha4qah could be applied like majlis to all kinds of academic
gatherings, its use seems to have been restricted to permanent
classes with Iirnited number of students. This was particularly the
case with philological studies and many other subjects in which the
students were required to study under the guidance of a teacher
for a considerably long period of time. The balqah of Khalil
al-Nabwi (Atpad b. 'Amr TSmk al-Farahidi al-Azdi) (d. 174/789-
90) is an excellent example of such an institution, to which after
the death of Khalil one of his pupils =us al-N+w? was
a~pointed.'~
It has been suggested that probably the institutions of
learning in congregational mosques (jZmi') were called by the name
of ha4qah and that there used to be many ha4qahd in a Jdimi' each
belonging to a professor." As many as forty to fifty permanent
ha4qahA were reported to have been present in Jhi' al--fir
when ImZm al-Shlfi'i (d. 204/819-20) visited Baghdad.'. There were
fifteen ha4qahA of the Midiki law and fifteen of the Shiifi'i law
and three of the m a f i law in Jhi' ' A m in Cairo in year 326/
937-8." Permanent circles were called d-zdwiyah in Cairo and
Damascus. Zwiyat al-Shlfi'i, where he had taught in person
retained this name for generations. Both al-Azhar mosque in Cairo
and the JZmi' al-Ma'miir, as the grand mosque in damascus was also
called, had eight z c i w j ~each. .

The known W b a l i jurisconsult and expert in badith Abii

Bakr al-Najjgd (d. 348/959-60) had two klqahs in JZmi' al-M-fir,
one before the Friday prayers for issuing legal opinions ($&dl
and the other after the prayers for dictating hadifh.' Another
ha4qah of the students of hadith (+b d-&dithl was located in
the J h i ' al-Rushfah of ihe same city." Abii IsbZq Ibrlhim b.
Alpad al-Marwazi (d. 340/951-2) also had a klqah in Jhi'
al-Man$k, where the famous theologian Abii '1-@sari ' A l i b. IsrSil
al-Ash'ari (d. 330/941-2) used to deliver a lecture every Friday."
In fact different professors used to teach in one klqah as was
also possible for professors to hold positions in several Flqahs.
Notwithstanding any differences between majlis and klqah, bo_th
were professorial chairs.

By and large the students had free access .to the classes,
with the exception of such sciences which required an extended
period of study. ln these 'cases, the students were selected and
admitted by the teachers and the size of the classes varied
according to the subjects taught. The number of the students in
the classes for jurisprudence or grammar was mostly limited. But
the classes for &dtth for example, were sometimes so overcrowded
that the teachers had to appoint dictation assistants (mWtatnG),
 Islamic Studies. 2 6 : L (1987) 327

who were to help them relay the lesson to the back most rows,
where the teacher's voice could not be heard. The hatqah of A b i i
Balvr d-Na6&E (d. 380/989-90) in the Mmi' ' A m 4 in Cairo was so
big that seventeen columns of the mosque were surrounded by the
students." The task of the m u a t a d 2 was to repeat the text
dictated by the teacher so that everybody could take it down in
dictation.'.

The m u a t a d was to repeat word by word what the teacher

had dictated without the slightest deviation from the text. There
is the case of a m w t a m E , who was scolded by the teacher for a
mistake and was advised to dictate faithfully.+' The same story is
told about the later famous grammarian Slbawayh (Aba P h r ' h
b. 'UthFin) (d. 194/809-101, who was initially a m u a t a d 2 and had
changed the field of his studies after he had commited a
grammatical mistake while dictating in a class of In
another instance, three r n w t a d were employed for a big
gathering, but all of the attendants could not hear the lesson;
therefore, the famous m u s t d , HZ5n b. SufyFin al-Dik had to. be
summoned. He had a loud voice and he performed the job all by
himself." There is evidence that the job of the m u b t a d became a
profession.++ Some teachers are known to have retained their
respective m u n t a d for many years.+5

The munta@ would mostly stand in the class, or be seated

.r on raised seats, so that everybody could see and hear them. The
m u a t a d 2 would start by dictating the name, kunyah and &ah of
the teacher, before requesting him to begin with the lesson.
Probably the m u n t a d used to take notes, as they were required
to repeat the entire text before the class was dismissed.+c

Generally speaking, there were hardly any restrictions or

restraints on attending a class. Almost everybody could join an
academic gathering excepting perhaps classes for more specialized
subjects. The gatherings for h a m were quite popular among the
general public and the number of the participants, students and
others, was sometimes in hundreds and thousands.
So for as the students of badith were concerned, they used
to take up their studies, as a general rule, after finishing
al-KutaU-Maktab somewhere between the age of ten and twelve
years:' Al-Khatib al-BaghdSdi, who was eleven years old when he
attended a class of b d i t h for the first time, regarded the
eleventh year as the ideal age for starting the study of hadith."
In the case of some other sciences, students were required to
attain proficiency in many disciplines, before they could begin with
the study of the desired subject. This was
with jurisprudence ( fiqh).
.. particularly the cake
In the same way, the duration of studies for different
sciences varied greatly. In the case of badith, for example,
328 Islamic Studies. 2 6 : 4 ( 1987)

students went from place to place and from teacher t o teacher for
years a t an end, compiling their collections, all the time sifting,
sorting and adding to them. A teacher once complained that his
students got tired after four or five months of lessons. He said,
the compilation of his collection had taken forty years." There
was no specific age a t which everybody would finish his studies of
the science of kadith. It depended on personal circumstances and
aptitude of the individual students, whether they carried on
collecting b d i t h for a long period of time, or stopped running
after the teachers earlier. There is an anecdote about a student,
who was once stopped by a man while he was running across a
market place. The man asked, i f he was a student of hadith? The
perplexed student said: "Yes, I am, but how could you tell"? The
man answered: "Alpad b. W b a l :used to say, if you see a man
running in the streets, you should know that either he is a mad
person, or a student of hadith".5' Alpad b. Hanbal was himself
once caught hold of by a man in the street as he was running in
order to reach the next class in time. The man said: "Are vou not
J

ashamed of running like this? How long do you intend to run

alongwith the children"? Ibn Hanbal answered: "Till I die".51

The case was somewhat different with students of some

other subjects. The students of philology and jurisprudence
remained with one teacher for a considerable length of time. The
successor to the chair of Alpad b. YahyZ Tha'lab (Abii '1-' AbbZs)
(d. 291/904) had allegedly spent 40 years with him.52 A teacher of
al-Tafsir al-Qur'Zn used to dictate his book in six year cycles. ''
The famous Hanafi jurist Abii Yiisuf (Ya'qGb b. IbrZhiin b. +bib)
(d. 182/798-99) attended the classes of his teacher Abii Hanifah
(al-Nu'mZn b. ThZbit al-Taimi) for seventeen years.5b AbG Ijanifah
himself had received instruction from his teacher I$mrnZd b. Abii
SulaymZn for ten years. ' By the time madZris were established in
Baghdad and elsewhere, the courses of jurisprudence had been
standardized to a duration of four years.

The pre-madrasah educational system was such that there

was no age limit, neither for the students, nor for the teachers.
Cne could carry on his studies as long as he wished, or start
teaching, i f and when he felt competent and was acceptable as a
teacher to the students. A young man of 17 used to hold majlis to
report badith.'c Another was 18 when the students of hadith
requested him to teach them.57 But this being not the general rule.
Ibn al-JarrZb (d. 198/813-4) started reporting hadith a t the age of
33, whereas Ibn Mahdi (AbG Sa'id 'Abd al-Rafpiin) was "not yet 35
a t the time of his teaching for the first time".5a
Islamic Studies, 2 6 : L ( 1987)

TEACHERS

TESTS FOR TEACHERS

The inaugural lectures which came to be regarded as very

important occasions, were in fact more or less a kind of covert
test. This was especially the case with the science of hadith. But
it-was by no means confined to this subject only. The story about
the test al-BukhSr? (Abii M*amrnad Mdpnrnad b. IsmSbTl) (d.
256/869-70) was given by the s c h o m of Baghdad testifies to this
fact. Ten scholars recited ten manipulated hadith each. After they
had finished, al-I3ukhk-i pointed out all manipulations in the text
(matnl as well as in the chains of r e p o r t e r s ( M d ] one by one.59

In the case of hadith such tests were not confined to

inaugural ma$h. The students kept on playing tricks on their
teachers every now and then. They usually mingled one or two
badith which the teacher had not reported on the authority of his
teachers with those he was authorized to report. If he did not
object, or even claimed that the added badith also belonged to his
collection and he had the authorization of teaching them, his
positiont as a teacher was in danger. He was blamed of cheating or
at least he was suspected of having a bad memory. In both cases
he was unfit to be a teacher.'

The outcome of the test was invariably widely publicised. A

few tests with positive results could earn teacher a big name,
but a single negative case could devastate his reputation as a
scholar. A scholar once came to Iraq, where students mixed some
hadith with those he was entitled to report. He did mot notice the
manipulation and was thereafter blamed of cheating and henceforth
abandoned by the students. ' A mu&&& was said to have tested a
teacher by manipulating his Qadith.' A scholar (d. 204/839-40)
came to Baghdad and reported hadith. Later he wrote to his
brother: "I have reported hadith in Baghdad and the audience
accepted me as a teacher. I thank God for it".' '

Tests were by no means confined to hadith, in other

sciences also tricks were played on the teachers in order to fathom
their knowledge and to find out, whether they were mentally alert
and sound. GhuGm Tha'lab was asked the meaning of hamqkq
which a student had invented by perverting the word qaqkmh. The
answer given by the teacher was satisfactory. The question was
again put up many months later, to which the teacher answered by
referring to the previous occasion and he could even give the
date.'+ A story of the same kind was told about al-Mubarrad, who
even had recited a couplet to defend his answer. It was said that
i f he knew the answer beforehand, than i t was excellent, but if he
did not and the couplet was composed right on the spot, then he
deserved all praise. '
 u+it!
ATTESTATIONS OF
I s l a i c Studies, 26: 4 (1987)

The general procedure, however, was to ask the teachers

about their age, occupation, place of birth, the cities they had
visited and the teachers they had learned from. They were further
asked to give full information about their teachers and those of
their teachers' respective teachers, as well as about time and place
of their meeting with them. They were required to name witnesses,
if any, or a t least to produce their note-book (m). A s a rule,
attestations of audition bumii') were appended to the u+XC Also
fellow students used to testify by signing the note-books. Evidence
is available that the students were able to unmask impostors by
examining and finding lacuna or manipulations in their u+XC7

I t came to be a recognized principle that everybody, who

wanted to teach had to show his u$iLC0 If scholars refused to let
their to be examined, they were often abandoned by the
students. Ibn Ma'in (YahyZ b. Ma'in .b. 'Awn (or GhayyZth) Abii
ZakariyyZ) (d. 233/848) is said to have snatched the note-book
out of the hands of a teacher in order to examine it.=' In anoher
instance al-KhafTb al-BaghdZdi asked a teacher to produce his u?iie,
which he could not. Therefore, he was not permitted to teach.7g

AL- SAM^'
The licence to teach IijiizahI was an outcome of the
institution of authorization or certification of audition (&mcZ4). In
principle a person was not supposed to transmit that which he had
not heard directly from the person, on whose authority it was
being transmitted. However, &miZL came to mean not merely hearing
in the literal sense from the teacher or guarantor of a text, but a
whole variety of different possibilities of transmission, such as:
( a ) the teacher personally reciting
note-book or memory:
(b) the student reciting from the book
teacher, or from memory; and
(c) listening to a lesson being presented
to the teacher.
The last two varieties, in which a text
teacher, were called &-'a@ (presentation).
from his book,

or notes of the

by somebody else

was read to the

Besides the institution of &mliL, also &-muniiwa4ah (literal

meaning: handing over) came to be regarded as a legitimate way
for transmission of knowledge. In practice it was the case, i f
(a) the teacher handed over his note-book or parts thereof
to somebody with the assurance that he was the author, or
that he had himself penned down the lessons from the
teachers mentioned there$
(b) badith or passages from books or notes of the teacher
were presented to him by the student with the request for
authorization. '
Islamic Studies, 26: 4 ( 1987 33 1

Teaching from books which one had found (wijiidah.1 in the

handwriting of an authority (Aayhh1 without expressed permission
or authentication was generally discouraged, as it stood in direct
contrast to the maxime of audition (Mmii'). Nevertheless, instances
of wijiidah have been r e p ~ r t e d . ' ~ In many cases scholars were
accused of intellectual theft or of teaching unauthorized texts
without legitimacy. ''
QUALIFICATION CERTIFICATE: I J ~ Z ~ H

The licence to teach (ijiizah) was in the first instance a

certification of audition ( M m i i ' ) which was given orally in .the
earlier period." Perhaps .the oldest extant written ijiizah stems
from A e a d b. Abi Khaythamah which he wrote in his own
handwriting in 276/889-90.75 At any rate, ijiizah as an authori-
zation to teach had become a recognized institution in the
fourthltenth century. Some times it was appended to the
note-book (@I. or was written independently, often indicating
dates and places where the teaching was done as well as the. name
of the licensee and the names of those, who were present on that
occasion. A s a matter of fact ijiizah was initially an authorization
for an individual or the participants of a class to teach the
relevant text and was given by an individual in his personal
capacityr as a teacher. It was not written in the name of an
institution, academy or otherwise.

Whereas a licence Iijdzahl for hadith could be for a single

hadith, a collection or a compilation, in other subjects it took the
fom of a licence to teach that particular subject. For example,
d-ijiizah 4 ?l-tachh was a licence for teaching jurisprudence, but
always in conjunction with a specific school of law and a given
set of books. In this way it came very near to an academic
degree. After the courses of jurisprudence were regularized and
time limits for the apprenticeship became the order of the day,
candidates had to pass an examination to get the licence to teach
law and issue legal opinions (ijiizah 4 ' l - t a u wa 'l-@i'),But i t
was always a particular book or books, for which the ijiizah was
given.

TEACHERS' LIST

Still another device, which was mainly meant to prove one's

vast learning, was the so-called mu'jam d-m&ifi"hh, (List of the
Teachers). This list was normally compiled by the students, mostly
of hadith, to enumerate their respective teachers.T7 They were
scrutinized by the scholars and the students to ascertain legitimacy
or otherwise for teaching.

The students of badith had the greatest number of

teachers, some times in hundreds. In two instances their number
Islamic Studies, 26: 4 ( 1987) 333

Another scholar (d. 265/878-9) brought eight students with him

from Nishapur to Baghdad." Sufy5n al-Tha- (SufySn b. Sabid, Abi?
'AlxlllZh) (d.171/787-8) did not approve his students, travelling
with him to Khurasan. But some of them reached Baghdad before
him, where he was to break his journey. There he allowed them to
accompany him to fju1wFi1-1
and than to Bukhara and Khura~an.)~

Out-of-town students ( d - g h m a b i i ' ] were often looked after

by their respective teachers. A scholar (d.231/845-6) wrote from
prison to a friend advising him to be most considerate to his
non-local ~tudents.'~Anotherscholar invited an out-of-town student
to stay with him?' Yet another had fifty %ds prepared for
non-local students and scholars. ' In big cities there were
hosteleries (khan, dunduql Baghdad had many such guest houses."
T a ' d k h Baghdad mentions a t least one funduq in Baghdad." Many
students used to stay a t privately rented houses.'@ In Egypt the
minister AbG '1-Faraj Yabqiib b. K i l l i s (d. 380/990-1) was permitted
by the Fatimid Caliph to build a house (dSr) for students in the
]hib al-Azhar." No wonder that the students of al-Azhar are
called rnujiikfi (neighbours or seekers of refuge). In Nishapur the
students were called 3 i M n because they mostly lived within the
madrasah. @ @

K M as Educational Institution
The Khan was originally a staging-post with lodging
farilities on the main communication routes, where traders found
shelter and protection from highway robbers. In towns the k h a m
were often warehouses or conglomerates of shops, of which KhSn
al-Khalili in Cairo is an example. Besides this the k h d m were
lodging places for travellers with reasonable rates and they often
had dormitories for out-of -town students. Ibn al-MubSrak (d.
181/797) used to stay in a khan in al-Raqqah of ~ a r s i i s . l e l The
famous poet al-Mutanabbi (d. 354/965) stayed in Kh5n Ibn %mid
which was located in Darb al-Zabfar5ni of Baghdad. l 9 The only
extant khan of Baghdad is that of Abi? ZiyZd which was mentioned
in Ta'lrihhBaghddd with reference to Ibn ZZtiya (d. 306/918-91,
who, i t was said, lived near it. @

That the k h d m were also used for teaching purposes is

corroborated by number of examples. al-Dabbi taught in 230/844-5
a t the Kh% al-YarnSniyah which was located in the quarter of BiSb
al-M+a~wal.~@+ Then al-@ST was reported as having taught in
240/854-5 in KhZn al-Sindi!0.5 Al-Khatitr al-BaghdSdi alongwith the
others was taught by Abii 'l-I$san b. G h d b (d. 449/1057-8) in
KhSn IsbZq which was located in Baghdad's quarter of al-Karkh.'"
There is a report about another juyisconsult, who stayed a t a Khoin
and imparted lessons on law.' O 7 Abii '1-Walid al-+isan b. MuQammad
al-Balkhi was putting up a t the Khan al-Furs in Nishapur and used
to teach badith in the mosque of the same khan.'@
332 Islamic Studies. 26:4 ( 1987)

was given ,as 600,70 whereas another boasted of his 6000

teachers," al-BukhZrT was said t o have had 1000 teachers.O* This
round number seems to have been popular with the students of
hadith. '

Travels for seeking knowledge: al-R$lah

Definitely the science of hadith was responsible for the

eagerness of the students to hear from a s many teachers a s
possible. A father gave 100,000 dirhams t o his son and advised him
not t o return home before hearing 100,000 hadith." The maxime of
the Muslim academics was not t o be satisfied with the teachers of
their locality, or cities near by, but to travel to the centres of
1earning.O' It was due t o this craving that the institution of
d - W h (travel undertaken in search of knowledge L+&zb d-6i4m31
became an integral part of the Muslim educational system. Renowned
scholars, t o whom students travelled from far off lands, came to be
known by the honorific title of d-R.i&h

Students would mostly join groups of people going for

pilgramage [hajj] or the caravans of merchants in order t o reach
their destinations safely.04 I t has been suggested that the hajj was
in fact mainly responsible for the popularity of d-*h.O5 The
caravans for hajj offered the opportunity t o the students t o learn
from scholars travelling with the group, a s well as t o visit the
main centres of learning. Caravans mostly made station in big cities
en route. t o Makkah. How far such journeys took the scholars may
be seen in the case of al-Dhuhli (Mdpnmad b. YabyS, Abii
'AbdallZh a1 Naysabiir?) (d. 258/87 1-21, who hailed from Nishapur
and had studied in Basrah, VijZz, al-Jazirah, Egypt and Syria. He,
later on, taught in Baghdad, BaSrah and Nishapur.O6 Another
scholar (d. 373/983-4) from al-Qayruk visited almost all parts of
the Muslim world and taught in Nishapur, where he finally died."
4
That the distance travelled in the pursuit of knowledge
mattered much can be seen from the answer of a scholar, who was
asked about the bulk of his badith collection. He said: "I originate
from Jir'a, a small town near Kiifah and have travelled up toSZija,
a town between k a u l and Ghaznah.BB

Al-Kha* al-BaghdZdi has summarized the aims of d - @ & h

in the following words: "The aims of d - w h are twofold: firstly,
to acquire the higher .ibn.&d (chains of transmission) by hearing
personally from the authorities of the time ( A y i i h h ) and secondly,
t o see the doctors of the sciences I d - h u d i d ~ l and t o participate
in mudhdhamh with them and to benefit from them ".ey

Sometimes students accompanied their teachers on travels.

Some of the pupils of al-ShZfi'i went with him t o
 334 Islamic Studies. 26 :4 ( 1987 )

The role played by the Khan in the development of the

Muslim educational system was indeed much more important and
perhaps crucial, than the foregoing few examples can reveal. Di'lij
b. Ahmad (Abii M*ammad al-Sijisthi d. 385/995) founded a khan in
Baghdad and made i t an endowment (waqdJ for students of the
ShZfi'i law. This khan was still functioning almost two hundred
years later in the first quarter of the sixth/ twelfth century.1° '
Construction of a mosque in Baghdad was also attributed to the
same Di'lij. This mosque was one of the most important educational
institutions of the Shiifi'i law. a The famous ShZfi'i jurisconsult
al-DFiraki ('AM al-'Aziz b. 'AbdallTh, Abii 'l-QFisim) (d. 375/985-6)
taught in this mosque, al-Bafi (Abii M*ammad 'AbdalEh b.
M~amrnad)and Abu 'l-'AbbZs al-Abiwardi (d. 425/1033-4) were
successors to his chair successively.
Baghdad had a khan of the F a f i students of law also in
the QafT'at al-Rabi' which was attacked and looted in
443/1050-1.11' Yet another k h n for the students of the ShZfi'i
law in the same city was located in Biib al-MarZtib just opposit the
mosque, in which Abii lshaq al-ShirFizi (d. 476/1083) had his
college. He was offered the first professorship of the Madrasah
Ni@niyyah which he declined a t first, then accepted. The students
of al-ShirZzi used to live there, numbering from ten to twenty a t a
time.

Masjid-KhZn Combination

I t seems t h a t . already in the fourthhenth century

educational institutions had come into being comprising masjid-khan
combination. The well known kha+ 1smZ'il al-SZbCmi held his ma*
every Friday for sixty years in Khan al-l+ayn in Nishapur.lls
Badr b. Fsanawayh al-Kurdi, (d. 405/1014) who was governor of
many provinces under 'A'4ud al-Dawlah since the death of his
father in 369/979, established or restored masjid-khan combinations
on a large scale in his provinces. The sources speak of two to
three thousand such establishments. Out-of-town students were
provided lodging and most probably also food in these
institutions. '
In fact masjid-khb combination and the ma&ris had
existed side by side since the fourthhenth century, particularly in
Nishapur and elsewhere in the Eastern region, a when in 459/1067
the two ma- (Madrasah Mashhad AbiYljanifah, MadrasahNi+miya)
were finally established four months apart from each other in
Baghdad."' The difference between the new and the older
institutions concerned neither curriculum or teaching methods nor
the status of the teachers and the taught. I t did not even involve
financial matters, as the students were given stipends and the
teachers were paid remunerations already before the establishment
of the madrasah. The main difference was the question of legal
status. The founder of the madrasah and his heirs were entitled to
Islamic Studies. 26:4 (1987) 335

appoint and dismiss the teachers and other staff members, whereas
this was out of their purview in the older institutions.lza

The role played by the mausoleums (rndzhad; maqbaltl or

the khanqdh of the Q a r r k i f i origin in the development of the
Muslim educational system is still to be explored. It is an
established fact that occasionally mausoleums were used as
educational institutions. The Madrasah al-SabiinTya in Nishapur was
probably housed in the mausoleum of Abii Nasr 'AM al-RaI;lmZn b.
Ahmad (d. 382/992)1 Likewise, teaching ( t a d d l took place in the
5tWllth century m the Mashhad of Qutham b. al-'Ab& in
Samarqand.lzl Perhaps the most well-known examples are those of
the Mashhad Abii W i f a h in Baghdad and Mashhad al-ijusayni in
Cairo. Likewise, mad&ris were also established in khiinqdb, such as
those of Mdpnmad b. );libb& al-Busti (d. 354/965) and of Ibn
Fiirak (d. 406/1015-6).12'
Libraries and DZir al-'Ilm

The precise role of the libraries in the Muslim educational

system is yet to be defined. Libraries were attached t o almost all
important mosques, as can still be seen in the cases of the Jiimi'
mosque of SanLS' and that of the J h i ' in al-QayruZn. Mostly the
books were brought together from gifts or bequests. Al-Khafib
al-Baghdiidi, (d. 463/1071-2) for example, endowed all his books for
the use of Libraries were also attached to the mad%%,
particularly the library of the Madrasah Nizkiyyah in Baghdad has
been highly praised. I t is not clear, whether or not the libraries
had any teaching function. Scholars were welcome in the library
[Khizdnat d-@hmahI of ' A l i b. YahyZ al-Munajjim (d. 275/888) in
Karkar near Baghdad.lz* This was also the case with DZr al-'Ilm
which the Sh&fi6i jurisconsult and poet Ja'far b. Mdpmmd b.
W d Z n al-Maw5ili (d. 323/934-5) had established in his native
Mawsil. Its library (KhizZnat al-Kutub) was open to all and the
needy were even supplied with paper. The founder would lecture on
poetry in it. l z 5 Admission to the library [ Khizdvrat d-Kuihb 1
established by 'Adud al-Dawlah in Shiraz was restricted to people
of standing. Ibn =Z could only enter with special permission.lzc

Al-Shdf al-Rag (d. 406/1014-5) had a diin &-'&I in

Baghdad which was well stocked with books and open to the
students, for whom the founder even provided stipends. He is known
to have also taught a t his foundation.lz7 Another dd& d-'&I.in
Baghdad was established in 381/991 or 383/993 by Abii N+r SZbiir
b. Ardashir, (d. 416/1025) who was a minister under the
Buwahids.xza It was basically a library, as its acronym Khizhat
al-Siibiir shows, containing a large collection of books. But i t was
also a meeting place for scholars and poets, where debates and
academic discussions were held. Its destruction in 451/1059 prompted
336 I s l d c Studies. 2 6 : 4 (1987)

Ibn V i E l al-SZbi (d. 480/1088) to found a d d t d-hutub, for which

he endowed his private collection containing 1000 books. He feared
that the loss of the Khiziinat al-SZbiir will greatly h m knowledge.
Later on when the Madrasah Nizhiyyah was established and a fine
library was attached to it, he dismantIed his library which, he
thought, had become superfluous. 2 '

The Character of the two & &-'a founded by the

Fatirnid Caliph al-Wim in Cairo might have been somewhat
different. unfortunately, little is known about the shortlived Sunni
& d-a&in FusiZf ,, which was established in 400/1009-10 and
supervised by two MZliki jurisconsults. '' But ' & d-'a,
established in 395/1005, had all the ingredients of an educational
institution, besides being a library. Teachers for different subjects
were appointed and students were admitted and provided with ink,
pens and paper free of charge. It is believed that classes were
held in D6r a1-611m and also discussions and debates conducted. The
most remarkable fact of all is that an inventory catalogue which
was prepared in 435/1045 enlisted 6500 volumes on astronomy,
architecture and philosophy.

The Sciences of the Ancient

Perhaps the importance of such institutions lies in the fact

that they were concerned with such disciplines of knowledge which
were generally neglected by the masjid and other traditional Muslim
educational institutions. The Sciences of the Ancient (' UPiirn
d-A wci'a d-' UPiirn d-Qa!adimah1 in which philosophy, logic, geometry,
alchemy, astronomy, music and medicine were included, were not
a

taught in the mosques. But there were no curbs on their teaching

in private houses or other places. Nor was there any let or
hindrance under normal circumstances, if the books were stored in
libraries. The exception being the destruction of Khiziinat al-SZbiir
in 451/1059 which was probably prompted by the fact that large
number of books on the Sciences of the Ancient were stored there.
We know a t present very little about the mode of instruction
and the set-up of the institutions, where these sciences were
taught. But this much is sure that they had high-placed patrons
among caliphs, ministers and others.

Kklid b. Yazid (d. 85/704) got books of Greek sciences

tran5lated.l ' ~~ al-Rashid ( 170-193/786-809) and his son
al-MZ'miin (198-218/813-33) are credited with establishing the
"House of Wisdom" (Bayt al-Hikmah, Khiziinat al-Hikmah) where
Greek, Indian and Persian books were translated. An astronomical
observatory was attached to i t and there were appartments for
scholars. ' The Caliph al-Mu6 taaid ( 279-89/892-902 had
appartments for scholars and lecturerooms reserved in his new
palace al-Shammasiyyah. Scholars of every science were paid
Islanic Studies, 2 6 : 4 (1987) 337

salaries for teaching."' The library of the famous translator of

.
medical books Vunayn b. I s F q (d. 264/876-7) had a fine collection
of boow '

Also Fatimid caliphs and notables showed the same kind of

zeal for the Sciences of the Ancient and for collecting all kinds
of books. The library of the Fatimid caliphs in Cairo was regarded
to be the biggest of its time in the Muslim ~ o r l d . ' ' ~Ya'qiib b.
K i l l i s and Mubashshar b. Ktik had large libraries and pa&icularly
the former was a great benefactor of the scholars. At his palace
both lslamic as well as ancient sciences were taught, discwed and
'
copied. '

Medical education was imparted privately and in hospitals

(rn&r,&Zn, a perverted version of bhZristiin from Persian origin).
What is particularly worthy of note, is that the teaching of
medicine was probably done in keeping with the general rules and
regulations of the ha& teaching. The barnd' attestation on the
copy of Ibn at-Tayyib's (d. 435/1043) Commentary on Galen, which
Ibn Abi~Usaibi'yah had seen, bore the sigrlature of the author
attesting that i t was read under his direction in al-Bimi%stZn
al-' Adudi in 406/1015-6 in Baghdad. '''
Islamic Sciences

The mosques remained, by and large, a domain of the Islamic

sciences ld-'U&irn d-I&miyah, also called d-'U&irn d-Shaviyyah
or d - M b h m L i y a h ) . Ibn Kha1dfi.n refers to them as d-*Wrn
d-Naq&ah. These were basically indiginous sciences developed by
the Muslims. They were: (a) The @I?% studies ('Ulk al-Qur'%);
(b) hadith studies ( 'Ulum al-Fdith); (c Jurisprudence (' Ilm
al-Fiqh; U$il al-Fiqh); (d) the principles and sources of Religion
(U$l al-Din). Also ancillary sciences were taught in the mosques.
They were: (i) Arabic philology ('Ulk aLSArabiyyah with its
branches: Grammar (nahw); lexicography (PughuhI, .morphology
metrics (*cVciZ4;rhyme (qawd@; prosody (dunat d-&a);
(w I;
(ii) Arab
tribal history ( Akhba d-' Aaab 1; (iii) Arab t r i b a l genealogy
(Amibl.
J h i ' al-Man+r had a permanent gathering for the poetry
(majlis al-Shu'aS) which was held eve@ week on Friday in the
so-called "Dome of the, Poets or of Poetry" (Qubbat al-Shu'arZ' or
al-Shi'r).". Abii al-'AtZhiyah had a class for poetry in the same
Al-Tabd formed a circle for poetry in Jmi. 'Amr in
253/867 06 the' express wish of Abii '1-Qasan al-SarrZj.'ba Sa'id b.
al-Musayyab held lectures on poetry in the main mosque of
Madiimh,'.' and Muslim b. al-Walid held lectures in Basrah for
reciting his own verses.lbZ

But it seems that in the later period the recitation of

poetry in the mosques was discouraged. Instead poetry sessions
338 Islatic Studies. 2 6 : 4 (1987)

were held a t private residences of the scholars, o r , in other

institutions, such as dak d-6@n. The famous poet Abu '1-'AE'
al-Ma'am- (d. 449/1057-8) spent much of his time at KhizSnat
al-SSbik, whenever he was in Baghdad.lbf This D% al-'Ilm was a
meeting place for the literati in Baghdad. The same can be said
about the literary salons of the nobilityrb3 which, however, were
not open to the general public, the admission being strictly by
invitation.

Educational Instruction

Generally speaking teachers were a t liberty to decide, when

and how often they held a class. Some had classes every day,lbb
as was reported about a scholar, who never missed a class for over
thirty years.lb5 A scholar (d. 415/1024-5) would hold only one
ma@ for hadith every year, l b whereas another had two classes in
a year.lb7 ' In normal circumstances the. classes were held oncelb0
or twice a week, whereby one day could be reserved for recitation
and the other for dictation.lbY In fact one was not supposed to
take notes in a class which was meant for audition (&ma6).
Theorists have gone so far as to say that one who writes in a
class cannot be relied upon in matters of knowledge. They argue
that there should be no distraction during Mma'. Therefore, one
should listen with full attention and write only, when a dictation
session is he1d.l A teacher had a slave standing behind the class
with orders to throw anyone out, who dared to write during the
course of a reading.lS1
Classes were held practically on all hours of the day. Some
teachers started very early in the morning,1sf and in cases even
before the morning prayer1'' or right after i t . l S b There were also
classes till mid-day15 and after the zuh-prayers, " lasting until
the sunset.lS7

As teaching places were mostly scattered in different parts

of the town, the students had to move from one place to the
other. This going around came to be known as d-daw*iin. IshSq
b. IbrZhim al-Maw5ili (d. 235/849-50) used to visit five teachers in
one day during h& da~*iin.'~' A student (d. 168/784-5) was given
the nick-name of al-jawwSl by his fellow students. He was in the
habit of going alone to the teachers and whenever the other -
students went to a teacher, they found him sitting there? l

The classes had rules and etiquettes of their own. Students

as well as teachers were obliged to observe norms of decency. Abii
vanifah was praised for his dignity. Once a snake fell from the
ceiling right into his lap. Everybody ran away except him. He
remained seated and threw the snake away.lcl One was to sit in
upright posture without streching the; legs. I t was regarded highly
objectionable "to ride over the necks of others" to get a seat
Islamic Studies. 26:4 (1987) 339

closer to the teacher. The distribution of seats in a class was a

privilege of the teachers. But usually the students were a t liberty
to sit wherever they liked to. The exception to this rule was "in
front of the teacher". This place was reserved for the senior most
pupil or for some one, who was to recite the lesson to the
teacher. In cases the seating was arranged according to grades,
giving priority to those, whose knowledge of the subject was
greater.lcf Cne was not to sit in the middle of the Ipkijah turning
one's back to the teacher, nor was one supposed to interrupt him,
or to speak in a voice louder than that of the teacher.

As a general rule, the sequence of arrival in a class

decided the sequence in which the lesson was to be taken,
provided the students were taught individually.lc' But i t seems
that out-of-town students were allowed to take lessons before the
local students irrespective of their time of arrival in the class. A
student from the outskirts of Baghdad once tried to take advantage
of this concession. But the vigilant teacher recognized his trick
and said, "We have never heard of the town. May God never bring
your journey to an end. You have taken morning meal with your
mother, before you come to me."'C'

It was regarded impolite to argue with the teacher

in the course of a lesson, although proper questions were
welcomed. Cne was not to interrupt the lesson unnecessarily. A
teacher, who was interrupted twice in a sitting, dismissed t h e class
altogether.' l

The Methodology of Teaching and Leaming

As a matter of fact the science of hadith for which
initially almost exclusively the term d-'#%n was used, greatly
influenced all other branches of knowlege. In most cases i t s
terminology and methodology of teaching and learning were copied.
So much so that h i i d (chains of transmitters) found their way even
into the books of medicine and also the principle that nobody was
entitled to teach, who had not heard from an authorized teacher,
was an accepted norm also in other sciences. The criterion was the
principle of audition (4lamd') which necessitated presentation or
lecturing, haditha in the case of hadith and as a second stage
dictation (&'I of the relevant subject matter. Memorization (Mz)
was regarded essential for learning. The father of Ibn al-MubSrak
was fanatically against his son's study. He told him that he would
burn his books a t once, if he ever happened to see them. The
threat was taken Iightly by the son, for, as he said, "He will never
find a book to bum, for I memorize every thing and I don't keep
a copy".lC The method employed to this end was repitition, for
which repititors Imu'Zf) came to be employed by the academic
institutions.
340 I s l d c Studies. 26:4 (1987)

In the case of ha&, the institution of d-mudhdka&zh

(calling to mind with another person) was very much in demand.lL'
Initially it was informal exchange of by way of

.
recapitulation among students as well as scholars. Basically it was
not an assembly for teaching, although it was permissable to report
a ha& which had been heard in a mudhdkamh.' But the fact
that it was heard in that manner must be rnenti~ned.'~' The
assemblies of d-mudhdbamh were open to all. Scholars on a short
visit mostly prefered to exchange hadZth with local savants in a
mudhdbamh, rather than holding teaching sessions. Some times
such assemblies were organized. Ibn al-MadiX (' A l i b. 'Abdalla,
Abu '1-Hasan) said, "I have discussed with Alpad b. Vanbal
in the form of mdhdkamh on el-ery trip of mine to Baghdad for
the past forty years"."' Some scholars would not teach on
principle, but they readily participated in mudhdzamh?7s. A l l that
has been recorded from Bishr al-$fi' (Bishr b. E r i t h b. 'Abd
al-'Urnriin, Abii Mdymnad) (d. 227/841-2) was heard in
r n u d f ~ i i b a t a hIn
. ~ ~fact
~ d - m u d h a k a ~ hwas not completely devoid of
an element of compitition and ewy. It was said about a scholar
that he used to take part in mudhabamh witn doctors of his time
and that he always managed to be victorious.l 7 5

Whereas the transmission of hadith (d-&ayah) constituted

initially the focal point of the Science of $adith, the next step
comprehension ht-di.ctdiyah) led to the development of religious law
(&h]. And in legal studies the method used was argumentation
(d-mumiqahah), in that a question ( d - ~ w ' i i & m a ~ ' a P a h )was put up
to be answered (jawdb, 6a.twd) by the teacher, mufti or fellow
students. ImZm Abii Ijanifah was particularly fond of this method
and he adopted it for t e a ~ h i n g . " ~ h e of his former students
instituted a Maw d-Nazat as an educational set-up."' Later on
such institutions became a permanent feature of the Muslim society.
We have mentioned elsewhere Maw
d-Nagat or QZG al-MahZrnali
which was established in 270/883 and was still functioning almost
two centuries later, when al-Khatib al-BaghdZdi took part in its
meetings in the fifth/eleventh century.
Equally important were institutions for debating and
disputation known as ma& d-muniizatah. The initiator was
allegedly the Abbasid Caliph Al-Ma'm?, who had asked his chief
QZGi Ibn Aktham (d.242/856-7 to assemble handpicked scholars of
Baghdad for a meeting. At the end of which he wished it to be
convened periodically. " His example was followed by ministers and
other dignitaries, who founded many such institutions. Al4hazZE
thinks that the caliphs and other officials, who were mainiy
interested in theological questions, were responsible for the
popularization of d-mundi?amh about d-ka4iim. Later on juridical
questions came to the forefront. "'. The mundizamh in fact encom-
passed almost all the different sciences, even the poets are known
to have competed with one another in such gatherings. Some of the
highly publicized muniizamh took place between grammarians and
 Islamic Studies. 26 :1 ( 1987) 311

"
lexicographers al-Mubarrad and Tha' lab. ' When Sibawayh ( 'A m r b.
'Uthmh, Abij Bishr) came to Yahya al-Barmaki, he requested him to
arrange a Majlis al-Munazarah between him and a l = K i ~ a ? . ~A' ~
mumi?atah took place between al-ShZfi'i and Ibn Rahwayh about
the inhabitants of Makkahta2 On another occasion al-Shafi'i
disputed with Ibn 'Ulay3ra (Ismii'il b. IbrZhh, Abii Bishr al-Asadi)
about the sta.tus of khabar +%d (hadith with only one initial
reporter). In this way 'disputation became an integral part of the
Muslim educational system of the pre-madrasah period.la'

The M e d b n of Instruction

The medium of instruction was Arabic, also in regions,

where other local languages were spoken. There are reports about
bilingual teachers, who would teach simultaneously in Arabic and
Persian, or translate their Arabic discourses into some local dialect
for the benefit of those, who might not be good a t classical
Arabic. But generally every student had to learn Arabic, no matter
what his mother tongue was. This had great effect on cultural
unity of the Muslim world. A student from anywhere could enter any
mosque and attend any academic lecture in any city of that vast
empire. He had absolutely no difficulty in understanding the lesson,
provided he knew Arabic.

Teachers would pay much attention to the language of their

students. A scholar (d. 202/817-8) would right away dismiss his
class, if somebody made grammatical mistakes. He once said, "Is
there nobody (left) in al-Mawsit, who can speak Arabic
correctly.""' The side-effect of this emphasis on correct Arabic
was that students were hesitant to recite in the classes. A student
reported about his senior collegues that they used to wait for him
to come and recite to the teacher on behalf of the c l a ~ s . ~A' ~
teacher was surprised to hear that the student, who had recited
the lesson was not an Arab at all. The teacher was so impressed by
his command of the language that he had wanted to know, which
Arab tri6e did he belong to."C The mastery of the Arabic
language was equally important for the teachers, because the
students would abandon them, if they spoke incorrectly. A teacher
once made a grammatical mistake and was corrected by a student
in a most curt manner. ''

The question whether or not teachers should demand

tuition-fee has been controversial throughout. Some were
vehemently against it, whereas others saw no harm in taking money
for teaching, especially if one had no other source of income.
Al-Mubarrad, (d. 285/898) for example, used to charge
tuition-fee.''' A student had to pay three for a single
badith,l" another paid two diinaq per baditC. whereas still
another paid only one diinaq per J1 Ibriihim al-Tjarbi, who
 342 Islanic Studies. 26:4 ( 1987

himself never charged tuition-fee advised a student to go and hear

from a certain teacher, although he took a fee for the lessons.1y2

The instance has already been mentioned, in which a

student could not pay the tuition-fee and had to leave the
class-room1 " It was said about Ibn al-A'riibi (d. 230/845) that he
h d a monthly income from tuition-fees amounting to one thousand
dixham. '* Muhammad b. Ja' far (d. 348/959) related that he had
earned three hundred thousand dinam by teaching the Qur'Zn!y5

Students and their Finances

It is obvious that all students did not come from rich

families, as was the case with Yahyii b. Ma'k, who had inherited
over a million &ham. He spent the whole amount in the study of
had2th." There are many examples which show that large amounts
of money were spent in pursuit of kn~wledge.~"Others were less
fortunate in this respect. A student (d. 425/1034) had only one
&ham left, as he arrived in I s f a S i n . He found a baker in the
town, who was ready to give him two loaves of bread daily for a
whole month for the price of a single dixham.lY@Ibriihim al-Wbi
had allegedly spent one month on two and a half di.ham.lyy

Well-to-do teachers would help their deserving students.

Abii l+ifah, who was a wealthy merchant, was generous not only
to his regular students, but also to others.' @ He once mistook a
@

student to be needy and bade him to stay back after the lesson.
This he did and was surprised, when AbCi W i f a h offered him 1000
&ham which he refused to accept.'" Abii Yiisuf, whose father
was very poor and against his son's study, was given a regular
stipend by Abii Wifah.'@* There are examples of teachers, who
insisted that every one, who attended their classes must also dine
with them.'@' Some cases have already been mentioned of scholars
offering stipends or other benefits to the students, among them
were Muhammad b. vibbiin al-Busti (d. 354/965) and al-SharTf
ar-Radi (d. 406/1014-5). Abii ? h i d al-IsfarZ'ini (d. 406/1014-5)
used to disburse 160 dinam monthly among students.* '*

The wazix Ya'qiib b. Killis,. (d. 380/990) who built a house

(ddilll in the al-Azhar mosque for students with the permission of
the Fatimid Caliph al-'Aziz bi-'lm in 378/988 also established
allowances (ILiZq 1 for them from the public treasury." Also other
philanthropists helped students finan~ially.'@~ A rich man allegedly
used to spend 40,000 to 50,000 r.&ham& yearly on the students.'@'
Another rich man endowed part of his estate for the students of
d-adab.*@@ There was the case of a rich man, (d. 397/1067-7) who
came to a scholar and offered him 100 d i n a ~which the later
refused to accept for himself. The man requested him to distribute
the money among his pupils. The scholar bade him to put the
I s l d c Studies. 2 6 : 4 (1987) 343

amount on the floor and advised his pupils to take from the sum
according to their needs. ')

Grants were some times also given by the Government. The

example at hand is that of the students of .lfm ~&'-@ui'.~" But
this was probably done only once, because a man, who had refused
the money at that time, was later on in need of it, but could not
get any official monetary help."' HZ& al-Rashid is also said to
have presented money to M*ammad b. l+an al-Shay&i for
distribution among his pupils.212 The wazh Ibn al-Fur5t was known
for his generous grants to the student^.^"

Mutual help including financial aid must have also played

some role. There are instances, in which wealthy students were said
to have looked after their poor fellow-students."' One of them
allegedly spent 10,000 &&hatn4 "at the door of a teacher.""' Then
there is the case of a promising student, for whom a monthly
allowance of 100 dinham was pooled by other AbG
lsbZq al-RifZ'i (d. 411/1020) was also given monetary help by his
fellow-students. "'

The students came from all the different strata of the

society, among them were scions of rich families, as well as
children of poor parentage. The majority, however, must have
belonged to the professional class, such as merchants and
self-supporting craftsmen. This is corroborated by a statement by
Ibn Khaldk, in whose opinion the Arabs had little share in
sciences, because they were absorbed in power struggle and were,
moreover, averse to crafts and professions to which category the
fields of knowledge bel~nged.~'' In many cases the students
worked as apprentices at the shops,2') or as agents of the
merchant^.'^' AbG A l p d b. 'Ali Ibn FZngoye (d. 428/1036-7) was
such an agent, who went to Nishapur for trade, but also learnt
@dZth. Later on he visited Khurasan, Herat and Transoxania, before
settling down in Nishapur, where he taught at the Madrasah
Khdu4hZ.Z" Particularly, the ag_entst$p for traders took the
students to far off lands thereby facilitating their

The Muslim educational system, especially in the earlier

period, when permanent institutions with salaried staff were rare,
had few, if any at all, professional teachers. Nearly every teacher
had some occupation or profession besides teaching, for which
free time was preferred. Merchants constituted numerically the
majority of those, who engaged themselves in relieous sciences.
A study has shown that in the third and the fourth centuries,
almost 75 percent of the scholars were either merchants or
craftsmen, "'hence they were financially self-sufficient.
 But the fact that some teachers took tuition-fee, shows that
teaching was a means of eaming for some of them.". Financial
help was given occasionally by the state or state functionaries but
mostly on-personal level. A -regular state-grant system does not
seem to have existed. Some scholars are known to have received
state pension. 2 2 ' Among them were +an a l - k r i (d. 1lO/728) 2 2 '
and the l$nafi jurisconsult Abii Yiisuf. G A I i b. SaGidaLI~f_akh.
(d. 404/1014) received a pension from the Caliph kl-ir
(381-422/991-1031).'2a Za"-'
J J ~ J(d. 311/923) was the beneficiary of
three state pensions simultaneo~sly.'~' In many cases the scholars
rejected state help.2sa Usually, they would take up a profession to
make a living, instead of relying on the -state or other
benefactors.'

MYITS AND REFERENCES

See for a discussion of the question: Gregor Schoeler, "Die Frage

der schrifttichen oder miindlichen iiberliefemg der Wissenschaften im
frUhen Islam;" Det ZdPom, Vol. LXII (1985). pp. 201-230.
Taqi al-Din Ahrnad b. ' A l i al-hhqrizi, d-Mawa'G wa 'l-2i'tibiit @
dhikd d - k @ wa 'l-iih3-t (Cairo, 1270/1854), VI, 192;
al-IWpGh b. Abii Ehkr J a m al-Din al-Suyiifi flu d-muwhiinah hi
akhboilt Mi?t wa ~l-@ihkah.(Cairo, 1327/1909), 11, 142.
M. ~amidullah,~~ducational system in the time of the Prophet" Zd!amic
Cuetune. Hyderabad, VoL XI11 (January 1939) No. 1. p. 54.
M+amrnad b. IsnG6il, Abii AbdallZh al-m&i, W b d-@mi'
d-@& ed. M.L. Krehl. (Leiden, 1862-1908) 'ten, &ib 6, 52; 23,
24, 26, 46
Ibid., 'ten, Biib 8, 30, 35, 42
Ibid., 'Zfh, Biib 25
Ab6 '1-Faraj lsfahZni,d-K&b d-Aghiini (Cairo, 1345/1927), 1, 48;
IV, 162-3; al-Suyii\i. fluan d-Mu&datah. 1, 131
al-BukhM, &ten, Biib 7, 12
WhZn al-Din Abii Ish5q IbrShim b. Sa6dalEh Ibn al-]amZ!ah.
~ a d t df-4d ~imi' wa ~ l ~ m u t a k d t6i
h adab d - ' ~wa ' l - m u t a s W
(Hyderabad-Deccan, 1353/1934), p. 212
Abii Ehkr A+d b. I A l i b. ThZbit al-Khafib al-ihghdZdi, ToiWkh
Baghdad aw madirst d-&m, (Cairo, and Baghdad, 1349/1931 ff.),
14 Vols. (To be quoted as T.B.) X, 281
Ibid.. XII, 74
Heinrich Ferdinand Wiistenfeld. Det Imam &-Scha@i, h e Schiieet
wrd Anhiingm bib zum J a k e 300 D.H., (Gijttingen, 1890-91). p. 163
Heinz Halm. "Die Anftinge der Madrasa," ZDM Supplement 111, 1. XIX.
Deutxher Orientalistentag vom 28. September bis 4. Oktober 1975 in
Freiburg im Breisgau. 1977. p. 439
Islenic Studies, 26:4 (1987) 345

T.B. IX. 3-13

Ibid., XII, 89-90; Abii '1-Faraj 'AM al-Rafpiin b. 'AE Ibn al-Jawzi,
al-BaghdZdT, d-MWrtazam @ taS&Zkh d-m&k wa 'e-umam, ( w e r a b a d -
Deccan 1357A938). VII. 140.
1.8. VIII. 19-23
See also Bur& al-Din al-Zarnw, Tab.& d - m u t a ' & , ta@at d-
taLa8eum, Translated by Gustav E. von Grunebaum and Theodora M.
A b e l under the title: IntRoduction 06 the Student: the methoh 04
hmning. (New York. 1947). p. 48
T.B. I, 355
Ibid., VI, 33
Ibid., XlV, 153
Ibid., V, 219-20
Ibid., XI, 137
Ibid., 11, 79
Ibid., 11, 39
AbG k i d h4utynmad b. MuQannnad al-Ghaziili, d-'&m. (Cairo,
1322h904). p. 19
T.B. I. 399; Abi5 'AbdalEh Shihiib al-Dh al-Hamawi YZqiit a l - h i ,
Mu'jam al-udabZ', l&dd &-a& ma'a&€ d-ad&, ed. by A.F.
al-Rafa'i. (Cairo, 1936-8). IV. 16.
G. Le Strange,Baghdad unded t h e Abba~idCaliphate, (Oxford.) pp.
81. 83
T.B. IX, 394
Ibid., IV, 370
I b d . , 11, 56-73
Ibid., x 39
Ibid., XI. 404:
Gorge. Makdisi ,The Rhe 06 C o U e g e ~ : I n a t i t u t i o n o 06 &adning
i n Inhm and t h e went (Edinburgh. 1981. ) pp. 17-18
T.B. 11. 68-69
Ibn Sa'id ' A l i b. Miisii al-Maghribi. al-Maghdib 62 h a l l i
'1-maghbib (Leiden 1898). p. 24
T.B. IV, 190

..
I b d . , IV, 38
Ibid XI , 346-7
al-Suyiiti. !kW d-Mu@dWuh, 11, 91
Max Weisweiler, "Das Amt des Mustamli i n der arabischen
wissenschaft: O t i e a , 4 (1951). pp. 27-56; 'Abd a l - b r i m b.
M+amnad al-Samski. Adab a l - h a ' wa ' e - d t h e d ' (Die hkthodik
des Diktierens). Edited by Max Weisweiler. (Leiden. 1952).
T.B. XII, 38
Ibid., XII, 195, 197
Ibid., IX, 33
Ibid., VII, 468
Ibid., VIII. 102-3; XII. 34
Max Weisweiler, "Das Amt des h s t a m l i i n der arabischen
Wissenschaft." p. 47
Munir-ud-Din Ahned. Mublim Education and t h e SchoPad~' Sociae
S t a h upto t h e 5th centuty h l h e t a Lllth centudy Chbiatian
eda] i n t h e Light 06 Tiittikh Baghdad. (Ziirich, 1968) p. 43-4
T.8. XI, 265-6
Ibid., X11. 407
Ibid., X l V . 326
Ibib., Vl, 274
Ibid., IX. 61
 Islamic Studies. 26:4 (1987)

lbid., 11. 164

lbid., XlV, 252
Ibid., XIII. 333
Ibid., 11, 15
Ibid., 11, 102
Ibid., XlII. 468
Ibid., 11, 20-21
Ibid., 11, 10; IX, 457; XII, 273
Ibid., IX. 457
Ibid., XIV, 340
Ibid., XI. 22
YaqGt. toh hi id, VII, 28
T.B. 111, 380-81
Ibid., 11, 219; XIII, 445
lbid., 1.1, 220; VII, 185
Ibid., VIlI, 403-4; IX, 466; XIII, 120
Ibid.. XII, 279-80
Ibid., VIII. 16-7; See al'so S. Khuda Bukhsh. "The EducationaI
system of the Muslims in the Middle Ages". Iohmic Cuftude. 1
(1927). pp. 455-6
Abu' Bakr Alpad b. 'AEb. Thiibit ai-Khafib al-Bagh&d?, Kitdb d-
Kidayah 6i 'hd - h a y a h , (Hyderabad Deccan,1357/1938),pp. 311 ff. '
T.B. 11. 54; 11, 177; 1V. 72-4; VII. 177
Ibid.,I, 354; XI. 133; XIV, 201-2
Abii Bakr m d b. 'Ali b. M b i t al-Khafib aI-BaghdZdi, Taqyid
a t - * i h . (hnascus. 1949) p. 101
J ~ al-~k I al-QZsG, Qawd'id d-bhdith. (Damascus.1925)pp. 190-1
.
Cf EI/2nd ed. under Ijaza;.Makdisi .The Rioe 04 Cottegeo. pp. 148
ff., 270 ff; 'Abdal Iah FayyZG, at-Ijaza ' ind at-muatbin. BaghdSd,
1967)
T.B. XI, 203; A.S. Tritton. Matecia& or, Ahtin, Education in
the Mid& Ageo (London, 1957), pp. 193-4
T.B. VIII, 314; XII. 316
Ibid., XII, 440
Ibid., 11, 10
Ibid., 111, 27; IV, 200; IX, 156
Ibid., XI. 447
'Abd al-R+n b. wamnad Ibn Khaldiin, Muqaddimah, ed. by 'Ali
'Abd aI-Wahid G f i (Cairo, 1376/1957) pp. 399-400
T.B. V. 313-4; X. 157-8; XII. 222
AIfred von Kremer, Cdtuageochichte den O#ientn unted den
Chatiden (Wien. 1875-77), 11, p. 436
T.B. 111, 415-20
Ibid., IX, 113
Ibid., IV, 139
al-Suyiiri, Tad#ib at-dliwi hi ohadh tabdib at-naww~i,(Cairo.1307
1889-90) p . 177
T.B. X. 449
Ibid., XII, 222
Ibid., IX, 152-3
Ibid. , XIV, 302
Ibid., VIII, 351
Ibid., 111. 1360
Ibid., .VII. 295; 304; XI. 334; XI, 334. 349; XIII, 320; see
also: Le Strange. Baghdad. pp. 59. 255, 272
T.B. XIII. 41
~slamicStudies, 26:4 (1987) 347

l b i d . , 11, 13, 74-5, 165

al-hqrizi. d - K k i f a t , II. 273
Sarifini. Munbkhab min k i a b a t - Aj d q L i - a ' a h Nadbybh fol.
36 a Z. 4
T.B. X. 159
l b i d . , VII. 304
l b i d . , XI. 349
l b i d . , VII, 295
l b i d . , XIlI. 320
l b i d . , XI 334
al-Taniikhi, Nhhwliz d-muhatjazah wa-akhbdz at-nudhcika~ah.
(Beirut, 1971 ff), I, 46
'AM al-fir al-FZrisi. W d q f i - T i i ' z i k h N.ibhdpii&,fol. 5 b Z.
9
M@mnad b. ' A M al-MZlik, al-HamadhZni, d-Takmieah. Ed. by A.Y.
h'an, (Beirut. 1961), 182
Le Strange. Baghdad, pp. 58. 123, 143
T.B. X. 463-5
l b i d . , X. 51-2
Ibn al-Jawzi. M u n b z m . V1I. 150
Ibid.,JX, 37
Sarifmi, Munbkhab, fol. 38'b Z. 10-12
lbn al-Jawzi, M u n b y n . VII. 272
Makdisi. The R h e 06 Cot.lege4. p. 31
The oldest cited information about madrasah stems fran 325/937.
when the Madrtabah-i Fajak was destroyed by fire in Eiukhara.
cf. Narshakhi. TdJ&ikh-e Bukb@d, ed. Schefer 93, viz Heinz.
Halm. "Die Anflinge der hdrasa." p. 438
Masfif NZji, Maddzh q a b h a t - N i @ m j a h , Baghdad ( 1973); ' ImZd
A M al-SalZm Ra'iif, W z h Baghdcid 6 i - at-' Abbh2
(1966) Asad Talas. Le mudzasa n i z a r n j a e t AOn h h t o i z e . (Paris
19391.
. .
cf Makdisi The R h e 06 t h e Cot.legeA. p. 27 ff .
See for other examples fran Eiukhara, Tashkent and Nishapur:
Halm, "Anftinge." p. 440
w r u f , Madaz.ib, 26, 38
YZqCit, IRAhdd; I. 252; Shams al-Din Abu '1-'AbGs m d b.
IbrShim b. Abi Bakr Ibn KhallikZn al-ShZfisi, Wa6aydt at-a'ydn
wa anbdJ abnd' at-zamin, (Cairo, 1299/1881-2) I. 27
YZqCit) 1 z ~ M d .V, 459. 467
l b i d . , 11, 420, VII, 193
al-hiaqdisi, w n a t - b q d ~ i r n62 muLzi6at at-aq&Km. (Ea. by M.J.
de Goeje) (Leiden, 19061, p. 449
%@it, l ~ ~ h c i dI,
. 242
YZqiit. K i a b M u ' j m at-Bueddn, ed. by hhdpmad Amin a l - k j i
and Alpd b. al-Amin al-Shinqiti (Cairo. 1323/1906 ff.), 11. 342
Ibn al-Jawzi,M u n b p n . VIII. 216
al-Dhahabi, T d J z i k h at-I&im. (Hyderabad-Deccan, 1337/1918-9).
I, 186; lbn Taghribirdi,at-Nu jlinr at-?dhitah, (Cairo. 1938). II,
64, 105-6
Ibn al-Nadim. d - F i h d h t . ed. Fliigel , 340
lbid., 243; Ibn al-Qifti, Akhbdn d-'LLPandJ bi-akhba d - w a n d '
(Leipzig. 1320/1902), 98
al-hqrizi, d - K h i f a f . IV. 192 ff.; al-SuyCifT.!fu&taP-Mu@&aah
11, 142
al-Qlrt.1:&khb& d-'u&mdy. pp. 120-1; Ibn aI-U~ybi'ah. 'Uyibr
A

d - ~ n h ' & fabaqiit d-a.$&bd', Ed. by Ni- (Beirut. 1965). I.

184-200
al-Maqrizi. d-Kk+$, 11. 254
Zbid., 111. 5. 9; alQifii, Tabaqiit d - A 9 b d ' . 11. 96-9
Zbid., 323
T.8. VII. 78; VIII. 249-50; Xll. 95-6
Z&hdd, d - A g h d d 111. 148
YZqGt. Zd(ldid. VI, 432
a l - T a m , 11. 1266
al-hiarzab&ni, d - M u w U h . p. 289-90
W D aAAbu 'e-*&is (Oxford. 1898). p. 34; see also: Ahmad. ~ h l a b y :
Hiat0.y 04 MudeOn Education. (Beirut. 1954). p. 32 ff.
T.8. 11. 266-7; XI. 178; XII. 210; XIII. 9; 356; 471
Zbid., XI. 178
Zbid., V. 67
Zbid., X, 367
Tqiit, ZdhM. XVlI, 177
T.8. 111, 183; VII. 353; X, 68
al-Khafib al-Baghdiidi, d-l&(gah, 66, 68
T.B. VIII. 233
Zbid., IV, 41-2; V. 469; XI. 178; XII. 95
Ibid., 111. 230; VIII. 323
Zbid., X, 145
Zbid., XI, 456-7; XIII, 471
Zbid., XIII. 471
Zbid.
Zbid., VI. 340; IX,11
Zbid., VI. 340
Zbid., XII, 458
Zbid., XIII, 336
al-Jaw& d - M u n b ~ a m .Xn. 73 (7-12)
T.8. XIII, 116
Zbid., X. 372
Zbid., XIV, 274
Zbid., X, 166
Sees hir-ud-Din Ahmed. "The Institution of al-Mudhakara." ZDGM.
XVII. Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 21. bis 27. Juli 1968 in
WWburg. Supplementa I: VortHge'Teil 2. 1969. 595-603
T.B. I. 354; VIII. 94
Abii 'Am 'Ut* b. 'AM al-Ralp& Ibn al-+Eh. 'Ueiim d-@dith.
(+lab. 1350/1931). 75
T.8. IV. 343; V. 417
Zbid., VI. 310
Zbid. XIV. 182
1bid.l VI. 173; VIII, 92. 94
Zbid., VII. 67
Zbid., 11. 169
Zbid., XII. 308; al-hG-jT, TaTun. 18. 19
T.8.' VIII. 32
T d k . kghdiid. 75. vide Alpad Amin, U& *l-Z.&rn (m.1956).
57-8
kfdpmmd b. hhtpmmd, Abii wid al-Ghazali, Z h y d ' ~ ~ ~ u t id-
im
din (Cairo), I, 42
T.8. V. 208-9 '
Zbid., XII. 104-5; 197-8
Zbid., VI. 351
I s l d c Studies, 26 :4 ( 1987) 349

See also: Muhammad 'AM a I - e i m Ghunairna. T d ' a h d-jcim2d.t d-

I&mjah d - k u b ~(Ilktoria de 10s grandes universidades). (Tetuan,
1953). 204 ff.; Makdisi: The 06 the C&gu. 128 ff.
T.8. IX, 419
Ibid., XIII, 133
Ibid., VII, 408
Ibid.. IV, 191
Yiiqiit. I&dd. I. 131
T.8. XIV, 278
Ibid.. X1I. 89-90
Ibid., IX, 436
Ibid., VIII. 219
Ibid., XII, 89-90
YSqiit, I&dd. XVIII, 191
aI-Hamadh5ni. d - T a k d h , 175
Ibn KhaIIikZn. Wa6ayd.t. V. 190-3
T.B. 11, 173; Vll. 222; VIII, 314; 421-2
Ibid., IV, 375
Ibid., V1, 31 .
Ibid., XIII, 360
Ibid., XIII, 361
Ibid., XIV, 244
Ibid., VIII, 194; X, 308-9
Yiiqiit, d-Muntacam. VII, 277
aI-Maqrizi, d-K&@& IV, 49
T.B. XII, 278
Ibid., XI, 20
Ibid., XI, 367
Ibid., XI, 44
Ibid., VII, 258
Ibid.
Ibid., 11. 173 al-Taniikh3 N&w&. V, 187
Miskawayh, Taj&& d-umam. I, 120 (3, margin); W b d-'uylin r a
2-hadd'iq & akhb& d-haqdBiq, ed. al-Sa6idi (Damascus,
1972-3)
T.B. 11, 74-5
Ibid., VI. 4
al-Taniikhi, Nibhw&. 11, 275-6
YSqut, I M d , I, 155
IjiijjT Khalifah, K&6 d-zuniin ' a n d-adiini wa '4-6un1in. ( Istanbul,
1360-2/1941-2)
T.B. IX, 456; XIII, 428
Ibid., XI. 312; XII, 483
Satifhi, Munbkhab, fol. 24 b - 25 a
S.D. Goetein. Studies b l&hm(c W y and I n 6 t i t u t i o ~ (Leiden.
19661,219
Hayyim J. Cohn, Pea* k - t o b : Motda am ha ka.€kakX n-6a~~na.m-
theharn h d hokme-ha-haPakah we-an~he-ha-mamvah bithequdath
h a q M hd ha-I~Fizm (Chapters from: The economic background
and the secular occupation of Muslim jurisprudents and traditionists
in the classical period of Islam). (Jerusalem, 1962)
T.B. VI, 90-2; VII, 219: lX, 436; XI, 386; XII, 156; XIV. 278
Ibid., VI, 210; VI1, 160; 258; XII, 406; XIlI, 288
al-TanCikhi, N&w& 11, 52-3
Ibid., I, 253
Ibn al-Jawzi, d-Mumkqam, V11. 268
YSqGt, W d . XIII, 256
T.8. I. 352; VI. 32-3; VII, 258; VIII. 352; 425; XII, 188-9; 316; XIII.
340
Ibid., 111, 4-5; 62; 92; 143; 160; 250-1; V. 15; VII. 284; 1X. 444; XI,
361; XIII, 19; 325