The higher Muslim schools in the Arab caliphate were called madrassas; for the first time, these institutions appeared in the 9th century A.D. The first of them was opened in 859 in Morocco. Madrasahs usually worked at mosques, where they taught the Arabic language, the Koran, the history of Islam, hadiths, Sharia (the Muslim code of ethics, which forms the moral views of Muslims), and kalam. In the Middle Ages, higher Muslim schools often had not only theological, but also cultural significance.
Education in the Islamic World
The Arab caliphate originates from the prophet Muhammad, or rather, from the community he created in Hijaz at the beginning of the 7th century. When the Muslims established themselves in Medina after the resettlement, the Prophet Muhammad ordered them to teach their children to read and write at mosques. Gradually appeared separate rooms, analogues of elementary school.
The first higher Muslim schools, Nizamiyya, arose in the Islamic world. Moreover, even in antiquity, training was free, and everyone could study - the children of nobles and merchants sat next to the children of peasants and artisans. They taught, in addition to the Koran, literature, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, history, linguistics and other sciences. In many ways, the ancient structure of education has been preserved in Islamic countries to this day.
The oldest madrassas in the world: Miri Arab
In the 16th century, the higher Muslim school Miri Arab was built in Bukhara. From the moment of its foundation to the close (in the 20s of the 20th century), it remained one of the most prestigious in Central Asia. For a period of Soviet time, Miri Arab was the only one in the entire USSR. Among the graduates - Muhammedjan Husain, Miyan Mali, Sheikh Kazy-Askar, ex-President of the Chechen Republic Akhmad Kadyrov and others. The madrasah is still working, teaching more than 100 students at the same time.
Madrasahs are part of the Poi Kalyan complex (“the foot of the Great”), the construction of which is attributed to Sheikh Abdallah Yamani, known under the nickname Mir-i Arab. Sheikh had a great influence on the Sultan of Bukhara Khan Ubaidullah. According to some reports, the madrasah was built on the money earned by the khan for the sale of three thousand Persian captives (Ubaidulla Khan repeatedly led his troops in raids on Khorasan).
Zindzhirly and Al-Karauin
Zyngyrly Madrasah (Bakhchisaray) - one of the oldest in Eastern Europe - in 2010, it was 510 years since its foundation. This higher Muslim school was built in 1500 and worked until 1917. In 2006, a project was launched to restore the madrassah and the tomb of Haji Girai, and by 2010 the buildings were put in order. In 2015, the school was transferred to the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Crimea.
A woman stood at the origins of the Al-Qarauin school - in 859 she founded a madrassah and a mosque in memory of her father, the rich merchant Muhammad al-Fihri. This is the oldest educational institution in Morocco and the oldest of the existing ones. He studied African Leo, Maimonides, Ibn Khaldun. The building was rebuilt several times - now its prayer hall accommodates more than 20, 000 people. In 1947, this educational center turned into a university, in the European sense of the word.
