: Evolution of education during Muslim rule

Before Pakistan till 1947:

Islam is the religion of peace, and it is one of the most sacred and trustworthy religions,

which has given us guidance in every aspect of life. Islam has given us education with

knowledge which has no limits. The Holy Quran is the most sacred book of Allah revealed on

Prophet Muhammad (SAW), for the upliftment guidance and enriched messages to the

humanity. Education is the knowledge of putting one's potentials to maximum use. Without

education, no one can find the proper right path in this world.

This importance of education is basically for two reasons. Education makes man a right

thinker. Without education, no one can think properly in an appropriate context you. It tells

man how to think and how to make decision. The second reason for the importance of

education is that only through the attainment of education, man is enabled to receive

information from the external world.

Many educational reforms has been occurred from life of Holy prophet (S.A.W) till 1947

which are as follow according to different eras:

Educational reforms in Muslim rules:

Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) (583-632 CE):

Explains the nature of his duty as follows in a hadith:

"Allah sent me as a teacher."

Therefore, to teach and educate the community that he was sent to are among his duties of

prophet hood. The encouragement of the Quran and Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) increased the

desire to write and to learn. People started to go near him and other teachers in order to learn

something during his period. Based on those principles, it will be appropriate to mention the

activities of Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) related to education. Our Prophet (pbuh) continued the

activities of education outside fixed places, too. He did not limit education to certain places

and times.

During the period of Makkah:

He gave importance to the writing and preservation of the verses that were revealed to him.

He used the place called “Dar al-Arqam” as a centre of education during the first years of

the period of Makkah. People read and wrote the verses of the Quran there; they learned and

taught religious information and they practiced what they learned.

During the period of Madinah:

Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) dealt with the education of the Muslims of Madinah that came to the place

called “Aqabah” near Makkah and he sent a teacher to Madinah to teach them the Quran and the

principles of Islam upon their request.

After the Hijrah, the first and foremost activity of the Prophet (pbuh) in Madinah was to build a

mosque, “Masjid an-Nabawi”, which was both a place of worshipping and a centre of education. In a

place next to the mosque called “As-Suffa”, some Companions were busy with learning the Quran

and writing. Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) himself taught people there; he also appointed some teachers to

teach people the Quran and writing. Ubada bin Samit was one of the Companions who taught the

Quran and writing there. Not only Muslim teachers but also polytheist teachers taught people to write

there. As a matter of fact, the polytheists who were held captive by Muslims during the Battle of Badr

and who did not find any money to pay the ransom to be freed were freed after they taught ten

Muslim children to read and write.

Educational services for women:

Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) did not discriminate between women and men in education; he ensured the

education of both men and women. He allocated a special day for women and gave them a talk. There

were female teachers during his period. As a matter of fact, Shifa (Umm Sulayman b. Haysama)

taught Hazrat Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her), one of the wives of Hazrat Prophet (pbuh), to

write. The wives of Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) took care of the education of the girls. They taught the

young girls that came to their houses. And those girls taught what they had learnt to other girls. The

wives of Hazrat Prophet (pbuh), especially Hazrat Aisha and Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased

with them), and some other women contributed a lot to education.

It is known that Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) did not discriminate between free people and slaves in terms of

education. Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) advised and encouraged people to use easy methods in education

and to show patience and tolerance.

Writing is very important for the activities of Hazrat Prophet (pbuh). He dictated the verses of the

Quran. He arranged the document of Madinah in writing. He organized the first census in writing. He

made all his contracts in writing. He made officials write the income and the estimation, imposition

and collection of the revenues. When he set off for an expedition, he gathered his army in a field,

made the officials write the names of the people and recorded the number of the soldiers.

Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) advised and ordered families to teach their young members in both spiritual

and material fields: archery, swimming, calculation, medicine, genealogy and reading the Quran. In

his period, everybody, children, young people, the elderly, received education. He appointed teachers

to the regions where people accepted Islam. Thus, those who could read and write among the people

of Madinah increased; during the life and after the death of Hazrat Prophet (pbuh), literacy increased

in the places that Muslims conquered.

There were not separate schools to educate administrators and officials. However, since learning the

Quran was compulsory in the places where people were trained, those who had been educated there

were appointed as administrators.

As a result of intensive and hard work, Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) educated the members of a community

that lived in compliance with the traditions and customs of the ignorance (jahiliyya) and formed a

brand-new Islamic community from those people. This wonderful transformation became possible

through education. Among the people he educated, hafizes (people who memorized the whole Quran),

scholars of reading the Quran, judges, governors and commanders of the army, statesmen and

presidents emerged.

Educational reforms during era of 4 caliphs:

1. Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddique (R.A) (632 AD to 634 AD): Abu Bakr was instrumental in preserving the Qur'an in written form. After collecting all

Qur'anic verses from texts in the possession of various sahaba, Zayd ibn Thabit and members

of his committee verified the reading by comparing with those who had memorized the

Qur'an. After they were satisfied that they had not missed out any verse or made any mistakes

in reading or writing it down, the text was written down as one single manuscript and

presented in codex form to the Caliph Abu Bakr.

2. Hazrat Umar (R.A) (634 AD to 644 AD ):

He extended and renovated the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in

Medina. He also began the process of codifying Islamic law. He also worked for Education

Department, Schools, and Salaries for Teachers and Educational Developments all over the

State.

3. Hazrat ‘Uthman (R.A) ( 644 AD to 656 AD): He spent a lot of his time in preaching to the prisoners of war. Many of them accepted Islam

because of his efforts. He also taught Islamic law to the Muslims. Once he himself

demonstrated the correct method of making wudu before a large gathering of Muslims.

4. Hazrat Ali (R.A)( 656-661 AD ):

He had a special regard for knowledge and learning and gave particular attention towards

promotion of knowledge and education and used to say: "There is no suffering like ignorance."

Ali (AS) helped the poverty-stricken people and widows kindly and humbly and kept the shelter

less orphans in his own house, personally providing their requirements and educating them.

Bnu umayad period (661-750):

The Umayyad rule was consisted from the year 661 to 750 as per the traditional calendar. Umayyad

was also known as their contribution to Education, many famous researchers and educationist were

born under the rule of Umayyad The process of extension of education towards the other

subjectsStarted with the rise of Umayyad dynasty. The Umayyad set out to create a new culture by

erecting great palaces, mosques, hospitals and other public buildings and by appointing non-Muslims

at various administrative positions. The first attribute of Umayyad dynasty was that they modernized

their government and the second was that they encouraged learning as signs of luxury and for

amusement. Before this, teachers were not appointed or paid by the government; they used to work at

their own. The first interference by the government in education was made when Al-Qasas (narration)

was organized by Hazrat Muaawia to be used in favour of his function for which paid teachers were

appointed in the mosques. Mosques gradually became the core centers of educational activities.

Literary studies were also perused in mosques even poetry was studied there. It is reported that forty

educational circles (Zawiyahs) 10 were present in the mosque Jamia Al-Amr. The other educational

institution of the Muslims was the elementary school (kuttab).11 Kuttabs were situated mostly in

teacher’s houses where the skills of reading and writing12 were developed. The curriculum of these

elementary schools was based upon Quran as a reading text book. Along with reading, the skill of

writing a text was also developed there as a part of curriculum. These elementary schools existed in

mosques as well. Palaces were also educational centers. Education had been.

Abbasids period (750-1517):

The caliphs of that era had taken a personal interest in collecting global, ground-breaking

scientific works. The Abbasid caliphs not only encouraged learning but also enjoined public

discussion and founded schools where, besides Arabic literature, theology, philosophy,

grammar, rhetoric, mathematics, physics, astrology, astronomy and other branches of science

were studied. People on the cutting edge of development and discovery all across the empire

were brought together.

Examine of the system of education during the period of the Abbasid

rulers:

Under the Abbasids, the child’s education started at home. At the age of six, boys

were admitted into schools.

Elementary schools grew up quite naturally in the peninsula. The schools were held in

mosques, in private houses and sometimes in teacher’s own house.

Besides the mosques, there were Maktabs which served as elementary schools.

The curriculum of the elementary school consisted of reading, writing, grammar,

traditions of the Prophet, elementary principles of arithmetic and some devotional

poems.

Advanced scholars engaged themselves in the study of Astronomy, Philosophy,

Geometry, Music and Medicine.

Co-education was the norm during the Abbasid period. Girls and boys of tender age

were educated together in the same school.

The girls were expected to read the Qur’an and acquire religious knowledge. Those

who continued and became masters of theology and other subjects, took to teaching as

a profession and we find some women theologians as great public teachers.

The benefit of teaching was equally extended to poor; even slaves in some cases were

admitted to schools. The system of appointing private tutors for children was in trend

among the wealthy persons of the society.

There were three types of teachers under the Abbasids:

1). first type of teachers: simply taught the Qur’an to children in the elementary school

and was called a “Muallim”. The social position of the Muallim was not considered very

notable. “Seek no advice from teachers of elementary schools,” acquired proverbial usage.

2). second type of teacher :

May be called a tutor, “Muaddib”, representing a class which was engaged in teaching the

sons of the higher strata as well as those of princes and caliphs. The class of teachers was

superior to those of elementary schools.

3).Third type of teacher:

Came the professors of higher learning. They were specialists in the teaching of logic,

mathematics, rhetoric and jurisprudence. The higher grade teachers were held in high respect

by the public.

The teachers received their payment from the pupils. The pay of the teacher was very low.

The number of students varied from a few to thousands. Ink and paper were kept ready to

take notes from the lectures delivered by professors.

The lecturers were highly respected and followed by their pupils. The students after satisfying

their teachers that they had learnt their subjects well, could ask and obtain certificates – ijaza.

During the reign of Haroon Al-Rashid (763-809 CE):

The education of the Abbasids was not only confined to that of children in primary schools.

A large number of richly endowed schools were opened, a university was founded, libraries

were organised, and an observatory was set up.

Caliph Al-Mamun:

He founded an academy named “Bait-ul-Hikmat” or House of Wisdom, where the higher

branches of learning were pursued. “Bait-ul-Hikmat may claim” says Totah “the honour of

having been the first university of both the medieval and modern world, for it bore the torch

aloft long before Boloqua, Paris, Prague, Oxford and Cambridge.” The college Bait-ul-

Hikmah boasted of a library with a librarian who was a noted mathematician and astronomer.

Nizam al-Mulk (1018-1092):

The real academy in Islam which became the model for later schools of higher learning was

the Nizamayah established by Nizam al mulk.

Malik Shah (1055-1092 CE):

He organised a system of education and started regular Madrasah and founded several

important colleges and universities.

Caliph Mustansir (1242 CE):

He added a magnificent college with library and other arrangements under the name of

‘Mustansariyyah’.

It can be concluded that the system of education under the Abbasids proved a turning point in

the educational history of the modern world. In all the higher institutions of theology, the

science of tradition lay at the basis of the curriculum and memory work was specially

stressed upon.

There were three kinds of institutions, which served the purpose of boys of different ages and

calibre. The educational system during this period was not only confined to Qu’ran and

Hadith, but advanced students had to study philosophy, astronomy, astrology, medicine,

music, history, geography, mathematics, botany, etc.

Ottoman Ampire period (1299-1923):

Under the Ottoman Empire, the towns of Bursa and Edirne became major centers of learning.

In the (1401-1600) 15th and 16th centuries, the town of Timbuktu in the West African nation

of Mali became an Islamic centre of learning with students coming from as far away as the

Middle East. The town was home to the prestigious Sankore University and other

madrasas. The primary focus of these schools was the teaching of the Qur'an, although

broader instruction in fields such as logic, astronomy, and history also took place. Over time,

there was a great accumulation of manuscripts in the area and an estimated 100,000 or more

manuscripts, some of them dated from pre-Islamic times and 12th century, are kept by the

great families from the town. Their contents are didactic, especially in the subjects of

astronomy, music, and botany. More than 18,000 manuscripts have been collected by the

Ahmed Baba centre.

He took special care to send missionaries to various places and appointed teachers to teach

Islamic law, the Holy Qur'an and Hadith. Persons were appointed to make the rows (Saffs) of

worshippers straight during a congregational Salat especially on Fridays when the

congregation was quite large.

Science and technology in the Ottoman Empire:

Over the course of Ottoman history, the Ottomans managed to build a large collection of

libraries complete with translations of books from other cultures, as well as original

manuscripts. A great part of this desire for local and foreign manuscripts arose in the 15th

Century.

Sultan Mehmet II:

Ordered Georgios Amiroutzes, a Greek scholar from Trabzon, to translate and make

available to Ottoman educational institutions the geography book of Ptolemy.

Ali Qushji:

An astronomer, mathematician and physicist originally from Samarkand- who became a

professor in two madrasas, and influenced Ottoman circles as a result of his writings and the

activities of his students, even though he only spent two or three years before his death in

Istanbul.

Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din in 1577:

Taqi al-Din built the Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din in 1577, where he carried out

astronomical observations until 1580. He calculated the eccentricity of the Sun's orbit and the

annual motion of the apogee. His observatory was destroyed in 1580[186] due to the rise of a

clerical faction which opposed or at least was indifferent to science.

Ibrahim Efendi al-Zigetvari Tezkireci:

In 1960 translated Noël Duret's French astronomical work (written in 1637) into Arabic.

Ishak Efendi:

In the 19th century, is credited with introducing the then current Western scientific ideas and

developments to the Ottoman and wider Muslim world, as well as the invention of a suitable

Turkish and Arabic scientific terminology, through his translations of Western works.

Mughal kings (1526-1857):

The Mughals were the most educated ruling class of their age. The Muslim aristocracy, and

the ulema and Sufis, the first by choice and the later too by profession and inclination kept

learning constant and continuing even in the midst of arms and political unrest or fluctuation.

Although the state had no separate department for education, liberal sums were granted for

the establishment and maintenance of educational institutions and ample grants were reserved

for the teachers and scholars of repute. These grants were supplemented by generous

donations by the nobles and the rich. Schools, madrissas and patshala were founded in

villages.

There were one hundred thousand elementary schools in Bengal and Bihar alone — a school

for every four hundred persons during the fourth decade of the nineteenth century. For higher

education there were 1800 colleges in Bengal. Akbar well-advanced of his age, built a girls’

school at Fatehpur Sikri. This development was observed even at the twilight of the Mughal

Empire by the English, and it reflects the keen interest the Mughal rulers had taken in the

promotion of education.

The education system under the rule of “Akbar” adopted an inclusive approach with the

monarch favoring additional courses: medicine, agriculture, geography, and texts from other

languages and religions, such as Patanjali's work in Sanskrit.

The traditional science in this period was influenced by the ideas of Aristotle, Bhāskara II,

Charaka and Ibn Sina. This inclusive approach was not uncommon in Mughal India.

The more conservative monarch “Aurangzeb” also favoured teaching of subjects which

could be applied to administration.

The Mughals, in fact, adopted a liberal approach to sciences and as contact with Persia

increased the more intolerant Ottoman school of manqul education came to be gradually

substituted by the more relaxed maqul school.

Early modern era (1857-1947):

With the advent of Islam in India the traditional methods of education increasingly came

under Islamic influence. Pre-Mughal rulers such as Qutb-ud-din Aybak and other Muslim

rulers initiated institutions which imparted religious knowledge. Scholars such as

Nizamuddin Auliya and Moinuddin Chishti became prominent educators and established

Islamic monasteries. Students from Bukhara and Afghanistan visited India to study

humanities and science.

Islamic institution of education in India included traditional madrassas and Maktabs which

taught grammar, philosophy, mathematics, and law influenced by the Greek traditions

inherited by Persia and the Middle East. A feature of this traditional Islamic education was its

emphasis on the connection between science and humanities.

Shah Waliullah:

Among the centres of education in India was 18th century Delhi was the Madrasa

Rahimiya under the supervision of Shah Waliullah, an educator who favoured an approach

balancing the Islamic scriptures and science. The course at the Madrasa Rahimiya prescribed

2 books on grammar, 1 book on philosophy, 2 books on logic, 2 books on astronomy and

mathematics, and 5 books on mysticism.

Mulla Nizamuddin Sahlawi:

Another centre of prominence arose in Lucknow under Mulla Nizamuddin Sahlawi, who

educated at the Firangi Mahal and prescribed a course called the Dars-i-Nizami which

combined traditional studies with modern and laid emphasis on logic.

The middle Ages also saw the rise of private tuition in India. A tutor, or Riyazi, was an

educated professional who could earn a suitable living by performing tasks such as creating

calendars or generating revenue estimates for nobility.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898):

He was a great visionary, statesman and Muslim reformer of the 19th century, the like of

whom is rare. His supreme interest was intellectual development of the people through

modern education. He wanted to create a scientific temperament among the Muslims of India

and to make the modern knowledge of Science available to them. He began establishing

schools, at Muradabad in 1858 and Ghazipur in 1863.

A more ambitious undertaking was the foundation of the Scientific Society, which published

translations of many educational texts and issued a bilingual journal in Urdu and English.

A Muslim school was established at Aligarh in May 1875, and after his retirement in 1876,

Sir Syed dedicated himself to make it a college. In 1862 he formed a scientific society,

He established Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which prospered and became the key

intellectual centre for Indian Muslims - The Aligarh Muslim University. The success of the

college was largely due to his leadership and a curriculum embodying both Western and

Oriental studies.

: REFRENCES:

http://muslimgirl.net/959/theabbasidera/

http://www.qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The%20Dialogue/9_4/

Dialogue_October_December2014_356-272.pdf

https://www.alislam.org/books/religiousknowledge/sec4.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_education_in_the_Indian_subcontinent

www.slideshare.net

http://muslimheritage.com/article/madrasa-education-during-early-ottoman-

period

http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_5_March_2013/16.pdf