Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand, ca. 1912

Madrasah (Arabic: مدرسة) is the Arabic word for any type of school, secular or religious (of any religion). It is variantly transliterated as madrasah, madrash, medresa, madreseh, madrassa, medrusha, or madressa. In common English usage the word "madrasah" is taken to refer to a Sunni Islamic religious school. ^[1] Image File history File links Stork nests on the Ulugh Beg Madrasa in Samarkand. ... Image File history File links Stork nests on the Ulugh Beg Madrasa in Samarkand. ... Samarkand (Tajik: Самарқанд, Persian: ‎ , Uzbek: , Russian: ), population 412,300 in 2005, is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Students in Rome, Italy. ... Due to the fact that the Arabic language has a number of phonemes that have no equivalent in English or other European languages, a number of different transliteration methods have been invented to represent certain Arabic characters, due to various conflicting goals: A desire to stay consistent with traditional usage...

Definition

The word "madrasah" also exists in many Arabic-influenced languages such as Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Indonesian, Malay and Bosnian. In the Arabic language, the word مدرسة implies no sense other than that which the word school represents in the English language, such as private, public or parochial school, as well as for any primary or secondary school whether Muslim, non-Muslim or secular. Unlike the understanding of the word school in British English, the word madrasah refers in American English to a university-level or post-graduate Islamic school. The correct Arabic word for a university, however, is jamiʿah. The Hebrew cognate "midrasha" also connotes the meaning of a place of learning. There are some madrasah-like institutions also in North America and in Europe. The phrase Zaban-e Urdu-e Mualla written in Urdu Urdu () is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, and Sanskrit influence in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... The Kurdish language is a language spoken in the region called Kurdistan, including Kurdish populations in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. ... The Malay language, also known locally as bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who reside in the Malay Peninsula, southern Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau islands, and parts of the coast of Borneo. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

A Madrasah complex in The Gambia

A typical Islamic school (madrasah) usually offers two courses of study: a "hifz" course; that is memorisation of the Qur'an (the person who commits the entire Qur'an to memory is called a hafiz); and an 'alim course leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic, Tafsir (Qur'anic interpretation), shari'ah (Islamic law), Hadith (recorded sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad), Mantiq (logic), and Muslim History. Depending on the educational demands, some madrasahs also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic literature, English and other foreign languages, as well as science and world history. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 379 KB) Summary Madrassa in Serrekunda, Gambia. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 379 KB) Summary Madrassa in Serrekunda, Gambia. ... For other uses, see Hafiz (disambiguation). ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... For other uses, see Hafiz (disambiguation). ... alim (Arabic: عالم) This islamic term literally means learned person. The term alim usually refers to the person who holds a degree in shariah sciences. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... A tafsir ( (Arabic: تفسير) tafsÄ«r, Arabic explanation) is Quranic exegesis or commentary. ... Sharia (Arabic شريعة also Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is traditional Islamic law. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other persons named Muhammad, see Muhammad (name). ... Muslim history began in Arabia with Muhammads first purported visions in the 7th century. ... Arabic literature (Arabic ,الأدب العربي ) Al-Adab Al-Arabi, is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ...

People of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming imams. The certificate of an 'alim' for example, requires approximately twelve years of study. A good number of the huffaz (plural of hafiz) are the product of the madrasahs. The madrasahs also resemble colleges, where people take evening classes and reside in dormitories. An important function of the madrasahs is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide them with education and training. Madrassahs may enroll female students; however, they study separately from the men. There are examples of all-female madrassahs. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Hafiz (disambiguation). ...

In South Africa, madrasahs play an important role in giving after-school religious instruction to Muslim children who attend government, or private non-religious schools. However, increasing numbers of more affluent Muslim children attend full-fledged private Islamic Schools which combine secular and religious education. Among Muslims of Indian origin, madrasahs also used to provide instruction in Urdu, although this is far less common today than it used to be. (, historically spelled Ordu), is an Middle Eastern-Aryan language. ...

History

Madrassa Osman ef. Redžović in Visoko, Bosnia was rebuilt shortly after Bosnian war. It is now a modern school with mosque, and has plans for further expansions

Madrasahs did not exist in the early period of Islam. Their formation can probably be traced to the early Islamic custom of meeting in mosques to discuss religious issues. At this early stage, people seeking religious knowledge tended to gather around certain more knowledgable Muslims; these informal teachers later became known as the shaykhs; and these shaykhs began to hold regular religious education sessions called 'majalis'. Image File history File links MedresaVisoko. ... Image File history File links MedresaVisoko. ... Combatants Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Predominantly Bosniak) Army of Republika Srpska, Yugoslav Peoples Army, various paramilitary units from Serbia and Montenegro (Serbian) Croatian Defence Council, Croatian Army (Croatian) Commanders Alija Izetbegović (President of Bosnia and Herzegovina) Sefer Halilović (Army chief of staff 1992-1993) Rasim... The Masjid al-Haram in Mecca as it exists today A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ...

Established in 859, Jami'at al-Qarawiyyin (located in Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque) in the city of Fas (Fez), is considered the oldest madrasah in the Muslim world. Events Battle of Abelda: Asturias beats the Muslims. ... Interior of the Al Karaouine Mosque and University The University of Al Karaouine (Arabic: ‎) (other transliterations of the name include Kairouyine, Qaraouyine, Quarawin, Al-Qarawiyin, Kairaouine, Karaouine and El Qaraouiyn) is a university located in Fes, Morocco. ... Bab Bou Jeloud, gate to the Old Medina of Fes Leather dyeing vats in Fes For specific travel tips, see the entry on Fez at http://wikitravel. ...

During the late Abbasid period, the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk created the first major official academic institution known in history as the Madrasah Nizamiyyah, based on the informal majalis (sessions of the shaykhs). Al-Mulk, who would later be murdered by the Assassins (Hashshashin), created a system of State Madrasahs (in his time they were called, the Nizamiyyahs, named after him) in various Abbasid cities at the end of the 11th century. Abbasid Caliphate (Abbasid Khalifat) and contemporary states and empires in 820. ... Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Tusi Nizam al-Mulk (نظام الملك، ابو علي الحسن الطوسي in Arabic; 1018 - 14 October 1092) was a celebrated Persian vizier of the Seljuk... Assassin may refer to: Hashshashin, the historical Muslim sect of Alamut An assassin, a murderer who is politically motivated Sometimes a hitman, a murderer who is motivated by money, is called an assassin Assassin (rap crew), a French rap crew. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

During the rule of the Fatimid^[2] and Mamluk^[3] dynasties and their successor states in the medieval Middle East, many of the ruling elite founded madrasas through a religious endowment known as the waq'f. Not only was the madrasa a potent symbol of status but it was an effective means of transmitting wealth and status to their descendants. Especially during the Mamluk period, when only former slaves could assume power, the sons of the ruling Mamluk elite were unable to inherit. Guaranteed positions within the new madrasas thus allowed them to maintain status. Madrasas built in this period include the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan in Cairo. The Fatimids, Fatimid Caliphate or al-FātimiyyÅ«n (Arabic الفاطميون) is the Shia dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, and the Levant from 5 January 910 to 1171. ... A Mamluk cavalryman, drawn in 1810 A mamluk (Arabic: مملوك (singular), مماليك (plural), owned; also transliterated mameluk, mameluke, or mamluke) was a slave soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages. ... A waqf (Arabic: وقف, plural awqāf) is an inalienable religious endowment in Islam, typically devoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. ... The Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa (School) is considered stylistically the most compact and unified of all Cairo monuments. ... Nickname: Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ...

Madrasahs in South Asia

Madrasahs in India

In India, there are around 30,000 operating madrasahs.^[4] Majority of these schools follow the Hanafi school of thought. One of the most famous of these is Darul Uloom Deoband (Dar al-'Ulum), located in Deoband, a small town located in the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. In 1986, the Indian government expedited a project to modernize madrasahs by introducing other subjects including Mathematics, Physical sciences, English, Economics, and World History.^[5] Madrasah education is always provided for free. As a result, the madrasahs often have a multifarious student enrollment, including some Hindus and Christians.^[6] // The Hanafi (Arabic حنفي) school is the oldest of the four schools of thought (Madhhabs) or jurisprudence (Fiqh) within Sunni Islam. ... The Darul Uloom, (dārul ulÅ«m devband in Hindi and Urdu) is an Islamic madrassa (seminary) famous for being the inception place of the Deobandi Islamic movement. ... Deoband (the Latinised name, from Devband or Devaband in Hindi and Urdu) is a small city located in Saharanpur district in the upper Doab region, in Uttar Pradesh. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: , Urdu: ‎, translation: Northern Province, IPA: ,  ), also popularly known by its abbreviation U.P., is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Republic of India. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... Physical science is the branch of science including chemistry and physics, usually contrasted with the social sciences and sometimes including and sometimes contrasted with natural or biological science. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... World History is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. ... This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... This article is about the religous people known as Christians. ...

Madrasahs in Pakistan

For Main Article: Madrassas in Pakistan . Islamic seminaries teach mostly Islamic subjects leading to graduation as a cleric (called maulvi, maulana or mulla in Pakistan. ...

There are more than 10,000 madrasahs currently (as of 1998?) operating in Pakistan.^[7] It is estimated that one to two million children are enrolled in madrasahs.^[8] Some media reports say that only 0.3 percent^{[citation needed]} of Pakistani school age children are enrolled in traditional madrasahs. This is according to Pakistan's 1998 Population Census The World Bank Group. The 1998 Population Census found only 150,000 children.^{[citation needed]} Orphans, migrants, and part-time students may explain the discrepancy. Regardless, percentage wise, the madrasah enrollment is relatively insignificant. There has been considerable intellectual disagreement about the linkages of madrassahs to conflict in Pakistan. A study conducted in 2005 by Saleem Ali for the United States Institute of Peace attempts to clarify some of these concerns by providing a detailed empirical comparison of rural and urban madrassahs (currently this study is being updpated and expanded as a book (expected to be completed in 2007), though an earlier draft is available online ^[9]. The project also included a web video on such schools titled Children of Faith.^[10] Saleem H. Ali is a Pakistani-American scholar who is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermonts Rubenstein School of Natural Resources, and on the adjunct faculty of Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. ...

Criticism

Due to administrative mishandling, radical political indoctrination of students and adopting a more conservative view of the simple teachings of Islam, especially in certain Muslim countries such as Pakistan, madrasahs nowadays are frequently deemed as ideological and political training grounds for hatred against the West.^{[citation needed]} In Pakistan in particular, the heavy emphasis on religious teachings to the exclusion of more economically viable subject areas has been criticized. It is important to remember that while these political and ideological biases exist on a school-by-school basis, the word madrasah literally means "school" and does not imply a political affiliation. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... The term Western world or the West (also on rare occasions called the Occident) can have multiple meanings depending on its context (i. ...

There are also many allegations and documented cases of physical abuse in madrasahs, especially in the UK, such as corporal punishment, beatings and other such practices ^[11]; such criticisms are usually limited to western countries, as practices such as these are an established pedagogic norm in many nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh or Nigeria.

References

1. ^ http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/madrasah
2. ^ Jonathan Berkey, The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), passim
3. ^ Ira Lapidus, Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), passim
4. ^ The Boston Globe: Indian madrasahs
5. ^ Reforming the Indian Madrassas: Contemporary Muslim Voices
6. ^ BBC News: Narapatipara High Madrassa
7. ^ FrontPage Magazine: Can Pakistan Reform?
8. ^ FrontPage Magazine: Can Pakistan Reform?
9. ^ Pakistani Madrassahs: A Balanced View
10. ^ Children of Faith Video by Dr. Saleem Ali, Ph.D.
11. ^ The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain: Novice imams must be vetted, Muslim leaders say

See also

• Hawza - used in Shi'a Islam
• Darul Uloom - another similar type of Islamic school
• Dars-e Nizamiyyah - most common Madrasah curriculum
• Fiqh - main subject of Madrasah schooling
• Shari'ah - main subject of Madrasah schooling
• Islamic architecture
• Mutawin
• Alim - Islamic scholar, usually a graduate of a madrasah or darul uloom
• Taliban (Former Madrasah students)
• Yeshiva - Jewish religious schooling.
• Seminary - Christian religious schooling

Hawza is an academy or school of traditional Islamic studies. ... Darul uloom (Arabic: دار العلوم) also transliterated dar al-`ulum, darul ulumetc. ... Dars-i-Nizami is a study curriculum used in a large portion of madrasahs (Islamic religious school) in South Asia. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sharia (Arabic شريعة also Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is traditional Islamic law. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ulema (Arabic: علماء) is the community of legal scholars of Islam and the Sharia. ... For the position of women during the Talibans rule, see Taliban treatment of women. ... This article is about the Jewish educational system. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... A seminary or theological college is a specialized and often live-in higher education institution for the purpose of instructing students (seminarians) in philosophy, theology, spirituality and the religious life, usually in order to prepare them to become members of the clergy. ...

External links

• Wiktionary definition of the word "madrasah" [1]
• Meaning of the word madrassah: [2]
• Madrassahs in Pakistan (A project of the United States Institute of Peace): [3]
• A traditional Afghan madrassa: Islam Way Online - Your Religion and Spirituality Portal

• About Islamic Religious Schools: Madrasas.info

• A discussion on the Mamluk-era madrasa of Khawand Baraka, from The Women Writers Archive

• Alexander Evans, Understanding Madrasahs, Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2006: [4]
• Holy War 101 (Newsweek) and commentary by R. Spencer
• Tariq Rahman, Denizens of Alien Worlds (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2004. Reprinted 2006), Chapter on 'Madrassas'.
• Islamic Seminaries (Madrassas) in Pakistan, Wikipedia entry,
• Lessons from God The Common Language Project
• "Madaris in Perspective", Waleed Ziad, The News, Pakistan
• "Revisiting the Madrasa Question - A talk given by Dr. Nomanul Haq (University of Pennsylvania) at LUMS", Bilal Tanweer, The News, Pakistan