2. Historiography
of the Educational System of the
Muslims
History of educational system of the Muslims
Umayyad caliphate,(661–750) to Abbasid caliphate,750–1258
2
4. Significance of the Study
A historical study thus
collects experiences of
the past and passes them
on to determine the
course of our future
action.
The education system of
the Muslims, over the
centuries produced those
philosophers, scientists,
jurists, the men of letters
and experts in every field
of knowledge, who had
made incredible
contributions to art,
literature, poetry,
philosophy, medicine,
astronomy, geography,
physics, alchemy,
mineralogy, politics, etc.
None of these
achievements would have
been possible but for that
devotion to learning and
education which has
characterized those
people throughout the
history.
Thus system of
education developed by
the Muslims especially
during the Abbasids’
period is worth close
examination in order to
get an insight from it for
the development of our
own system.
4
5. Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze authentic
historical documents subject to scholarly methods
of criticism to elucidate the fundamental pillars of
the educational system of the Muslims during
Umayyad and the Abbasids rule.
5
6. Institutions of elementary education
Umayyad’s period ,(661–750)
1.Mosques (reading,
writing education of
Quran and Islamic
basic principles)
2.Kuttabs in
Mosques and private
houses
3.Houses of learned
persons and Home
based education
4.Public places
(Ribats)
5.Houses of teachers
(formal schools)
6
7. Institutions of higher education
Abbasid caliphate,(750–1258)
1.Mosques
(Education of theological,
linguistic and even science
subjects)
2. Houses of scholars 3. Royal literary circles
4. Public places
(libraries, hospitals and book
shops)
5. Formal education
institutions
(boarding madrassas)
(Al-Nizamiyah)
Jamia Al-Amr,
Jamia Dimashq,
Jamia Al-Mansoor
7
10. Syllabus:
Umayyad’s period
To learn pure Arabic language majority of the
people in the cities and towns started making study
circles round the native Bedouins and listening to
them.
Muaawiyah’s grandson, Khalid bin Yazeed was
deeply interested in medicine, astrology and
alchemy.
Yahiya b. Khalid were busy in arranging regular
conferences for philosophers and the well-known
figures in the religious studies for free discussions
about topics mostly related with Ilm al Kalam.
The intellectual output of the Umayyad period
consisted largely of poetry and religious studies.
Abbasid’s Period
Poetry, exegesis, traditions, jurisprudenceفقہ ,
astronomy and other science subjects were
started to discuss in these circles.
The first Islamic academy (Bait al-Hikmah)
Through translators foreign knowledge was
transferred from Greek, Syrian, Old Persian and
Indian to Arabic language.
Thus Arabic language became the vehicle for fresh
and original work in science, especially in medicine,
astronomy, alchemy (which was the beginning
of the science of chemistry), geography,
mathematics, and also in philosophy, history,
ethics and literature.
10
12. Key Features of Education during
each Period
Umayyad’s period
• Structure of Institutions Informal
Settings .
• Control of Institutions The Teacher
In charge.
• Appointment of teacher Mostly
single-teacher schools, No significant
involvement of government
Abbasid’s Period
• Developed to Formal Madrasahs
(Schools).
• Proper School Heads
• No involvement of government in
case of madrasahs
12
13. Key Features of Education during each Period
Umayyad’s period
Teacher’s Dress Code Izar,
qamees and a mantle wrapped
about the shoulders.
Stages of education Primary
Education.
Nature of education Mostly
religious and linguistic.
Medium of Education Local
languages.
Abbasid’s Period
A distinctive black turban and
Taylasan or Taylas.
Primary and Higher Education
Contemporary subjects
Local languages
13
15. Key Features of Education during each Period
Umayyad’s period
Status of elementary teachers Low
social and economic status
Status of teachers for higher
studies High
Status of Tutors (Royal) Prestigious
Financial Resources of Institutions
Casual funds provided by Government
or Private Donations
Abbasid’s Period
Status of elementary teacher
improved
High
Prestigious
Arrangement for Enduring
Resources at the time of
establishment of institutions
15
16. Key Features of Education during each Period
Umayyad’s period
Certificates of Education No
certificate was given till 300 A.H
Provision of written learning
material No facility was there to
buy written books. Students had to
make their personal notes.
Abbasid’s Period
Certificates (Sama’ & Ijazah) were
stated to be awarded
Book Shops were first time
appeared in the market. Books were
copied and sold there.
16
17. Key Factors of the Education System &
Their Impacts
Modernization of Education
Education as a Sign of Luxury & Prominence
Development of Arabic Language
Education in native language
Intense translation work
18. Key Factors of the Education System & Their
Impacts
18
Institution of book production and provision
Endowments for educational Institutions
Accumulation of best brains
Involvement of best brains in education
Prestigious status of teachers
19. The founder of the world’s first known
university
• Fatima al-Fihri was a Muslim woman from Tunisia who
founded the first known university more than 1,000 years
ago: the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco.
Guinness World Records acknowledges it as the oldest
existing and continually operating educational institution
in the world.
19
20. 20
Conclusion:
• The study suggests some fundamental remedial measures in the theoretical bases for
the system of education in Pakistan. The first and foremost proposition is to have a
belief in education’s true worth for socio-economic and human-centered
development. The second and more important is to have a belief in education as a
service not as a selling commodity. The practical measures that are suggested
includes: making financially independent teaching and research Institutions
specially at higher education level, accumulating and involving the best brains in
the process of education by giving them incentives, elevating the social and
economic status of school teachers by appointing deserving people through
standardized and fair assessment and specifying a dignified dress code for them
that can inspire the young children to come into this profession. Moreover for making
education a meaningful activity for young children and to involve the maximum human
potential of our population in national development, medium of teaching should be
the national language.
21. BIBLIOGRAPHY (References):
1 Lovat Frazer, India under Cruzan and After (London: William Heinemann, 1911), 188.
2 A. R. Mallick, British Policy and the Muslims in Bengal (Dacca: Asiatic Society, 1961), 202
3 Fazlur Rahman, New Education in the Making in Pakistan (London: Cassell & Company, 1953), 21-22; See also Suresh Chandra Ghosh, The
History of Education in Modern India (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2000), 12.
4 Nirad C. Chaudhari, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian (London: Macmillan, 1951), 180-181, I. H. Qureshi, Education in Pakistan
(Karachi: University of Karachi, 1999), 54.
5 Fazlur Rahman, New Education in the Making in Pakistan, op.cit., 67.
6 Ahmad Shalaby, History of Muslim Education (Karachi: Indus Publications, 1979), 49; See also Syed Hussein Nasr, Science and Civilization in
Islam (Lahore: Sohail Academy, 1983), 65.
7 Ibn al-Nadeem, Al-Fehrist, trans. M. Ishaq Bhatti (Lahore: Idara Siqafat Islamiah, 1969), 187-188.
21
اموی خلافتUmayyad caliphate.
عباسی خلافت Abbasid caliphate .
Background:
The existing system of education in Pakistan is a legacy of prepartitioned
British India. British rulers developed this system for
their own political interests; they were not interested to make
education universal because it had been already discovered that among other effects of new education, it creates a desire for
participation in the authority and work of government1, which they
would never want to see in Indians.
اداروں کے پائیدار وسائل Enduring resources of institutions
تعلیمی نظام کے اہم عوامل اور ان کے اثرات Key Factors of the Education System and Their Impacts.
How an infrastructure of educational institutions was
developed for the education of various contemporary
subjects of that time?
• What was the role of government in the administrative and
financial affairs of educational institutions at that time?
• How a scholastic culture was transmitted to general public
that was initially limited to the courts of rulers?
• What were the key constituents of the educational
arrangements that remained common during the rule of
both dynasties?
4th point : اس طرح مسلمانوں نے خاص طور پر عباسیوں کے دور میں جو نظام تعلیم تیار کیا ہے وہ قریب سے جانچ پڑتال کے قابل ہے تاکہ ہمارے اپنے نظام کی ترقی کے لئے اس سے بصیرت حاصل کی جا سکے۔
اس مطالعے کا مقصد اموی اور عباسی وں کے دور حکومت میں مسلمانوں کے تعلیمی نظام کے بنیادی ستونوں کو واضح کرنے کے لئے تنقید کے علمی طریقوں سے مشروط مستند تاریخی دستاویزات کا تجزیہ کرنا ہے۔
Kuttabs were situated mostly in teachers’ houses where the skills of reading and writing were developed. The curriculum of these elementary schools was based upon Quran as a reading textbook.
Ribats: The word ribat in its abstract refers to voluntary defense of Islam, which is why ribats were originally used to house those who fought to defend Islam in jihad. They can also be referred to by other names such as khanqah, most commonly used in Iran, and tekke, most commonly used in Turkey.
Education of literary subjects as
well as science subjects started in the mosques in addition to the
Holy Quran and the Hadith. other roles like political
centers and courts of justice including their fundamental role as
places of prayer.
Royal Literary Circles3۔ شاہی ادبی حلقے flourished during the Abbasid’s period. These circles were highly prepared and only people of certain classes were admitted in. The literary circles had the highest status of all kind of meetings which flourished at that time and poetical contests, religious debates and literary conferences were often held there.
2. Till the establishment of the first purposely built
The school (Al-Nizamiyah), during the Abbasids’ period, the mosques were
the major place of education. Jamia Al-Amr, Jamia Dimashq,
Jamia Al-Mansoor were the prestigious institutions where
prominent scholars used to teach a number of educational circles9
of different subjects.
Due to intermarriage and intermingling with these foreigners(from many cities like Medina, Damascus, Kufa and Basra) a new and broken Arabic language had been started to develop.
1. Modernization of Education
The Umayyad started studying non- religious subjects was developed among common people.
2. Education as a Sign of Luxury & Prominence
As the members of Royal family and other dignitaries started involving in literary activities, education became the route to join these activities and enjoy the same luxuries.
3. Development of Arabic Language
Thus Al-Badiya (The Syrian Desert) started serving as a language school.
4. Intense translation work
Works in foreign languages were translated into Arabic. Abbasid’s period
Institution of book production and provision (Bait al-
Hikmah, a special wing for book production)
The bookshops appeared early during the Abbasid period.
2. Endowments for educational Institutions
Al-Mamoon(Abbasid period) did not wish education to depend upon the by chance generosity of the people and caliphs. He built permanent buildings for educational institutions on a large scale and made them independent of casual gifts by creating permanent endowments for their promotion and support.
3. Accumulation of best brains
They accumulated scholars and experts in different fields of knowledge, irrespective of religion and creed, on attractive remunerations and laudable positions. This produced an atmosphere of scholarship and academic freedom in society.
4. Prestigious status of teachers
The prestigious social and economic status of teachers produced a sense of competition among scholars and attracted even ruling authorities who started to teach as honorary teachers in reputed institutions during their free time to enjoy the status of teachers.
In AD859, al-Fihri decided that a place of higher learning was much needed in the city and founded the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University, naming it after her hometown. She oversaw construction of the building – 30 metres long with a courtyard, prayer hall, library and schoolrooms.
In the beginning, the educational part of al-Qarawiyyin offered courses in religious instruction and the Qur’an, but its curriculum gradually expanded into Arabic grammar, mathematics, music, medicine and astronomy, and then began conferring degrees on its graduates. The university swiftly became a famous spiritual and educational centre, visited by scholars and intellectuals from all over the world. Al-Fihri attended lectures there until her later years
اس مطالعے سے پاکستان میں نظام تعلیم کے لئے نظریاتی بنیادوں میں کچھ بنیادی تدارکی اقدامات کا پتہ چلتا ہے۔ پہلی اور اہم تجویز یہ ہے کہ سماجی و اقتصادی اور انسانی مرکوز ترقی کے لئے تعلیم کی حقیقی قدر پر یقین ہو۔ دوسرا اور زیادہ اہم یہ ہے کہ تعلیم پر ایک خدمت کے طور پر یقین رکھنا ہے نہ کہ فروخت کرنے والی چیز کے طور پر۔ جو عملی اقدامات تجویز کیے گئے ہیں ان میں شامل ہیں: مالی طور پر آزاد تدریسی اور تحقیقی اداروں کو خاص طور پر اعلیٰ تعلیم کی سطح پر بنانا، تعلیم کے عمل میں بہترین دماغوں کو مراعات دے کر جمع کرنا اور شامل کرنا، معیاری اور منصفانہ تشخیص کے ذریعے مستحق افراد کی تقرری کرکے اسکول اساتذہ کی سماجی اور معاشی حیثیت کو بلند کرنا اور ان کے لئے ایک باوقار لباس ضابطہ کی تخصیص کرنا جو چھوٹے بچوں کو اس پیشے میں آنے کی ترغیب دے سکے۔ مزید برآں تعلیم کو چھوٹے بچوں کے لئے ایک بامعنی سرگرمی بنانے اور قومی ترقی میں ہماری آبادی کی زیادہ سے زیادہ انسانی صلاحیت کو شامل کرنے کے لئے تدریس کا ذریعہ قومی زبان ہونا چاہئے۔
