Islamic Educational History

Introduction
Mohammad said seeking knowledge is mandatory for all Muslims.   The first Islamic schools were in mosques.  Maktabs (elementary schools) were created in the 10th century.  They were schools attached to mosques.  Secondary schooling is known as a madrasa (place of learning).  Women played a big role in Islamic Education.  Law and medical schools were popular in Islamic civilization.  There were several important Islamic universities.  Islamic educational systems were influenced by older civilizations. Islamic education had a big impact on western education.

In the Beginning
Students in mosques were taught the Qur'an, Hadith, sports, combat, horseback riding, and several other subjects.  Sometimes they would memorize verses in the Qur'an.  Most Muslim students studied in Maktabs. This form of schooling caused the Muslim World to have the highest literacy rate during the Middle Ages.

Madrasa
Many subjects were taught at in madrasas.  They were math, alchemy, geography, astronomy, philosophy, magic, astrology, logic, music, medicine, history, Arabic, grammar, calligraphy, and politics.   The government of the Ottoman Empire recruited Persian scholars to teach in their madrasas. Madrasas were created all over the Muslim World.  They still exist today!  Each madrasa had its own curriculum.  Some were more religious.  Others were more secular.

Women Role in Islamic Education
Women attended madrasas.  They were also teachers in madrasas.  The first madrasa was created by a woman.  A wife of a caliph funded infrastructure and education.  A wife of the Ottoman Sultan endowed hospitals, public baths, soup kitchens, and madrasas.  Many educational and religious buildings & monuments were endowed by women.

Law Schools
There were Sunni and Shia law schools.  There is an Ibadi school of law as well.  There are several Sunni schools of law.  They exist throughout the Sunni Muslim World.  Shia law schools are more intellectual and hierarchical compared to Sunni schools.  In the Ibadi law school, the Qur'an and hadith are supreme.

Medical History
An Arab man named Al-Harith traveled to Persia and studied in a medical school called Jundisabur. There were hospitals in Persia called bimaristan.  He brought his knowledge back to Arabia.  He was Muhammad cousin.

A Persian doctor translated a medical book from Syriac to Arabic during the Umayyad dynasty. During the Abbasid dynasty, 2 families were experts on medicine.  They were the Bakhtishu family and the Masaway family.  The Bakhtishu family came from Persia to help heal the caliph.

Books were written by Muslim doctors that were later translated into Latin.  They were used in European medical schools for centuries.  The Comprehensive Book on Medicine was created by Al-Razi disciples. They compiled his writings together after he died.  The book gave the Greek, Syrian, Persian, Arab, and Indian views on different diseases.  His opinions of the diseases were in the book as well.  They were based on his observations.

There were hospitals for different diseases in the Islamic World.  In mental hospitals, patients were kept in cells so they wouldn't hurt people.  There were hospitals 4 people with leprosy. Doctors quarantined the patients so no one else would get leprosy.  There were hospitals for people on the Hajj and for traders. There were hospitals 4 prisoners. There were traveling hospitals 4 villagers because they lived far away from the cities.

Sometimes medical students were taught in the hospitals.  It is known as Medical Educational Assemblies. Students would often debate each other. Anatonomy. physiology and pathology were taught in these schools.

Islamic Universities
There was a huge library in Baghdad called the House of Wisdom.  It may have also been a university. An Abundance of scholars came there and they exchanged ideas. Many scientific texts in various languages were translated into Arabic in HoW.  The House of Wisdom was created during the Islamic Golden Age.  It was destroyed in 1258 by the Mongols.

The Moors created several universities in Spain.  Check out Moorish Legacy.

The House of Knowledge was created in Cairo.  It was a library and university.  It was created in 1004.  It had many volumes of books.  The founder of the Druze religion studied at the House of Knowledge.  When the Fatimids dynasty fell the library was looted and it fell into disarray.                                        

There were 3 mosques & madrasas in Timbuktu.  They were Sankore, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya. A lot of people came to Timbuktu to learn.  A lot of texts was written there.  Timbuktu was created by a Tuareg leader.  It later became part of the Mali Empire and then Songhai Empire.  

Influences on Islamic Education
Arabic numerals came from the Hindus.  This lead to the creation of higher mathematics.  Arabs learned papermaking from the Chinese.  Islamic medicine and philosophy are largely based on knowledge discovered by ancient Greeks. Several Muslim medical students studied at a Persian medical school.  Islamic astronomy was heavily influenced by Indian astronomy.    

Islamic influence on Western Education
Muslims brought Hindu numerals to Europe, which gave Europeans the ability to do higher mathematics. B4 Europeans had Hindu numerals they used Roman numerals. They were unable to do higher mathematics until they learned the Hindu numerals. They introduced ancient Greek texts to Europe.  They brought papermaking to Europe and the scientific method.  The Islamic Golden Age sparked the European Renaissance.
                                                                        
Conclusion
Muslims created primary and secondary schooling.  Women played a big role in Islamic education. There were Islamic law and medical schools.  There were great Islamic universities.  Islamic education was influenced by older civilizations and it had a positive effect on Western education. Islamic education was great!  

References
http://lostislamichistory.com/education/
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2133/Islam.html
http://www.geocities.ws/ta3leqa1/islamic.html
House of Knowledge
Foreign influences on Islamic Education
http://www.barakabits.com/2014/10/5-persian-scholars-shaped-islamic-world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrasa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Al_Quaraouiyine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maktab
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1322233/
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/islam06.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhhab
http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/abbasids-house-wisdom-baghdad
http://www.blackhistorystudies.com/resources/resources/15-facts-on-the-moors-in-spain/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Timbuktu
http://www.timbuktuheritage.org/timhistory.html
http://www.silk-road.com/artl/papermaking.shtml
http://www.twf.org/Library/Renaissance.html
Vid of Islamic Education
Islamic Knowledge
Islamic Egypt Education
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