History of Madrassas

According to Islam, seeking earthly knowledge is also important .The mosque was the first school in Islam. Mosques were the places where Quran was compiled. It was here where early Muslims seeking to solve their problems in the light of the newly revealed knowledge would come to obtain answers. The mosque continued to be the center of learning even after Prophet’s death. However, as Islam expanded to other regions and came into contact with other original traditions and languages, it became necessary to create a cadre of Muslim experts who would develop difficult writings and textbooks on Fiqa – Islamic jurisprudence, Sunna – Prophet’s traditions, Hadith – Prophet’s sayings, and Tafseer – the interpretation of the Koran, to cater to the needs of non-Arab Muslim populations. Thus began the tradition of Madrassa, the center for higher learning the initial purpose of which was to preserve religious conformity through uniform teachings of Islam for all. This is especially true for Madrassas in Spain where the Muslims ruled for almost 800 years and which is usually referred to as the Golden Age of both Islamic and Jewish advancement in science, technology and philosophy.

An interesting fact aboutMadrassa is that a catalogue of inventory of Madrassa prepared in 1045 revealed that it had 6500 volumes on different subjects, including astronomy, architecture and philosophy. At the same time, as Islam spread to further east, the Sufi orders of the Muslim faith were establishing Madrassas in the Indian Sub-Continent and Central Asia. In these Sufi Madrassas grammar, poetry, literature, logic, math and other disciplines of Islam and general knowledge were taught.