Madrasah literally means 'a place to study'. Madrasas and 'ulama are fortresses of Islam, within them Islam is preserved and has reached our era in it's purest form. The following excerpt is quoted from the website of Darul Ulum Al Arabia Al Islamiyya, Strand in South Africa. It is a History of Madrasas:



The founding of enclaves for the preservation and advancement of knowledge is a theme that resonates throughout the history of Islam. In its earliest form it was the masjid that served as the nucleus of knowledge. It was here that the Sahabah received their knowledge from Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and it was also primarily in the masjid that they transmitted their knowledge to the following generation. Often the homes of scholars would be the locus for the transmission of knowledge.

Important centres for the dissemination of knowledge during this early period include the Harams of Makkah and Madinah, the Grand Mosque of Kufah, the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, and the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Egypt. To this period, too, belong the “university mosques” of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez (founded 245/859) and al-Azhar in Cairo (founded 359/971).

The madrasah would make its appearance in the late 4th century. The earliest madrasahs appeared in Nishapur, now in north-eastern Iran. These were structures erected specifically for the transmission of knowledge. Before the end of the following century the perspicacity and munificence of one man would see the establishment of a madrasah in several major cities in the eastern wing of the Muslim lands. He was the illustrious wazir or chief minister of the Seljuqs, Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi (died 485/1092).

He founded a Madrasah Nizamiyyah in Baghdad, Balkh, Nishapur, Herat, Isfahan, Basrah, Merv, Amul and Mosul. To the existing idea of a madrasah as a structural edifice Nizam al-Mulk added an important dimension: each madrasah was supported by a waqf, an endowment to support both the students and teachers of his madrasahs. The celebrated Imam al-Ghazali was one of the earliest pupils of the Nizamiyyah of Nishapur where he studied under the tutelage of Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni. He would later go on to become the most distinguished teacher at the Nizamiyyah of Baghdad. The same century saw the establishment of similar madrasahs by the Murabitun, and later the Muwahhidun, at Fez and Sousse in Morocco, the western wing of the Muslim world.

During the next few centuries the number of madrasahs increased dramatically. In Baghdad the crowning jewel amongst such institutions was the magnificent Madrasah Mustansiriyyah built by the Abbasid khalifah al-Mustansir in 625/1227 for the teaching of all four madhahib in addition to the other Islamic disciplines and sciences such as mathematics, biology and medicine.

In Damascus and Cairo the Ayyubids, and then the Mamluks, proved to be very eager patrons of learning. The rulers and their affluent subjects vied with one another in constructing uniquely attractive madrasahs, and many of these buildings stand in virtually unscathed beauty up to the present day. The names of the men who were the products and teachers at these madrasahs, and the sheer volume of their contributions to scholarship in Islam provide eloquent testimony to the generous patronage which the Ayyubids and Mamluks extended to the tradition of knowledge: Izz al-Din Ibn Abd al-Salam, Imam al-Nawawi, Taqi al-Din al-Subki, Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Ibn Kathir, al-Suyuti and many others.

The promotion of knowledge through the founding of madrasahs continued under the Ottomans. Al-Azhar, that had been closed under the Ayyubids and eclipsed by other madrasahs under the Mamluks, reclaimed its status as a premier centre of learning. In India the patronage of rulers and governors advanced the cause of scholarship.

When colonialism eventually came to erode the political power of the Muslims, it would be to institutions of knowledge that the Muslims would turn for both leadership and guidance. When Napoleon conquered Egypt and defeated its military rulers in the 1213/1798, it was to al-Azhar and its shaykh, Abdullah al-Sharqawi, that the Egyptian people turned for leadership. In India looming threats against Muslim rule, specifically that of the British East India Company, brought Shah Waliyyullah and the ulama of his school, the Madrasah Rahimiyyah in Delhi, into prominence, and when the war of 1273/1857 failed, it would be upon institutions such as the Dar al-Ulum in Deoband (founded 1283/1866) and Nadwat al-Ulama in Lucknow (founded 1310/1893) that the role of preserving not just ilm, but Islam as a whole would depend.



Hadhrat Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani (db) has written regarding his journey to Baghdad:

“Baghdad is that city which for centuries had been at the center of the Islamic world. The mere sight of this city reminds one of the glorious days of the Abbasi khilafat. Upon reaching Baghdad I enquired whether there were any madrasahs(seminaries) present in which Islamic knowledge is imparted in accordance with the ways of the pious predecessors. I was informed that all such madrasahs had now been converted into schools and universities. Now, the knowledge of Deen can only be attained from university faculties, such places wherein Islam is taught as mere theory, similar to ancient philosophy. Islam can neither be seen in the lives of the students nor in the Ustadhs (teachers). Forget bring religious scholars, on seeing their appearance, one wonders if they are even Muslim.

“This is just like how orientalists study Islam today, in the universities of America, Canada, and Europe. If you read their books and articles you will come across the names of such books that many of our Ulama have never even heard about. It seems as if deep tahqiq (research) is being made. But [sadly], in spite of swimming in the ocean of Islamic knowledge from morning till evening, they return dry as bone. No effect of what they rigorously study can be seen in their lives. The soul of this knowledge has been destroyed. “

Mufti Taqi Uthmani thereafter asked if they could at least direct him to an Aalim (scholar) of the old school of thought, so that he could present himself at his service. He was directed to a Masjid close to the tomb of Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (ra), in which was a Maktab. Here he met an old pious-looking man. Mufti Taqi Uthmani described his meeting with him in the following words:

“On seeing him, I felt as if I was in the presence of a pious Allah-fearing Aalim. He was sitting on a straw mat, dressed in coarse clothing, and eating dry bread. The light of the Shari`ah could be discerned on his forehead.

“After making salaam, he enquired regarding my name and the place from which I had come. He also asked about the condition of the madrasahsof our country, their syllabus, and the manner in which the kitabs (books) are taught. Tears flowed from his eyes as I mentioned the names of the kitabs found in the Dars-e-Nizami syllabus [the syllabus used by Islamic seminaries across the Indian subcontinent].

He asked, “Are these kitabs still being taught!?”

“I replied in the affirmative. He then explained, ‘Today, we have been deprived of even hearing the names of these kitabs. These kitabs create Allah-conscious men, they create true Muslims. In our country these books are no longer taught. I beg you to convey this message of mine to the Ulama and the masses of your country, that for the sake of Allah subhana wa ta`ala, they should bear everything but should never allow the destruction of such Madaris wherein these kitabs are taught!’ ”



Extracted from Ulema of Deoband by Madrasa Arabia Islamia (Azaadville, South Africa)