Talk:List of Islamic seminaries

Note on the "oldest madrasas" list
The list of oldest madrasas needs references for verification, especially for Al-Zaytuna: simply listing it along with the date of foundation doesn't mean it was functioning as a madrasa since that time. According to Brill's Encyclopedia of Islam, for example, it's not clear that systematic teaching at the mosque before maybe as late as the Hafsid period (I copy pasted the relevant excerpt below if useful). There are similar problems of historical record with the Qarawiyyin Mosque (as sort of noted here already; there is also some discussion about this at the main page there). Also it's unclear what is being counted as a "madrasa": is it the specialized "madrasa" buildings like the ones started by Nizam al-Mulk? Or any location where teaching took place? If it's the latter, then there may even be evidence of teaching taking place even earlier at the Mosque of Medina (though not sure if it that function was continuous). Either the list should be revised or some kind of introductory paragraph to give it context would be needed. R Prazeres (talk) 06:19, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

Relevant passage from Encyclopedia of Islam (Chater, Khalifa (2012), “Zaytūna”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.):
 * "Can one state, as a historically-attested fact, that the Zaytūna mosque was a centre for scholarship and instruction right from its foundation? Ḥ.Ḥ. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb seems to have asserted this when he said “this is the oldest centre for instruction in the Arab world” ( Waraḳāt, i, 31). Celebrated ʿulamāʾ were probably educated in its precincts, but explicit references to the Zaytūna are late. There were probably some courses of instruction in the religious sciences and related spheres, given voluntarily by ʿulamāʾ but nothing like organised teaching (Mahmoud Abdel Moula, L’université zaytounienne et la société tunisienne , Tunis 1971, 31). As an analysis of the biographies of scholars attests, the Zaytūna only succeeded in overtaking in prestige the mosque of ʿUḳba b. Nāfiʿ at al-Ḳayrawān at the beginning of the Ḥafṣid period, when the latter place declined and Tunis flourished as the capital of Ifrīḳiya (Muḥammad Ḥassān, al-Madīna wa ’l-bādiya fi ’l-ʿahd al-ḥafṣī , Tunis 1999, ii, 706)."

Can we add Mustansiriya Madrasah on the list of oldest madrasahs please
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustansiriya_Madrasah — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.28.199.31 (talk) 20:34, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

COI edit request
M Imtiaz (talk · contribs) 18:09, 5 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Specific text to be added or removed: Remove Miftaah Institute from the "United States" section.
 * Reason for the change: No article present, so ought to be removed per WP:LISTCRIT. I cannot do this myself due to a COI with the organisation.
 * References supporting change: not applicable.
 * Yes check.svg Done WhinyTheYounger (WtY)  (talk, contribs)  23:18, 7 May 2022 (UTC)