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History of the Curriculum
Sankore Madrasa's origins lie in the Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu, and the madrasa was established to study the Qur'an. The Qur'an itself stresses the search for knowledge, and Islamic scholarship, especially in the Golden Age of Islam (link) focused heavily on education. Al-Kābarī, a scholar that descended from Timbuktu, Mali and a professor at the Sankore Madrasah, helped create the curriculum, focusing on religious teachings. The Songhai empire developed Mali as a center for trade and used the growing economic power to further Islamic learning. The city of Timbuktu within the empire was a hub for trade and scholars in the Muslim World, and Sankore Madrasah was a renowned university in Timbuktu. Timbuktu itself housed 150 Qur'anic schools and became a major educational center in the Muslim world. Sankore Madrasa produced influential jurists, historians, doctors, and theologians. There existed no thorough curriculum for Islamic and Qur’anic studies in the Muslim world until schools like Sankore Madrasah influenced a standardized curriculum and method of education.

Curriculum
The Qur'an was originally the foundation of the teachings, and arguments that could not be backed by the Qur'an were inadmissible in discussions and debates. Madrasas differ in curriculum from traditional Qur’anic schools in that Madrasas focused on Arabic grammar in understanding holy texts and Islamic scholarship. However, Sankore Madrasa expanded to teaching geometry, astronomy, mathematics, and history and cultivated a significant library with hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. At its height, Sankore Madrasa held 180 schools and 25,000 students, as well as became a center for the scholarship and trading of manuscripts. Throughout the period of the 14th through the 16th century, Sankore Madrasa enrolled masses of students and continued to expand its curriculum and influence. The Imam Abu Hanifa met with a group of students and the Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, and together, they established the House of Wisdom in the city Baghdad. The House of Wisdom sent scholars around the world to acquire more texts and study language. This institution also stressed the importance of translating texts and expanding breadth of knowledge. During this Golden Age of Islam, madrasa students studied the Qur'an along with these texts from around the world, and graduates continued to cultivate the empire through contributions in education, infrastructure, and medicine. The curriculum of Sankore and other masjids in the area had four levels of schooling or "degrees". When graduating from each level, students would receive a turban symbolizing their level.

Qur'anic School
The first or primary degree (Qur'anic school) required a mastery of Arabic and certain African languages and writing along with complete memorization of the Qur'an. Students were also introduced to basic sciences at this level.

General Studies
The secondary degree or General Studies degree focused on full immersion in the basic sciences. Students learned grammar, mathematics, geography, history, physics, astronomy, chemistry alongside more advanced learnings of the Qur'an. At this level they learned Hadiths, jurisprudence, and the sciences of spiritual purification according to Islam. Finally, they began an introduction to trade school and business ethics. On graduation day, students were given turbans symbolizing Divine light, wisdom, knowledge and excellent moral conduct. After receiving their diplomas the students would gather outside the examination building or the main campus library and throw their turbans high into the air cheering and holding each other's hands to show that they were all brothers and sisters.

Superior Degree
The Superior degree required students to study under specialized professors and to complete research work. Much of the learning centered on debates to philosophic or religious questions. Before graduating from this level, students attached themselves to a Sheik (Islamic teacher) and demonstrated a strong character.

Alumni Level
The last level of learning at Sankoré or any of the masjids was the level of Judge or Professor. These men worked mainly as judges for the city and throughout the region, dispersing learned men to all the principal cities in Mali. A third level student who had impressed his Sheik enough was admitted into a "circle of knowledge" and valued as a truly learned individual and expert in his field. The members of this scholar's club were the equivalent of tenured professors. Those who did not leave Timbuktu remained to teach or counsel the leading people of the region on important legal and religious matters. The scholars would receive questions from the region's kings or governors, and distribute them to the third level students as research assignments. After discussing the findings among themselves, the scholars would issue a fatwa on the best way to deal with the problem at hand.