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Early Islamic Universities
Universities in the western world were considered more modern, and in some cases above other non-western institutions in terms of their prestige and quality. However, the concept of higher education didn’t originate in the west. Some of the first “universities” were built in the 10th century in east Africa and the present-day Middle East, particularly in areas of Islamic influence. In pre-modern Islamic society, these university-like institutions were known as madrasas. Madrasas were higher educational institutions that were both secular and non-secular; they were for elementary instruction and higher education. Common subjects taught at madrasas include philosophy, law, mathematics, medicine, and astronomy. Madrasas enrolled both men and women in their structured curriculum. Students at madrasas would go through a rigorous process that would eventually lead up to the acquisition of an ijazah. These ijazahs were a highly coveted form of certification that would enable one to teach a specific subject. Madrasas were funded by religious endowments provided by the founders of each institution, who also oversaw the operations in a madrasa.

Madrasas, just like other educational institutions, had leadership and social structure within them. The founder of the madrasa could be a man or a woman. They personally choose the staff, who would work under them, for all subjects of the institution. They were selected based on the respective teacher’s qualifications, which were determined by their ijazahs. Subjects taught in madrasas were determined by the founder of the madrasa as well as individual teacher adequacy in the subject. Founders would also provide stipends for the educators in the madrasa.

Women could also be educated in madrasas, contrary to that of the European higher education system. However, they commonly studied non-secular materials such as theology and hadiths. A primary reason why women weren’t studying other fields was because they were restricted by their familial responsibility. This prohibited them from dedicating a prolonged period of time for studying other rigorous topics. Unmarried women were also restricted from learning from unmarried men because that was not allowed at this time, which also proves a significant reason for their inhibited dedication towards obtaining higher education.

Some of the most important subjects taught at madrasas were centered around science. One of these core studies in the sciences is mathematics. Mathematics taught in madrasas were derived from the older scriptures of Euclid’s Elements. Euclid’s Elements had many mathematical treatises that Islamic scholars further improved on. Some of these improvements include algebra, geometry, and timekeeping. However, madrasas mainly taught algebra with examples being multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, factorization, quadratics, cubic functions, and variable manipulation. Some students would further study in mathematics and finally learn about the concepts of geometry and timekeeping, which would eventually lead to the study of astronomy. Astronomy quickly became an important subcategory of science as the religion of Islam heavily referenced the moon as being a basis of time and continuity. Scholars frequently referenced Ptolemy’s Almagest for knowledge about the moon, despite glaring issues with Ptolemy’s treaties concerning planetary movement and other universal concepts. Islamic scholars again further improved upon these misconceptions and taught the correct concepts in higher level classes to students in the madrasas.

Another integral science taught at madrasas was medicine. Curriculum for medical sciences at madrasas mainly focused on humoral theory, which was based on the four humours of medicine: blood, black bile, phlegm, and yellow bile. These humors were taught for diagnosis of illnesses, however, other factors of the patient such as diet and environment also contributed to their diagnosis. Medical concepts taught in madrasas included ophthalmology, embryology, anatomy, and fertilization. Medicine was initially taught by one teacher who specialized in a specific field and didn’t teach any other subject. However, a transition enabled medical students in madrasas to learn other subjects along with medical science. Often medical students at madrasas also learned epistemology and other philosophical sciences.

Philosophical sciences were also taught at madrasas. These sciences were in a personal and specialized manner, such that one instructor would have between one and five students to ensure engaged learning. This was how ijazahs were issued in this particular learning environment. Philosophical sciences, however, didn’t become prominent until Safavid Iran in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries according to historians. The philosophical sciences taught in madrasas were also the least studied by modern historians. The work that made philosophical science more prominent was that of ancient Islamic scholars who were madrasa religious instructors. The scholars whose work inspired this resurgence were Ghiyath al-Din al-Dashtaki, Mir Damad, and Mulla Sadra.

Madrasas have frequently been compared to the likes of western universities. However, there are key differences between the two. Western universities are institutions for higher education just like madrasas but are generally paid for by students or the local governments. Unlike universities, madrasas were paid by founders through religious legacies. Students studying at universities or at madrasas both received evidence showing they have gained knowledge. Universities grant students degrees which show a broad understanding of a set of curricula standardized by the institution, whereas instructors at madrasas entrusted their students with an ijazah which demonstrated a certain mastery of a very specific topic, which students could then teach. Moreover, the university had a committee which was managed by a group of scholars much like a “corporate entity”. These scholars control the assignment of degrees to the students; this is the same way for all degrees at a university. Universities teach students in a broad scope with everyone learning at the same speed. Compared to universities, madrasas had much more personalized classes since students individually would have their own instructor. Another discrepancy between madrasas and universities is the physical size of their certifications. Degrees were always one sheet of paper while ijazahs held much more and could extend to several pages. A definite similarity between the two is that the research at madrasas and universities mostly produced novels or books that were later published for students in their respective institutions. A prominent disparity between universities and madrasas was that madrasas established the inclusion of women into higher education, while Western education rejected during the early eras of madrasas. Women could also attain ijazahs, however, they didn’t obtain them at the same rate as men.