Islamic Seminaries: A Brief Historical Survey

The primary objective of this article is to trace the origin, history, and development of learning seminaries in Islamic history. How did learning institutions develop in Islamic history? How do they differ from all other western and eastern non-Muslim educational institutes? Tracing the origin, history, and development of the institutions of learning in Islam, G. Makdisi argues that the concept of university education was originated and developed in Christian traditions. He further contends that the Institutions of learning in Islam originated and developed from a different social, religious, and cultural background. He argues that institutions of Madrasa and related cognate Islamic seminaries developed in different social and historical contexts. Therefore, the concept of university education has nothing to do with Islamic learning traditions. Yet, this claim has been challenged by some Muslim academics. Muslim academics and historians have claimed that the oldest university was originated and developed by Muslims following the intellectual renaissance during the Middle age in Abbasside caliphate. This article examines these claims and counterclaims to understand the nature and development of learning institutions in Islamic history. Moreover, this article also examines the ethos and philosophy of education in Islamic and Christian traditions to understand the aims and objective of education in both traditions. This paper is divided into four parts. The first part traces the origin and nature of Islamic education, the second part deals with history and development if Islamic seminaries, the third part analyses the consequence of the dichotomous attitudes of Muslims towards education. The final part underscores the importance of updating Islamic seminaries.