The Madrasa Curriculum in Context

by Hamza Karamali

The traditional madrasa was a global academic community that developed religious sciences such as Sacred Law, kalam, legal theory, Qur’anic exegesis, Arabic grammar, and hadith criticism in conversation with the most advanced philosophical, scientific, social, and political sciences of its time. This monograph describes the subjects, textbooks, pedagogy, and goals of the curriculum of the traditional madrasa, the social functions for which it prepared its graduates, and other kinds of religious education that used to complement it, all in the social and intellectual context of the traditional world in which it lived. The author looks back at how things used be in the past to understand why they were that way, particularly in areas that seem strange or different, in the hope that this monograph can be a stepping stone towards a critical examination of the madrasa tradition in order to bring that tradition into full conversation with our world just as the luminaries of the past brought it into conversation with theirs

Genres: Islam

42 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Maynerd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!
Very well written and informative. And also! The first book I actually read-read this year, w00hoo! (otherwise I've only been listening to audiobooks for like the past year e.e_

[Yato Hajime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a very informative reading experience not just for its exploration of the traditional madrasa curriculum, but also for its succinct description of all the subjects and their differences. Even one uninterested in knowing about the curriculum can find great value in the description of each Islamic science, discipline and branch of knowledge. Highly recommendable!

[Rizwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable explanation of the madrassa system at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Much is familiar in terms of curriculum and structure to now. What is different is that the Aalims of the Ottoman Empire would be the thought leaders of society in the fields of Law, Education and Governance.