Al-Nizamiyya of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
( ar, المدرسة النظامية), one of the first
nezamiyeh
The Nezamiyeh ( fa, نظامیه) or Nizamiyyah ( ar, النظامیة) are a group of institutions of higher education established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in Iran. The name ''nizamiyyah'' derives from his name. Founded a ...
s, was established in 1065. In July 1091,
Nizam al-Mulk
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk ( fa, , , Order of the Realm) was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and Vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising fr ...
appointed the 33-year-old
Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...
as a professor of the school. Offering free education, it has been described as the "largest
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
of the
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
world".
Ibn Tumart
Abu Abd Allah Amghar Ibn Tumart ( Berber: ''Amghar ibn Tumert'', ar, أبو عبد الله امغار ابن تومرت, ca. 1080–1130 or 1128) was a Muslim Berber religious scholar, teacher and political leader, from the Sous in southern M ...
, founder of the
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–19 ...
Almohad dynasty
The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fou ...
, reputedly attended the school and studied under al-Ghazali.
Nizam al-Mulk
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk ( fa, , , Order of the Realm) was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and Vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising fr ...
's son-in-law
Mughatil ibn Bakri was also employed by the school. In 1096, when al-Ghazali left the nezamiyeh, it housed 3000 students. In 1116,
Muhammad al-Shahrastani
Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī ( ar, تاج الدين أبو الفتح محمد بن عبد الكريم الشهرستاني; 1086–1153 CE), also known as Muhammad al-Shahrastānī, was an influenti ...
taught at the nezamiyeh. In the 1170s, statesman
Beha Ud-Din
Baha al-Din Zuhayr ( ar, بهاء الدين زهير; 1186–1258) was an Arabian poet born at or near Mecca, and became celebrated as the best writer of prose and verse and the best calligrapher of his time.
Life
He entered the service o ...
taught at the nezamiyeh, before he moved on to teach in
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
.
The Persian poet
Sa'di studied at the
nezamiyeh
The Nezamiyeh ( fa, نظامیه) or Nizamiyyah ( ar, النظامیة) are a group of institutions of higher education established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in Iran. The name ''nizamiyyah'' derives from his name. Founded a ...
from 1195 until 1226, when he set out on a thirty-year journey. He was also among those who witnessed first-hand accounts of its destruction by Mongol
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm ...
invaders led by
Hulagu during the
Sack of Baghdad in the year 1258. Sa'di recalls clearly his days of studies at Al-Nizamiyya in Baghdad: "A fellow-student at Nizamiah displayed malevolence towards me, and I informed my tutor, saying: 'Whenever I give more proper answers than he the envious fellow becomes offended.' The professor replied: 'The envy of thy friend is not agreeable to thee, but I know not who told thee that back-biting was commendable. If he seek perdition through the path of envy, thou wilt join him by the path of slander.'"
The
curriculum
In education, a curriculum (; plural, : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to ...
initially focused on
religious studies,
Islamic law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
,
Arabic literature
Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...
, and
arithmetic
Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...
, and later extended to
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
,
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, the
physical sciences
Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences".
Definition
Phy ...
, and
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
.
[B.G. Massialas & S.A. Jarrar (1987)]
"Conflicts in education in the Arab world: The present challenge"
''Arab Studies Quarterly'': "''Subjects such as history, mathematics, physical sciences, and music were added to the curriculum of Al-Nizamiyah at a later time.''"
See also
*
Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi
*
Nizamiyya
*
Mustansiriya School, another Baghdad school, founded in 1233
*
Madrasah
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
*
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
References
*Makdisi, George: "Madrasa and University in the Middle Ages", ''
Studia Islamica
''Studia Islamica'' is an academic journal of Islamic studies focusing on the history, religion, law, literature, and language of the Muslim world, primarily Southwest Asian and Mediterranean lands. The editors-in-chief are A. L. Udovitch (Prin ...
'', No. 32 (1970), pp. 255–264
Schools in Iraq
Education in Baghdad
Educational institutions established in the 11th century
11th-century establishments in the Abbasid Caliphate
Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate
1065 establishments
Education in the medieval Islamic world
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