Madrasa

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Madrasa

A college or seminary of higher Muslim learning, often attached to a mosque.

A Muslim institution of learning and study that evolved into a center for training in religious and legal sciences, particularly among sunnis. The establishment of such centers was initiated by Nazim-al-Mulk in the eleventh century through the Nizamiya Madrasa in Baghdad. It was specifically created and endowed for the training of sunni scholars and teachers. Over time madrasas became major legal and theological institutions throughout the Muslim world. Occasionally, the term is also used to designate, in general, schools or centers of learning that provide religious instructions. In contemporary Muslim societies the madrasa has also served as a starting point for developing an integrated wide-ranging curriculum for early childhood education. In certain parts of the Muslim world such institutions have also been exploited in order to indoctrinate students throug a narrow, ideologically driven agenda to instigate opposition to ruling governments and perceived alien influences in society.

(Reference Islamic Encyclopedia by Azim Nanji)