The Role of Schools in Islamic Society

Abstract

Education in Arabia before Islam There are at least three opinions concerning the status of education on the Arabian peninsula prior to the advent of Islam. The first opinion assumes that the Arabs were an illiterate people, void of any knowledge of science or any other indicator of educational progress. It maintains argue that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), to whom the Qur’an was revealed, was himself illiterate, thus reflecting his society’s educational state; and that those living in the pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula were steeped in ignorance and controlled by myths, superstitions, and the worship of idols.’ The second opinion concerning the days of ignorance (the pre-Islamic period Ijuhiliyyuh]) concentrates on the extent to which the Arabs acquired knowledge of those sciences that were necessary for their daily lives. For example, Mustafa Mutawali discusses the study of astronomy as an aid to traveling, the study of weather conditions (meteorology), and the study of traditional healing in medicine.2 The pre-Islamic Arabs also studied the science of tracking, genealogy, and poetry. While this line of historical research does not necessarily contradict the first, the issue is one of emphasis, with Mutawali and others demonstrating that the pre- Islamic Arabs were not totally void of knowledge. The third opinion focuses on the knowledge acquired by the upper strata of pre-Islamic Arab society. A very small minority of upper class individuals were well versed in the skills of reading, writing, mathematics, and business administration. Some scholars have asserted that only 17 ...