Editing Ulama (section)

==Places of learning==
[[File:Endowment Charter ('Waqfiyya') of Haseki Hürrem Sultan (TIEM 2192).jpg|thumb|Endowment Charter (Waqfiyya) of the [[Hurrem Sultan|Hürrem Sultan]] Mosque, Madrasa and [[Haseki Sultan Imaret|Imaret]] (soup-kitchen). AD 1556–1557 (AH 964). [[Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Endowment Charter (Waqfiyya) of Haseki Hürrem Sultan|url=http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tr;Mus01;38;en |website=Discover Islamic Art|language=en}}</ref>]]

The traditional place of higher education is the [[madrasa]]. The institution likely originated in [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]] during the 10th century AD, and spread to other parts of the Islamic world from the late 11th century onwards.{{sfn|Zaman|2010|pp=600–603}} The most famous early madrasas are the Sunni [[Nezamiyeh|Niẓāmiyya]], founded by the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] vizir [[Nizam al-Mulk]] (1018–1092) in [[Greater Iran|Iran and Iraq]] in the 11th century. The [[Mustansiriya Madrasah|Mustansiriya]], established by the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid caliph]] [[Al-Mustansir (Baghdad)|Al-Mustansir]] in [[Baghdad]] in 1234 AD, was the first to be founded by a caliph, and also the first known to host teachers of all four major [[madhhab]] known at that time. From the time of the [[Persian peoples|Persian]] [[Ilkhanate]] (1260–1335 AD) and the [[Timurid dynasty]] (1370–1507 AD) onwards, madrasas have often become part of an architectural complex which also includes a mosque, a Sufi [[tariqa|ṭarīqa]], and other buildings of socio-cultural function, like [[Turkish bath|baths]] or a [[Bimaristan|hospital]].{{sfn|Zaman|2010|pp=600–603}}

Madrasas are considered sacred places of learning. They may provide boarding and salaries to a limited number of teachers, and boarding for a number of students out of the revenue from religious endowments ''([[waqf]])'', allocated to a specific institution by the donor. In later times, the deeds of endowment were issued in elaborate [[Islamic calligraphy]], as is the case for [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] endowment books ''(vakıf-name)''.<ref>{{cite book| last=Rogers | first=J. M. | chapter=Religious endowments | title=Empire of the Sultans: Ottoman art from the collection of Nasser D. Khalili| year=1995| location=London| publisher=Azimuth Editions/The Noor Foundation| isbn=978-2-8306-0120-6| pages=82–91}}</ref> The donor could also specify the subjects to be taught, the qualification of the teachers, or which [[madhhab]] the teaching should follow.{{sfn|Zaman|2010|pp=600–603}} Moreover, the donor is free to specify in detail the curriculum, as was shown by Ahmed and Filipovic (2004) for the Ottoman imperial madrasas founded by [[Suleiman the Magnificent]].<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Ahmed| first1=Shabab| last2=Filipovich| first2=Nenad| title=The sultan's syllabus: A curriculum for the Ottoman imperial medreses prescribed in a ferman of Qanuni I Süleyman, dated 973 (1565)| journal=Studia Islamica| date=2004| volume=98| issue=9| pages=183–218}}</ref>

As Berkey (1992) has described in detail for the education in medieval [[Cairo]], unlike medieval Western universities, in general madrasas have no distinct [[curriculum]], and do not issue [[diploma]]s.<ref name="Berkey 1992">{{cite book| last=Berkey | first=Jonathan | title=The transmission of knowledge in medieval Cairo: A social history of Islamic education| publisher=Princeton University Press| location=Princeton, NJ| year=1992| isbn=978-0-691-63552-1| jstor=j.ctt7zvxj4| pages=44–94}}</ref> The educational activities of the  madrasas focuses on the law, but also includes what Zaman (2010) called "Sharia sciences" ''(al-ʿulūm al-naqliyya)'' as well as the rational sciences like philosophy, astronomy, mathematics or medicine. The inclusion of these sciences sometimes reflects the personal interests of their donors, but also indicates that scholars often study various different sciences.{{sfn|Zaman|2010|pp=600–603}}