Editing History of science (section)

====Education and scholarly pursuits====
[[File:Cour mosquee Suleymaniye Istanbul.jpg|thumb|[[Süleymaniye Mosque]]]]
[[Madrasa]]s were centers for many different religious and scientific studies and were the culmination of different institutions such as mosques based around religious studies, housing for out-of-town visitors, and finally educational institutions focused on the natural sciences.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moosa|first=Ebrahim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ei9ZBwAAQBAJ&dq=Madrasa+history&pg=PP1|title=What Is a Madrasa?|date=2015-04-06|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-1-4696-2014-5|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730040037/https://books.google.com/books?id=ei9ZBwAAQBAJ&dq=Madrasa+history&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}</ref> Unlike Western universities, students at a madrasa would learn from one specific teacher, who would issue a certificate at the completion of their studies called an [[Ijazah]]. An Ijazah differs from a western university degree in many ways one being that it is issued by a single person rather than an institution, and another being that it is not an individual degree declaring adequate knowledge over broad subjects, but rather a license to teach and pass on a very specific set of texts.<ref name="barker2017">{{Cite journal|last=Barker|first=Peter|date=2017-12-15|title=The Social Structure of Islamicate Science|url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp/article/view/1259|journal=Journal of World Philosophies|volume=2|issue=2|issn=2474-1795|access-date=24 November 2021|archive-date=24 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124005530/https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp/article/view/1259|url-status=live}}</ref> Women were also allowed to attend madrasas, as both students and teachers, something not seen in high western education until the 1800s.<ref name="barker2017" /> Madrasas were more than just academic centers. The [[Süleymaniye Mosque|Suleymaniye Mosque]], for example, was one of the earliest and most well-known madrasas, which was built by [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] in the 16th century.<ref name="architecturecourses2021">{{Cite web|title=Süleymaniye Mosque, Turkey|url=https://www.architecturecourses.org/s%C3%BCleymaniye-mosque-turkey|access-date=2021-11-24|website=architecturecourses.org|archive-date=24 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124005536/https://www.architecturecourses.org/s%C3%BCleymaniye-mosque-turkey|url-status=live}}</ref> The Suleymaniye Mosque was home to a hospital and medical college, a kitchen, and children's school, as well as serving as a temporary home for travelers.<ref name="architecturecourses2021" />

Higher education at a madrasa (or college) was focused on Islamic law and religious science and students had to engage in self-study for everything else.<ref name="lindberg2007h" /> And despite the occasional theological backlash, many Islamic scholars of science were able to conduct their work in relatively tolerant urban centers (e.g., [[Baghdad]] and [[Cairo]]) and were protected by powerful patrons.<ref name="lindberg2007h" /> They could also travel freely and exchange ideas as there were no political barriers within the unified Islamic state.<ref name="lindberg2007h" /> Islamic science during this time was primarily focused on the correction, extension, articulation, and application of Greek ideas to new problems.<ref name="lindberg2007h" />