Madrasa

“ Colleges, madrasah (where young men are instructed, fed, and frequently also lodged gratuitously) , exist in nearly every town. Most of them are attached to mosques, and the teachers are members of the clergy, and receive fixed salaries out of the college funds. The students are instructed in Arabic and Persian literature, religion, interpretation of the Koran, Mussulman law, logic, rhetoric, philosophy and other subjects necessary for admittance to the clergy, for doctors of law, &c., while modern sciences are neglected. ”

“ Kâhira then took its place as the official centre of Egypt.
22Saladin, the King of Jerusalem, now became ruler of Egypt, and he at once adopted strong measures to win the apostates back to the true faith. With a wisdom far in advance of his time, he planned to educate the followers of Shi'aism by the introduction of madrasah mosques and colleges. Heretofore we have had the Gami, or congregational mosque, with a severely plain exterior. The madrasah mosques of this period contained a smaller court, which was frequently capped with a cupola in the centre ”

“ Each mosque—and there are millions of them—has its own private District School where the imam or clergyman teaches the children of his district, boys and girls, how to read the Koran. The classes, if they might be called by that name, are mostly held in summer in the courtyard of the mosques and in winter in a room which, for lack of a better name, we will describe as the vestry. It is obligatory for every family living in the district and it has been obligatory for centuries, to send their children to these schools if they cannot afford to give them a private education. ”

“ The life of the students of these madrassehs resembles that of monks in monasteries of the Eastern Church. They prepare their own modest food, clean their own rooms, make their own beds, and wash their own clothes. A new student not only does all this for himself, but he has also to do it for the fellow or tutor of the madrasseh in whose room he is placed. Most of the students are very poor. ”

“ But the Mosque--that blossom of Oriental architecture, with its crowning domes, like the inverted bells of the lotus, and its reed-like minarets, its fountains and marble courts--can only perish with the faith it typifies. I, for one, rejoice that, so long as the religion of Islam exists (and yet, may its time be short!) , no Christian model can shape its houses of worship. The minaret must still lift its airy tower for the muezzin; the dome must rise like a gilded heaven above the prayers of the Faithful, with its starry lamps and emblazoned phrases ”

“ The madrassehs are, notwithstanding, still full of students who wish to become members of that body, but the more intelligent of them, instead of attending the old course of lectures in the mosques, go to some modern college in order to qualify themselves for professions which will be of practical use to them. Many of them spend their time in the madrassehs idly, or simply live in them till they have passed an examination by which they are exempted from military service, and then return to their towns and villages. ”

“ The mosque is at the same time the university hall, where between two pilgrim seasons lectures are delivered on Mahommedan law, doctrine and connected branches of science. A poorly provided public library is open to the use of students. The madrassehs or buildings around the mosque, originally intended as lodgings for students and professors, have long been let out to rich pilgrims. ”

“ This mosque is always illuminated by flashes of light; and before the window of the mihráb there is a garden like that of Irem, adorned with various fruits and flowers, where, beneath a monument of white marble, covered with lead, rest the remains of its founder. Round the inner and outer courts of this mosque there are shops of all kinds of trades, with a public kitchen, a refectory, and hostel for travellers; a school for instructing the poor and rich in the Korán; and a college for lectures on the art of reciting it. ”

“ The Masjid Benu Zafar (some write the word Tifr) is also called Masjid al-Baghlah�of the She-mule,�because, according to Al-Matari, on the ridge of stone to the south of this Mosque are the marks where the Prophet leaned his arm, and where the she-mule, Duldul, sent by the Mukaukas as a present with Mariyah the Coptic girl and Yafur the donkey, placed its hoofs. At the Mosque was shown a slab upon which the Prophet sat hearing recitations from the Koran; and historians declare that by following his example many women have been blessed with offspring. ”

“ The Medinan Mosque, built with fervent hearts and anxious prayers by the Muslim and their leader, contains the embryo of all the later masterpieces of Arabian architecture—that art unique and splendid, which developed with the Islamic spirit until it culminated in the glorious temple at Delhi, whose exponents have given to the world the palaces of southern Spain, the mysterious, remote beauty of ancient Granada. ”

“ The Military College, which, from its extent, and the lavish liberality of its arrangements, may well be termed a princely establishment, occupies the crest of a hill immediately above the Imperial palace of Dolma Batché, signifying the “Valley of Gourds”—and the tall minaret of its mosque shoots upwards into the blue heaven with the grace and lightness of a sky-winged arrow; while the gilded crescent in the centre of the dome reflects back the sparkling sunbeams as they flash upon its glittering surface. ”

“ The foundations of a mosque, an edifice measuring two hundred and twenty by one hundred and fifty cubits, were laid; its seventeen naves were adorned with the plundered marbles of Utica and Carthage; the graceful proportions of its minaret and the elegance of its mural decorations are still proverbial in the Mohammedan world. The bazaar of the city lined a street three miles in length; its schools became the resort of the learned; the authority of its muftis on points of doctrine was indisputable; and, as the seat of the viceroy of the Khalif, it long maintained its political importance. ”

“ A tourist who goes the round of Madras must surely be impressed with the numerous signs of its educational activity. Apart from the multitude of juvenile schools in every part of the crowded city, the number of academic institutions is large, and educational buildings are amongst the most prominent of its edifices. Our tourist, putting himself in charge of a guide at the Central Station for a drive along the beautiful Marina, sees a number of academic buildings on his way. ”

“ From the courtyard the interior of the mosque is seen through these eleven doors glittering with golden fires, and from the temple the courtyard, seen through these same doors, appears to be a glimpse of the longed-for Garden of Delights. The Mohammedan poet, Mohammed Ibn Mohammed Al-baluni, sings as follows of the holy House of Prayer, which surpasses in richness of colour, beauty of design, and boldness of ornamentation the most famous mosques of Arabia, Syria, and Africa:
“Abd-er-Rahman, for the love of God, and in honour of his religion, spent eighty thousand dinars of silver and gold.” ”

“ The entrance to the Mûti Masjid is very plain and unpretending, so that one is hardly prepared for the beauty, purity, and the unaffected expression of an exalted religious feeling which characterize the interior. It is rare to find an Indian building in which the effect is produced with hardly any ornament, but solely by the perfection of proportions, beauty of material, and harmony of constructive design. The courtyard, in front of the mosque, with its arcades and gateways, is a noble setting to the Pearl, as the mosque is appropriately called. ”

“ The education of girls shared in the development; for in 1842 the first party of Nuns of the Presentation Order was brought out from Ireland, and a convent, with a boarding school and an orphanage,—the 'Georgetown Convent' [98] of to-day—was established in Black Town. The 'Vepery Convent School' and some of the other successful convent schools in Madras are controlled by nuns of the same Order.
Education in India was given further impetus in the time of Lord Dalhousie. ”

“ Besides which, on the sides of the mosque there is a great court which has eight gates, and fine gardens on both sides. Outside of it there are the eight celebrated colleges (Semániyyeh) , filled with students, on both sides of which are their apartments and stables. There is also a refectory (Dáru-z-ziyáfet) , a hospital (Dáru-sh-shifá) , a cáravánseráï for guests, an ancient bath, and an A B C school for children. When all these buildings, crowded together, are seen from a height above, they alone appear like a town full of lead-covered domes. ”

“ The ruins at Madura are objects of particular interest in the present day, on account of the attempts which are making to revive learning in the East, and to restore the college at this place to its original splendour. In consequence of the influence which was exercised by this college for seven centuries over the Hindoos in the southern peninsula of India, two celebrated Jesuit missionaries, Robertus de Nobilius, and Beschi, flourishing in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, formed plans for its revival, but, owing to dissensions in their order, were unable to carry them into effect. ”

“ In order to complete your mediæval dream with a scene from daily life, you have only to leave the mosque by the Bâb Dereybah, one of its twenty-two gates, where you may see human merchandise exhibited for sale by the slave-brokers, and then to have a glance, outside the wall, at a camel caravan, bringing firewood and vegetables into the town, led by Beduins whose outward appearance has as little changed as their minds since the day when Mohammed began here to preach the Word of Allah. ”

“ The sunlight streams in from the numerous windows encircling the dome, or from those on the walls of the mosque, many of which are of beautiful stained glass, but without figures of any kind, as Moslems consider this would be breaking the commandment relating to images.
All mosques point toward Mecca, and at the Mecca end stands a mihrab, or niche, from which the imam conducts the devotions. Beside it, supported by pillars, is a terrace for the choir, which consists entirely of men. They chant, seated cross-legged on rugs. ”

“ So, for two hours every day except Fridays little boys and little girls from five to about eight years old go to the mosque of their district where208 the classes are held. Sitting on the ground in summer and in winter on straw mats, they form a circle around their teacher, the imam of the district, who teaches them in a monotonous chant the secrets of the alphabet They squat on their knees, these little boys and girls, and repeat the chant of their teacher, keeping time with their little bodies which they swing slowly backwards and forwards and beware of a mistake! ”

“ Then we see the two domes of the mosque and theological college, the Madrassah Shah, where young future Mullahs are educated. To the west of the observer from our high point of vantage, and north-west of the town, lies another mosque, the Panja Shah, in which the hand of one of the prophets, Nazareth Abbas, is buried. A life-size hand and portion of the forearm, most beautifully carved in marble, is shown to devotees in a receptacle in the east wall of the mosque. The actual grave in which the real hand lies is covered with magnificent ancient tiles. ”

“ The chief educational institutions in Madras city are the Presidency College; six missionary colleges and one native college; the medical college, the law college, the college of engineering, the teachers’ college in the suburb of Saidapet, all maintained by government; and the government school of arts.
The foundation of Madras dates from 1640, when Francis Day, chief of the East India Company’s settlement at Armagon, obtained a grant of the present site of the city from a native ruler. ”

“ Mary's Church in the Fort, and the chaplain and his churchwardens agreed in thinking that such education was not of the kind that a Church should control, and that it was rather their duty to institute in Madras a residential free-school for poor Protestant children of British descent, which should be conducted on the lines of the many 'charity schools' in England ”

“ I heard with pain during my sojourn at Kannoge, that the house of God had been made the resort of thieves; a well-known passage of Scripture struck me forcibly when the transaction was related.
I have before stated that the mosque is never allowed to be locked or closed to the public. Beneath the one I am about to speak of (a very ancient building near to Baallee Peer's Durgah) , is a vaulted suite of rooms denominated taarkhanah [19] , intended as a retreat from the intense heat of the day; such as is to be met with in most great men's residences in India. ”

“ In the court-yard is a basin, and round it cells for students; the gates of the mosque of Ferhád Páshá are closed, because it has no endowment; the mosque of Uzdemír Osmán Páshá is a college, where the Muftí holds lectures: there is a dining establishment of Sultán Khodabende’s foundation, forty schools for boys, seven pleasant baths, the best of which is that of Shabúr, with numerous private rooms and a basin, its waiters are fine youths. Besides the public baths, there are private ones in every garden. ”

“ In Madras, where little has yet been done by Government to promote the education of the mass of the people, we can only remark with satisfaction that the educational efforts of Christian missionaries have been more successful among the Tamul population than in any other part of India ”