Higher Education Dedicated to All Who Made It to College
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Algorithm to Zenith: Impact of Classical Islamic Civilization on The Modern World Volume 6.0: Higher Education Dedicated to All Who Made it to College Dr. Wow Wasim Ibn-Sina Nation Builders & Civilization Movers Impact of Islamic Civilization: Introduction by Prince Charles "If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. The medieval Islamic world, …was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history… Islam is part of our past and our present, in all fields of human endeavour. It has helped to create modern Europe. " - H.R.H. Prince Charles at Oxford University, 1993 Algorithm to Zenith: Introduction Documented Arabic Origins of The Word ‘College’ from ‘Colliget Medicinae’ • Etymologically, the word ‘College’ has Arabic roots via the word Colleget or Collegiate. An earliest but well documented evidence of the derivative usage of the word ‘Collegiate’ from Arabic to Latin occurs in translations of Ibn Rushd’s ‘Colleyate fil al Tibb’ as ‘Colliget Medicinae’ in 13th Century Spain or as ‘Collegiate of Medicine’ in English. Over time the word Collegiate’s use shortened to ‘College’. • In 15th Century, private associations called Royal Colleges of Medicine, Surgery etc were were founded in England, Scotland and Ireland etc for the advancement and standardization of those subjects, a further evidence of traditional use of the word ‘College’ as in ‘Colleget Medicinae’. • There is no evidence to suggest European language origins of the word ‘College’. Indeed 30% words in Spanish are from Arabic and have transfused into other European languages including English e.g. Algebra from Algebr, Algorithm from Alkhwarizm etc. Origins of The Word ‘College’ • Colleyate were the institutions of higher • Collegiate is Latin mis-pronunciation learning in major Islamic metropolises like of the word Arabic ‘Colleyate’. Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad and in Andalusia. Collegiate overtime was truncated to • The word ‘Colleyate’ in Arabic means College, the institutions in Western ‘Universals’ or ‘Principles’. The institutions of world started by the contact with the higher learning in Islamic world imparted Muslim world from Andalusia in advanced learning i.e. principles and universals North to Emirates of Sicily further of a subject to students who had qualified for South with Syria and Egypt. their basic education from a madarsa, the • University as we know today is an present day high-school equivalent. institution where the universals are • Al-Azhar was founded as a College in 970s taught. ‘Universals’ being the thus with the mission of higher education. Al-Azhar equivalent term for ‘Colleyate’ had its dedicated and paid faculty and facilities (Arabic= universal principles). like dormitories or hostels for teachers and • The earliest European Colleges or students to live. Universities were founded in Toledo, • The ‘College’ and ‘University’ both Paris, Bologna (Italy) and Oxford etymologically in name, concept and content of from 13th century onwards. syllabi were the replication of Islamic institutions of higher learning that taught textbooks written by Muslim authors such as Avicenna, Alhazen, Averroes and so many other legendary polymaths of the Islamic world. Fatima Fihri’s College, Fez, 859 First Model for The Modern University • Al-Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco, established in 859, by Fatima Fihri, is considered the oldest continuously operating degree- granting University in the world according to Guinness Book of Records. • It competes in claim for oldest surviving institution of higher learning with ‘Fatima al Zahra’ or Al-Azhar University of Cairo that was built circa 970s (dates range 968-975). • Al-Idrissi, the legendary cartographer and Ibn Khuldun the founder of modern sociology and historiography are believed to be associated with this university. Islamic Origins of College/University So, ‘College’, the very term for an institution of higher learning has Islamic origins. The very concept of higher education, the very specific content of syllabi and duration of studies in sciences and maths; - the Muslim model and standards of higher learning, - were emulated and replicated in early European universities from Bologna (Italy), Paris/Sorbonne and Oxford by Normans and Carolingian France. Even in external appearances of the buildings and regalia of the faculty. The earliest Islamic institutions of higher learning from Islamic Spain (Andalusia), Emirates of Sicily, Fez, Al- Azhar, Colleyate of Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad, the only ones in existence from 8th to 12th century, became the living models for the early European education. Islamic Origins of College/University Higher education in Europe was meant for the elites, like knights or children of barons, dukes and lords or those in their employ who could travel, live in dormitories and pay for their own education. While in Europe it was paid enterprise, in Islamic world the Colleges were publically funded by the endowments or Caliphate. Indeed, the very foundation for higher learning was as laid by the legendary ‘Bait al Hikma’ or ‘Institute of Sciences’ in Caliph Harun al Rashid’s time (763-808) which continued during his son, Mamun’s regin and Abbasid Period. It was equivalent of later Royal Colleges established to promote the advancement of higher learning in England in 15th Century onwards. With the expansion of European Empires and Colonization the College/University education came to be heavily associated with Europe rather than its forgotten origins in Islamic civilization. Islamic Model for The Modern University: A. Following key elements: • A Paid Faculty • A dormitory for the students • Adult Students who had attained basic schooling • Standardized Syllabus of Sciences, Mathematics and Philosophy • A building that housed it B. Three levels of Degrees or Ijaza: 1. Fazil- Bachelor: to complete the higher education for 2-4 years in major subjects 2. Kamil - Master: 2 years who had attained expertise in a single subject and had the license to teach 3. Sheikh - PhD who was able to research and develop new knowledge Graduation Regalia: An Imitation of Islamic Ceremonial Dress • Academic regalia such as square caps (originating from the tradition of Quran placed on head to bless the new gradate in Muslim collegiates), striped gowns, hoods, worn during graduations and by the faculty staff on formal occasions are adaptations of ceremonial Islamic dress right down to the stripes on the sleeves. • The duration and standardization of Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral programs are exact equivalent of degrees from Islamic Colleyate like Al-Azhar. • Content of course materials, curricula and syllabi adopted by early European Colleges from Islamic Universities and many Islamic key textbooks continued to be taught well into 17th century. Pre-Islamic Education: Middle East 1. No evidence of organized or standardized teaching in pre-Islamic times anywhere. 2. One-on-one teaching for rulers or their children who could afford to hire a tutor or a guru who taught all he knew. 3. Education dependent upon the knowledge of the teacher and desire of the taught e.g. Aristotle teaching Alexander. 4. A rare library like Alexandria, Egypt, which was a collection of papyrus rolls for the royal household. Burnt down in 4th Century by Christian Greeks. 5. An academy like Gundishapur, Iran. 6. Any useful crafts were taught to the family members or acquired via individual apprentice-ships under a skilled master. Pre-Islamic Education: Europe Education in many part of Europe remained disorganized and individualized even at primary level right into 19th century as depicted in this 1842 painting from Bucharest: An open-air primary school with a single teacher. Notice the heads of children are covered emulating pupils of a madarsa or following in Islamic tradition. Due to poor quality school education, as grown-up will recognize the importance of education and pay to go to Colleges which were founded as teaching guilds and private business for higher education. Pre-Islamic Education: India The model of a wise-man ‘guru’ imparting his religious insights (rather than any secular knowledge) to an individual or collection of students existed, often associated with the local temples or Brahmin charlatans, in India. A famous guru could have his ‘gurukuls’ or ‘guru’s family’ where students lived with a single guru for the duration of their learning. There is no evidence of any organized learning of non-religious subjects in India. Although claims of organized large scale teaching of Buddhist doctrine and training of missionaries in Texila Monastery of Pakistan and similar monastery at Nalanda, India circa 5th Century are recognized. These monasteries promoted Buddhist missionary work far as to China and further East to regional monasteries but are not known to have contributed to any science or technology known today but perhaps taught crafts like sculpting or religious arts. Pre-Islamic Education: China 1. Provincial Schools: Taught religion, basic writing and mathematics. Due to constrains of massive Chinese alphabet, 40 000 characters, extensive reading and writing was limited hence greater emphasis on training in crafts like painting, pottery and silk. 2. Imperial Schools: Thru a central