Popular learning in Arab civilisation
الحركة العامية في الحضارة العربية
Arslan's chapter describes the spread of learning beyond a narrow class in early Arab-Islamic civilisation. He reports that schools in Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba admitted students of different social rank, that some rulers paid living costs for poor pupils, that non-Muslim teachers sometimes ran schools, and that many students in Cordoba were Christian. He sees this openness as rooted in the tolerance of the early Umayyad and Abbasid periods, and points to al-Ma'mun's translation of Ptolemy and the astronomy that followed. This is the author's broad account, not a study of each school.
At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
In the chapter "The popular movement in Arab civilisation", Shakib Arslan presents the spread of education among ordinary people after it had been confined to a particular class. This is a description in the author's own terms, based on a general history rather than on a detailed study of each school. 1
What he mentions
He mentions that the schools in Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba were open to students from different classes. He mentions that some caliphs paid stipends to poor students, that the people of the protected covenant (dhimmis) administered some schools, and that many students of Cordoba were Christians. 1
He holds that the movement rested on a measure of tolerance in the time of the Umayyads and the early Abbasids. He describes al-Ma'mun's translation of the books of Ptolemy and the astronomical sciences that followed it. 1
A further source is needed: the reports of endowments, of teachers who were not Muslims, and of the Christian students of Cordoba need original sources.
Sources
- Stoddard, Hadir al-ʿalam al-islami (Arabic translation with Arslan's commentary)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Popular learning in Arab civilisation”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/popular-learning-in-arab-civilisation/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.