The Role of Schools in Islamic Society Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Abstract

Education in Arabia before Islam
There are at least three opinions concerning the status of education on
the Arabian peninsula prior to the advent of Islam. The first opinion
assumes that the Arabs were an illiterate people, void of any knowledge
of science or any other indicator of educational progress. It maintains
argue that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), to
whom the Qur’an was revealed, was himself illiterate, thus reflecting his
society’s educational state; and that those living in the pre-Islamic
Arabian peninsula were steeped in ignorance and controlled by myths,
superstitions, and the worship of idols.’
The second opinion concerning the days of ignorance (the pre-Islamic
period Ijuhiliyyuh]) concentrates on the extent to which the Arabs
acquired knowledge of those sciences that were necessary for their daily
lives. For example, Mustafa Mutawali discusses the study of astronomy
as an aid to traveling, the study of weather conditions (meteorology), and
the study of traditional healing in medicine.2 The pre-Islamic Arabs also
studied the science of tracking, genealogy, and poetry. While this line of
historical research does not necessarily contradict the first, the issue is
one of emphasis, with Mutawali and others demonstrating that the pre-
Islamic Arabs were not totally void of knowledge.
The third opinion focuses on the knowledge acquired by the upper strata
of pre-Islamic Arab society. A very small minority of upper class individuals
were well versed in the skills of reading, writing, mathematics,
and business administration. Some scholars have asserted that only 17 ...