Traditional Quran Schools Keep Serving as Major Cultural, Educations Centers in Syria

IQNA – Quranic Maktabs (traditional Quran schools) in Syria are a religious and civilization heritage of the country that continue to serve as major cultural and educational centers.   

Talib al-Daghim, a Syrian history scholar and researcher has recently written an article, published by Al Jazeera, in which he surveys the history of Maktabs in the Arab country. Following are excerpts from the article: 

Maktabs have been founded in Muslims lands since the early years after the advent of Islam with the aim of teaching the Quran and Hadiths of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) as well as the Arabic language, reading and writing, math, etc.

With the spread of Muslim conquests, Maktabs were established in the conquered lands. This was an era when many Maktabs were launched in cities like Damascus, Hums, al-Quds, Basra, Kufa, Gaza, Kairouan and elsewhere.

Later, Ayyubid and Ottoman rulers supported the development and maintaining of Maktabs.   

Studying in Maktabs usually took up most of the time of the day, with students learning the Quran and other subjects starting after morning prayers and continuing until afternoon.

The teacher would sit at the front and the students would form a circle around him. Top students would help the teacher by guiding those who had trouble learning.

Upon completion of the Maktab studies, students were given an exam and, if they passed, they were honored with a graduation ceremony. Those who wished to continue their studies would do so in mosques and seminaries.

In the Levant (today’s Syria), many such schools were established, including in Aleppo and Damascus.

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Their prominence continued during the Ottoman era and even during the French colonial rule and later.

While in the second half of the 20th century there were attempts at limiting the activities of Maktabs, they have continued to operate thanks to the efforts of religious scholars and people.

 After the outbreak of civil war in Syria in 2011, many schools were closed in different parts of the country. According to a 2015 UNICEF report, more than 2 million children were forced to abandon their studies after schools were destroyed, closed or used as refugee camps.

Hence, local institutions and societies started efforts to gather the children and help them continue their studies in Maktabs along with learning the Quran.

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