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MOSLIM EDUCATION.

The course of study universally followed in Muhammedan countries has been briefly indicated in the first volume of this work (1), but it is much to be regretted that the information we possess on this subject is very slight, and that the system of mental culture requisite to form a well-educated Moslim is a point on which great obscurity still prevails. And yet the importance of obtaining a clear insight into the causes which gave to the character of a great and polished nation its peculiar cast and form cannot but be deeply felt. Were it possible to dissipate the obscurity in which this question is involved, a more exact idea would then be formed of the Moslim mind and Moslim civilisation. In such an investigation the works of Arabic authors might be expected to afford the highest assistance, but unfortunately the documents which they have left on this subject do not enable us to view it in all its bearings. These indications are not, however, without their value; they aid us to understand some parts of the system, and from the parts we may judge of the whole. One of the most curious is that given by Ibn Khaldûn in his Prolegomena, where he expresses himself thus:

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To teach children the Koran is a sign of religion shown by the Moslims in all their cities, and a duty which they universally fulfil; for by this " means the faith is firmly planted in the youthful heart, as also a knowledge of the dogmas which are enounced in the verses of that book. The Koran is therefore the basis on which are reared the future faculties of the mind; for that which is learned at an early age remains deeply impressed on the memory and serves as a foundation for what follows, and "we know that the form of the edifice is determined by the disposition of the foundations.

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"The different systems followed in teaching children the Koran are distinguished by the peculiar faculties developed by each. In Maghrib (Algiers and Morocco), that book is taught without any accompaniment; they

(1) See vol. I. Introduction, page xxxi.

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begin by making the scholar read it over; then he learns it by heart from the edition of the text received in that country; and he is instructed, at "the same time, in its peculiar orthography, the questions to which it "gives rise, and the various readings remarked in the systems of those (ancient masters) by whom it was transmitted down. Till this first step be surmounted, every thing else, such as Traditions, jurisprudence, poetry, and the idiom of the desert Arabs, is excluded. It therefore happens that a failure in this early stage of the pupil's progress puts an entire stop to his career.

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"Such is the mode of instruction followed in the cities of Maghrib and in "some Berber towns where the example has been adopted; it applies equally "to the scholar who has not attained the age of puberty, and to persons more advanced in years who intend to recommence their studies; the result is, that the Maghribins are more intimately acquainted with the orthography of the Koran, and know it by heart much better than people of other " countries.

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"In Spain they proceed otherwise; for, whilst they make it a rule to teach the reading of the Koran and its orthography as actually used (because they consider that book as the foundation of learning, the groundwork of “education, and the basis of religion and the sciences), they instruct their children at the same time in poetry, epistolary writing, the principles of grammar, and the art of penmanship. The acquisition of this last accomplishment occupies scholars till the age of puberty, so that whilst youths obtain a knowledge of grammar and an acquaintance with the works of the poets, they become skilful penmen and persevere, nearly all, in the pursuit of learning. But learning subsists by transmission, and, as its transmission has been interrupted in the provinces of Spain, the students of that country can only acquire such portions of knowledge as are accessible from the first steps of their education. This is however sufficient for him "whom God directs, and it gives him the means of reaching other branches "of learning.

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"In Ifrîkiya (the province of Tunis), they generally instruct their children "in the Traditions whilst teaching them the Koran, to which they add the principles of the sciences and some of the questions which they involve;

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but, as their chief object is, to communicate a correct knowledge of the "text and various readings of that book, the art of penmanship is neglected. In the East instruction is also of a mixed nature, but I do not know to what length it is carried; we have been told however that they pay more "attention to the culture of penmanship and of the sciences than to the study of the Koran.

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The people of Ifrîkiya and Maghrib, by confining their application to the Koran, can never attain the faculty of mastering the language. The reason of this we shall here explain: No peculiar faculty can be developed in the mind by the study of the Koran, because the declaration that it is impossible to produce anything equal to it prevents it from being taken as a model for imitation; so that the student, though he may acquire an ample share of spiritual merit, can neither obtain a good command of Arabic nor a facility of diction. The people of Ifrîkiya are perhaps more advanced in this last respect than those of Maghrib, because, in studying "the Koran, they learn Traditions and scientific rules; they have therefore "a certain command of language, but they do not attain elegance of expression.

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The habit of teaching pupils, of repeating poems and epistles, and of studying the rules of grammar is so general in Spain, that the natives of that country have acquired a complete mastery of the Arabic tongue; but in the "other branches of knowledge their skill is inferior, because they have not paid sufficient attention to the Koran and the Traditions, which are the source and basis of the sciences. In grammar, however, and polite lite"rature they excel in a greater or less degree, accordingly as they have "devoted more or less time to these occupations on terminating the studies "which engaged their youth.

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The kadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi (1) has laid down, in his Rihla, a highly "curious and original plan of study. He proposes that youths should be first instructed in grammar and the works of the poets, conformably to the Spanish custom, for,' says he, language is enregistered in its poetry, "and the corruption of the language renders it necessary that you should

(1) The life of Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi will be found in the third volume of this work.

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"commence by that and by grammar; you should then pass to arithmetic, and, having acquired an idea of its rules, you may proceed to the study of the Koran, which, by means of these preparatory labours, will be found "much easier than it generally is. You may then commence dogmatic theology (osul ad-dîn) and the fundamentals of jurisprudence (osûl al-fikh), “ ́ ́after which you may proceed to dialectics (djedel), and from that to the Traditions and the sciences connected with them.' He disapproves of teaching two sciences simultaneously, unless the pupil be remarkably intelligent. Such are the counsels of the kâdi, and I acknowledge that the I plan laid down by him is excellent; but settled custom, that influential "element in the human character, renders it inadmissible. In taking the Koran for the basis of education, people are actuated by the desire of meriting the divine favour, as, by this means, they protect youth against its "own follies and preserve it from that levity of mind which not only ruins the knowledge already obtained or interrupts its acquisition, but would also prevent the young Moslim from learning the Koran. Indeed, whilst under the guardianship of his family, he may be retained in habitual submission, but, when the age of puberty delivers him from control, the storms of passion may soon cast him away on the coast of folly. They therefore "take advantage of the time during which he is under command, to teach him "the Koran, so that, at a later period, he may not be entirely ignorant of its "contents. However, were it certain that the student would persevere in "the pursuit of knowledge and submit to receive instruction, the system proposed by the kâdi would be the best which the people of the East and the West could adopt; but God ordains what he pleaseth, and no change "can be effected in His decisions."

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To proceed from this first step so well described by Ibn Khaldûn and follow the young Moslim in his path through the higher departments of study, we must have recourse to the biographical notices on their learned men. The life of Avicenna offers us a transitory glance at his early education, and therefore merits attention, but much fuller information will be obtained from the autobiography of Abd al-Latif. In this work, he gives us a perfect outline of his own studies under some of the most distinguished masters of the epoch. Were this treatise less known, I should have felt it indispensable to insert an

extract from it here, but it has been rendered fully accessible by two editions, one in Arabic and Latin by Mousley, and the other in Arabic and French by de Sacy; the latter so admirably translated and commented that, were I to undertake a new version of it into English, I feel I should rest far-very far indeed—beneath that illustrious orientalist, my deeply venerated master.

Another contribution to the same stock of documents is furnished by Ibn Khaldun in his autobiography. He informs us that, having learned to read the Koran and got it off by heart, he read it again according to each of the seven readings or editions, and then combined these various readings in a final repetition of the text. During this occupation he went over the Koran twentyone times, and in a twenty-second repetition, he went over all the various readings. He finished by the lecture of the two editions, or systems of readings, taught by Yakub (1). At this period, two other works occupied his attention: the Lâmiya, a poem of Ibn Firro as-Shâtibi, on the readings of the Koran, and the Râiya, another poem by the same author on the orthography of that book (2). He next studied the Takassi, a treatise composed by Ibn Abd alBarr (3) on the Traditions cited in the Muwatta (4), and a great number of other works, such as the Tashil (5) of Ibn Mâlik and Ibn al-Hadjib's (6) abridgment of jurisprudence, but these last he did not get off by heart. During the same period he cultivated the art of grammar under the tuition of his father and of the first masters. He perused also the Six Poets (7), the Hamâsa, the poems of Abu Tammâm (8), part of al-Mutanabbi's (9) poetical works, and some of the pieces preserved in the Kitâb al-Aghâni (10). Under Shams ed

(1) He means Yakub Ibn Ishak al-Hadrami, one of the great readers. His life is given by Ibn Khallikån. (2) See page 499 of this volume. By the Lamiya, Ibn Khaldun means to designate Ibn Firro's Hirz al

Amâni.

(3) In a subsequent volume will be found the life of Ibn Abd el-Barr.

(4) See page 549, note (12), of this volume.

(5) This is a treatise on grammar by Ibn Mâlik, the author of the Alfiya, who died A. H. 672 (A.D. 1273-4). See M. de Sacy's Anthologie Grammaticale, pages 203, 215 and Fluegel's Hajji Khalifa, tom. II. page 290. (6) See page 193 of this volume.

(7) The six poets are Amro 'l-Kais, Nabigha, Alkama, Zohaih, Tarafa, and Antara. See page x of my preface to the Diwan d'Amro 'l-Kais.

(8) See vol. I. page 348.

(9) See vol. I. page 102.

(10) See vol. II. page 249.

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