Mustansiriya Madrasah

The madrasa was established by Caliph al-Mustansir and its cost amounted to 700 thousand dinars, and it was opened for study on the 6th of April, 1233, and a large celebration and feast was held in its opening. It was the first Islamic university in which the study of jurisprudence based on the four schools of thought; Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki, and Hanbali and all were combined into “one school.” This inspired al-Salihiyya Madrasa in Cairo which was established almost a decade after al-Mustansiriya Madrasa and also taught four schools of thought into one. The management of the Madrasa was carried out by a headmaster who was chosen by the senior state employees. The headmaster was assisted by a number of assistants, led by the supervisor, who was like the financial inspector. A number of employees were also hired to serve the teachers and students. Teachers usually consisted of senior Sheikhs and Imams from Iraq, the Levant and Egypt who were known for their deep research and study. Some of the teachers were also assisted by higher teachers. Employees of the Madrasa also had a salary.[4] In 1235, an early monumental water-powered alarm clock that announced the appointed hours of prayer and the time both by day and by night was completed in the entrance hall of al-Mustansiriya Madrasa in Baghdad.[5]

Main gate of the Mustansiriya Madrasa.

Within the school of Islamic studies, there were specific divisions of Islamic knowledge. The divisions included the Dar al-Qur'an and the Dar al-Hadith. The Dar al-Qur’an, or the House of Qur’an, was dedicated to the study and recitation of the Qur’an. There was a designated reciter of the Qur'an and a fellow aid to help teach the students. Along with the students, there were thirty orphans who were housed in the complex. All students, including the orphans, were designated an equal wage, bread, and stew. The Dar al-Hadith was dedicated to the study of the sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Within this school, there was a senior scholar, or shaykh, who held the highest position of education within the school.[6]

Additionally, the School of Medicine was housed in al-Mustansiriya Madrasa. The School of Medicine was led by a senior Muslim physician who was required to have ten students employed to him. There was also a hospital located in the Madrasa, allowing medical students to learn and practice medicine within the same complex.

Al-Mustansiriya Madrasa included a variety of buildings such as a hammam, public hospital, pharmacy, food storage site, and kitchen.[7] There was also space designated for student residences. The Madrasa provided food, lodging, clothing, and a monthly stipend for its students.[8] Its library had an initial collection of 80,000 volumes, given by the Caliph. The collection was said to have grown to 400,000 volumes, although the reports of both these figures may have been exaggerated. Even though the libraries’ collection survived the Mongol sack of 1258 CE, it was merged with that of al-Nizamiyah Madrasa in 1393 CE, whose collection had subsequently been dispersed or disappeared. As a result of the Ottoman invasion and capture of Baghdad in 1534 CE, books from the palaces and libraries were taken as the spoils of war and became an important part of the royal library in Istanbul.

Al-Mustansiriya Madrasa's gate in the 1930s.

After the 13th century, the Madrasa experienced a period of decline in prominence, followed by fluctuating centuries of purpose and power. The widespread annihilation and conquest of the Mongols throughout the Middle East resulted in the first stages of transformation for the complex. The Mongol Sack of 1258 devastated parts of the Madrasa that were later restored. After the initial attack, the Mongols settled in Baghdad under the emperors of the Il-Khanids.[9] Among the notables of the madrasa during this period was the librarian and historian Ibn al-Fuwati who returned to Baghdad in 1281 and was appointed director of the Madrasa.[10][11] Under Tamerlane, the madrasas of Baghdad, including this one, suffered greatly and studies in them were suspended. He had destroyed Baghdad twice, first in 1392 and second in 1400, and destroyed its schools; he took many of its writers, engineers, and architects to Samarkand. The Madrasa's library has also lost thousands of books and a large number of its scholars left Baghdad to Egypt, the Levant, and other Islamic countries at the time. Two centuries after Tamerlane's destruction, there was an attempt at revival in 1589 but it closed its doors in 1638.[4] In its place, the Mosque-Madrasa of al-Asifyah was established and connected to the Madrasa.[12]

In 1534, the Ottoman Turks seized control, maintaining a stable reign until the British accession in the early 20th century. During the late 18th to early 20th century, al-Mustansiriya Madrasa was used largely for military purposes such as serving as a place of rest and resource as well as a storage house for soldier uniforms. This multipurpose building also became known as the Khan al-Muwasilah in the 18th century specifically, which served as a caravanserai for traders passing through Baghdad.[7] Over the years, the madrasa suffered from neglect, and much of the building was lost until 1960 when the Iraqi government restored the Madrasa's complex and opened it for visits and tourists as a historic monument.[4]

Mustansiriya University Building in Baghdad 2005

Al-Mustansiriya Madrasa is one of the only buildings still standing that provides evidence for Baghdad's role as a center for Islamic Art and for the city's role in the development of geometric ornaments.[13] The layout of the Madrasa is a basic four-iwan plan fit into a two-story rectangular building with a large courtyard.[14] Each school of Islamic law was designated to a separate corner of the building.[7]

Some of the main decorative features includes muqarnas; series of interconnected vaults used to highlight squinch zones of domes or exterior of minarets and domes. Al-Mustansiriya incorporates arabesque and carved brick decoration in an exterior tripartite facade. The main entrance is made up of three conical archways, star and polygon figures, and an inscription describing the patron of the building, Al-Mustansir. Earlier Umayyad and Abbasid themes of foliage and greenery are also evoked in the exterior facade of the entrance archways. The other entrances are ornately decorated with geometric patterns of zig-zags, square designs, and ornamentation centered around water. The southwestern entrance also includes a later inscription about the Ottoman Sultan Abd al-Aziz.[15]

• General elements of the madrasa
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  Gate of the Madrasa which includes Qu'ranic verses.
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  The courtyard of the Madrasa.
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  Three of the arched openings of the Madrasa's complex.
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  Inside one of the corridors on the second floor.
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  A rooftop which includes a dome of the Madrasa.