The Model of Traditional Islamic Education of the Peoples of the North Caucasus (10th-18th Centuries)

About the author:

Nadezhda O. Bleikh, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Professor, Department of Social Work, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, North Ossetian State University named after Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov (Vladikavkaz); nadezhda-blejjkh@mail.ru

Abstract:

In 10^th-18^th centuries the educational structure among the muslim peoples of the North Caucasus had an ancient tradition dating back to the time when they accepted Islam. This paper considers the model of traditional Islamic education and analyzes its positive and negative aspects. Since contemporary researchers still have a negative opinion about the teaching process that takes place in the traditional education system of the Muslim peoples of the North Caucasus, the author presents her vision of the situation, based on archival, documentary and research materials, many of which are introduced into academic circulation for the first time.

The methodological basis of the work was the civilizational approach, which implied a wide use of the comparative method. When considering the specifics of developing the traditional education system, the Muslims of the North Caucasus region used comparative analysis and content analysis of texts. This presupposed, first of all, the complexity in studying the selected topic, the consideration of its individual components in a single methodological key and in concrete historical circumstances that determine the dynamics and tendencies of the further development. The chronological framework of the study covers the period from the 10^th century (the beginning of the appearance of Muslim schools) and to the turn of the 19^th century (the incorporation of the region into the legal field of the Russian Empire).

Having identified the positive and negative aspects of the confessional Muslim educational system, which consists of three links — the Koranic school, mektebe and madrasah, the author comes to the conclusion that, despite its elementality, religiosity, and class system, the teaching methods in this period were effective and produced good results. It is documented that such training influenced positively the formation of the general educational level of the population of Muslim regions in the period under study. In addition, the spiritual school was the only resource for obtaining knowledge for many people and, therefore, played a significant role in the civilized development of the mountain ethnoses.

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