Abstract:

Correct understanding of the religion of Islam requires learning the Arabic language at a certain level. This is because Arabic is the language of the word of Allah, the Holy Prophet, his Companions, the subjects, and the Islamic literature in general. Since the era of bliss, the members of the Read ummah have attached importance to science and contributed to the development of world civilization with the works they wrote in Arabic. 

From the birth of the religion of Islam to the Ottoman period, educational activities were carried out in primary schools/local madrasas known as ketâtîb. Specialized lessons such as tafsir, tafsir methodology, tajweed, hadith, hadith methodology, tawheh, fiqh, fiqh methodology, al naḥw, literature, rhetoric, al seerah, and Islamic history that required expertise were taught by expert teachers in the lecture circles established in mosques, specifically aimed at science students, and for the general public. On the other hand, in ketâtîb, which were systematized by Khalifa Umar to improve the education of young children, mostly courses such as the Quran, reading-writing, calculating, memorization, and spelling were taught.

The city of Mecca had been one of the important centers of science throughout the history of Islam and maintained this feature until the end of the Ottoman rule. Like al Madina al Munawara, the city of Mecca was subjected to positive discrimination by the Ottomans due to Haramain and was financially supported by the state. Undoubtedly, this situation was effective in the acceleration of scientific activities in Mecca. 

The institutions that carried out Arabic education and training activities in Mecca were al-Ḥaram al-S̲h̲arīf lecture rings, unofficial madrasas and official schools. However, this research is limited to al-Ḥaram al-S̲h̲arīf lecture rings in the relevant period. Accordingly, educational activities, syllabus, appointment, supervision and categorization of instructors, issues related to students, course curricula, books, and methods followed will be examined in al-Ḥaram al-S̲h̲arīf lecture rings as much as the sources available allow.

Key words: al-Ḥaram al-S̲h̲arīf, Education, Instructors, Students, Lessons