page_title: Madrasa
section_title: Western countries
hierarchical_section_title: Madrasa / Madrasas by region / Western countries
caption_attribution_description: English: Yangzhou's Islamic kindergarten. (Located in Nanchenggen Xiao San Xiang) 中文: 扬州伊斯兰幼儿园，位于南城根小三巷
context_page_description: Madrasa is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious, whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated madrasah, medresa, madrassa, madraza, medrese, etc. In countries outside the Arabic-speaking world, the word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the religion of Islam, though this may not be the only subject studied.
  In an architectural and historical context, the term generally refers to a particular kind of institution in the historic Muslim world which primarily taught Islamic law and jurisprudence, as well as other subjects on occasion. The origin of this type of institution is widely credited to Nizam al-Mulk, a vizier under the Seljuks in the 11th century, who was responsible for building the first network of official madrasas in Iran, Mesopotamia, and Khorasan. From there, the construction of madrasas spread across much of the Muslim world over the next few centuries, often adopting similar models of architectural design.
caption: A Muslim kindergarten in Yangzhou, China
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