Islamic Education in Late Ottoman Istanbul : Ulema and Madrasa Reform

This research examines the Late Ottoman debate on educational reform by exploring journals, scholarly treaties and administrative documents published in Istanbul from 1908 to 1924. It seeks to complement the existing literature on Late Ottoman education and the wider scholarship on the question of Islamic reform. The research particularly highlights the contribution of ulema to the debate through analyzing their participation in the discussions on madrasa reform. The analysis illustrates how ulema responded to the critiques of madrasas by offering their own diagnoses and reform agendas. The thesis also studies the administrative, curricular and pedagogical aspects of the Daru'l-Hilafeti'l-Aliyye madrasa project in dialogue with the questions from the existing literature on Islamic educational reform. It identifies the new role of teachers and assessment of knowledge as the major two shifts from the madrasa tradition brought by the project. The last part of the research provides an account of discussions on the Law of Unification of Education which eventually resulted in the abolishment of madrasas.