Studies on the Ottoman Medrese Curriculum
Although many variables, especially the political authorities, are to be taken into account, it should be accepted that the curricula of the medreses were determined by scholars (ulama) in the Islamic civilization. As a matter of fact the curricula were based on the proportional reconciliation between politics and knowledge, in other words edict (ferman) and judicial decree (fetwa). In this context, it can be said that in the Ottoman period, which was a natural continuity of Islamic civilization, there were loose curricula, and their main lines have been determined by the state and then with some revisions arranged in the medreses. To analyse the Ottoman medrese curricula that have these criteria, first of all we need to study all the old and new sources which give us information about them: Texts in various fields of study as well as their commentaries and glosses, autobiographical notes, travel accounts, medrese certifications, deeds of endowments (ewkaf) and so on. But for an accurate result, each piece of information obtained from these sources should be related to its restricted time and place.
ŞÜKRAN FAZLIOĞLU
