ABSTRACT
Having set the historical and conceptual background to higher education among Muslims in both the pre-modern and the modern age, I shall now move on to discuss current understandings of the idea of ‘a university’ in Muslim contexts. As we have seen, certain key concepts (e.g. ‘education’, ‘knowledge’, ‘jami-masjid, congregational mosques as centres of learning’, ‘madrasah’, ‘university’ etc.) have evolved over time in different contexts, and thereby reflect different aspects of life in a given time. In this chapter I aim to explore different conceptions of what ‘a university’ is. Such conceptions will vary. People from different traditions will interpret the idea differently in order to reconcile it with their traditions.
