Madrasah as-Sawlatiyah (, ''Madrasah aṣ-Ṣawlatīyah;'' or abbreviation: "al-Sawlatiyya") is an

Islamic school Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. It is the oldest continuing school in

History

Al-Sawlatiyya was founded in 1873 by

Rahmatullah Kairanawi Rahmatullah Kairanawi al-Hindi (; 1818–1891) was a Sunni Muslim scholar and author who is best known for his work, '' Izhar ul-Haqq''. Background Kairanawi was born in Kairana, Muzaffarnagar in 1818. He is a descendant of the third Caliph, ...

. Kairanawi had been appointed as a lecturer at the

Masjid al-Haram Masjid al-Haram (), also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the ...

by the Sheikh al-Ulama (Leading Scholar)

Ahmad Zayni Dahlan Ahmad Zayni Dahlan () (1816–1886) was the Grand Mufti of Mecca between 1871 and his death. He also held the position of Shaykh al-Islam in the Hejaz and Imam al-Haramayn (Imam of the two holy cities, Mecca and Medina). Theologically and juridi ...

. He started teaching and felt that lessons were delivered as sermons rather than planned academic lectures. He gathered with

Indian Muslim Islam is India's Religion in India, second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the Islam by country, third-larg ...

immigrants and wealthy benefactors to establish an authentic Islamic Law School to teach the Islamic sciences through what he saw as a more sound curriculum. The madrassah was established in 1290

hijrah The Hijrah, () also Hegira (from Medieval Latin), was the journey the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the e ...

(1874 CE) The major contributor was a woman of

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

by the name of Sawlat al-Nisa, on whose name the madrassah is named.

Present day and legacy

The Madrassah is still in existence and has well-known alumni around the world. According to historian Rosie Bsheer, the school represents a critical and under-explored history of anti-colonial intellectualism and politicization in Mecca that reached across continents and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

to other geographic locales. "Graduates of Sawlatiyya and other schools founded by Asian and African intellectuals in the city eccacontributed to the intellectual, cultural, social and political life in the Arabian Peninsula and other parts of the world." The Book '' Izhar ul-Haqq,'' written by the school's founder Ramatullah Kairanawi, was the main reason behind Ahmed Deedat's active interest in debates on Christianity. Of the well known sources the Madrasah was founded by the Eminent Sheikh Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki Rahmatullahi Alayh and the donation was given by the said honorable lady who was a student of the Great Sheikh.

Alumni

References

Educational institutions established in 1874 1874 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Sawlatiyah 19th-century madrasas {{SaudiArabia-school-stub