Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
7. The Importance of Education in Islam
~ 94 ~
At the Battle of Badr 70 people were taken prisoner. The
decision was taken after consultation with the senior companions
that on payment of 4000 dirhams each they would be set free.
Most of the Makkans being businessmen, knew how to read and
write. But the Madinans were mostly farmers, who did not know
how to read or write. Owing to the importance of education in
Islam it was decided that those prisoners of war who were not able
to pay ransom, should be asked to teach 10 Muslim children in
order to secure their freedom. This was the first proper school in
Islam established by the Prophet himself (
Tabaqat
, Ibn Sad).
The learning explosion produced by the first divine word
Iqra
continued non-stop. It initially began at Makkah and gradually
spread throughout the world. After the demise of the Prophet, the
companions spread out in the neighbouring countries with the
same spirit of seeking knowledge and imparting it to others. From
Makkah to Madinah to Abyssinia to Iraq, to Egypt, to Baghdad this
revolutionary educational movement gradually passed on to Central
Asia and the East, then to Spain and the West.
For more than a thousand years these served as international
centres of learning, education, medicine and multidimensional
development in all spheres of life.
Women were not kept away from these activities. Starting with
the Prophet’s own household, Muslim families provided equal
opportunities to the female members of the family to learn to grow
and play a constructive role in the progress and development of
society at large. A large number of learned women have found
