Thinking About Madrasa Curriculum Through the Relationship Between Classification (Tasnîf) and Arrangement (Tartîb): Based on Kavâkib-i Sabʻa
Despite many studies conducted today, the details of the teaching and learning system in Ottoman madrasas have not been fully elucidated. This is because we lack works that provide curriculum programs before the 17th century, and the studies available after this century do not encompass the entire Ottoman geography. However, the data we have shows that the education programs in madrasas were not prepared randomly; rather, the curricula were closely related to the understanding of knowledge of the period and the classification of sciences derived from this understanding. This close relationship can be observed in the Kavâkib-i Sabʻa, a work written in the early 18th century that provides detailed information about the logic of teaching in Ottoman madrasas, the works taught, the teaching methods, and the objectives. In this study, this relationship will be examined based on this work. Understanding this relationship not only gives us information about the madrasa curriculum and why certain works were taught at specific times, but also shows whether there was a philosophy behind the education system.
Tasnîf ile Tertîb Arasında Medrese Müfredâtını Düşünmek: Kevâkib-i Sebʻa Üzerinden
Osmanlı medreselerindeki eğitim-öğretim sistemi bugün yapılan pek çok araştırmaya rağmen ayrıntılarıyla ortaya konulamamıştır. Çünkü elimizde XVII. yüzyıl öncesine dair müfredat programını veren çalışmalar olmadığı gibi bu yüzyıldan sonraki çalışmalar da tüm Osmanlı coğrafyasını kuşatacak nitelikte değildir. Ancak elimizdeki veriler medreselerdeki eğitim-öğretim programlarının rastgele hazırlanmadığını, müfredatların dönemin bilgi anlayışıyla ve bu anlayıştan hareketle oluşturulan bilimler tasnifiyle yakından alakalı olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu sıkı alakayı 18. yüzyılın başında kaleme alınmış Osmanlı medreselerindeki öğretimin mantığı, okutulan eserler, öğretim yöntemleri ve amaçları gibi hususlarda ayrıntılı bilgi veren Kevâkib-i Sebʻa adlı eserden takip etmek mümkündür. Çalışmada bu ayrıntılı eserden de hareketle söz konusu ilişki yani müfredatların bilimler tasnifiyle olan ilişkisi ortaya konacaktır. Zira bu ilişkiyi anlamak bize sadece medrese müfredatını, hangi eserin nerede, ne zaman ve niçin okutulduğu bilgisini vermez, aynı zamanda eğitim sisteminin bir felsefesi olup olmadığını da gösterir. Dolayısıyla ilimlerin tertib, tasnif ve taksiminden hareketle Osmanlı medreselerindeki eğitim sisteminin görünmeyen yüzü anlaşılmaya çalışılacaktır. Bu ilişki Kevâkib-i Sebʻa’nın içeriğinden hareketle ortaya konarak tartışılacaktır.
Education, or “tarbiya,” means the gradual transmission (with age ranges in mind) of a society’s set of behaviours to its members, while instruction, or “talîm/tadris,” means the transmission of knowledge. The purpose of this transmission is, at its core, the desire to perpetuate and sustain their culture and civilisation. This continuity can only be achieved by individuals organising their lives with consideration for the accumulated knowledge of that culture. Therefore, the fundamental aim of education and instruction is for the culture to produce and cultivate the type of person it wishes to see and even possess. For instruction, it is necessary first to prepare a curriculum using a method that makes this transmission possible, which works written from the second half of the 17th century to the 18th century largely refer to as “tartîb.” However, it should not be overlooked that “tartîb,” or curriculum, is prepared based on “tasnîf” or classifications that consider the scientific understanding of that culture and civilisation and it’s relationships between sciences. In other words, there is a close relationship between “tartîb” (disposition) and “tasnîf” (classification). Just as the classification of sciences is directly related to the existing knowledge—in other words, the conceptualisation of God, the Universe, and Man of that era—it can be said that the “tartîb” or curriculum, is shaped according to the understanding of knowledge of the period that guides the classification of sciences. For this reason, a science or even a work not included in the madrasa programs of a particular period can be brought to light and thought centuries later.
At this point, it is also necessary to mention the concept of “taksîm.” Although in the modern era “tasnîf” and “taksîm” are often used interchangeably, there is actually a traditional distinction between them. Taşköprülü-zâde (d. 968/1561), in his work Miftâh al-Saâda wa Misbâh al-Siyâda, wrote a section titled ‘ilm takâsim al-ulûm’ and stated that this branch of science investigates the “gradual descent from the most general subject to the most specific subject,” thereby identifying the broader category within which any given branch of science falls. Within this principle, since metaphysics (al-ilm al ilâhi) encompasses the most general subject, other sciences are divided into its branches. Therefore, in the classical understanding of science, “taksîm” is related to the division of a genus into its forms and sections. In other words, in the Islamic tradition, science is singular and thus divided (taksîm) according to intrinsic qualities such as conception and affirmation. Sciences (ulûm), on the other hand, are classified (tasnîf); this is carried out according to accidental qualities, such as theoretical sciences, practical sciences, and their sub-branches. The conclusion is clear: science is divided (taksîm), sciences are classified (tasnîf), and the curriculum is dispositioned (tartîb).
In light of this, the concept of Tartîb/Tartîb al-ulûm should be considered within two dimensions. First, it involves the arrangement of sciences that are deemed necessary to be included in the curriculum according to the understanding of knowledge of the period, ordered in a specific sequence while considering their hierarchy. The other dimension pertains to the teaching of a single science, where the preferred works are taught in a specific order based on the levels and topics within that science.
The goal of education is to study the sciences in the most beneficial way within a specific hierarchy. While “taksîm” and “tasnîf” largely rely on theological-philosophical considerations, the curriculum is shaped partly by these considerations and partly by the scientific community, society, and political variables. Hence, the curriculum is influenced not only by scientific needs but also by many non-scientific factors. Therefore, given the time period and circumstances, both the theological-philosophical considerations and their needs or priorities change over time, resulting in the alteration of the curriculum content as well.
The work titled Kavâkib-i Sabʻa (authored in 1152/1739), commissioned by the Ottoman Empire at the request of France in the early 18th century, is an important text through which we can observe the combination of classification (tasnîf) and disposition (tartîb). This work, which can be considered the official curriculum of the late Ottoman madrasahs, consists of an introduction, two main sections, and a conclusion. In the first of these main sections, the focus is on classification (tasnîf), and in the second, on disposition (tartîb). In other words, the author first classifies the sciences within Islamic civilisation and then systematically explains how, in what order, and from which books these sciences were taught in the Ottoman educational institutions, the madrasahs.
