curricula were designed to inculcate students with
a sense of patriotism as well as knowledge and
training needed to find employment in a modern
society. Nevertheless, the teaching of traditional
Islamic subjects continued on the elementary
levels at Quran schools and at select colleges and
universities, such as al-azhar in Cairo, Islamic
University in Medina, and the Shii madrasas in
Najaf and Qom. Even at these institutions, how-
ever, modern influences were strongly felt. Al-
Azhar University, for example, has added colleges
of medicine, agriculture, and engineering.
The establishment of modern schools and
universities by secular governments, missionaries,
and Muslim reformers has improved the overall
educational level of people living in the countries
of the Muslim world. There are now hundreds of
state-run universities and a growing number of
private universities, many of them with professors
who have been educated, at least in part, in Europe
and North America. Nevertheless, the quality of
the educational experience varies widely. Many
schools and universities are overcrowded and lack
adequate funding for teachers’ salaries, libraries,
textbooks, audio-visual equipment, computers,
and building maintenance. Girls have had access
to modern education since the 19th century but
often to a lesser extent than boys because of fam-
ily obligations, cultural traditions, and socioeco-
nomic factors.
Some observers have also asserted that schools
and universities have served as breeding grounds
for radical Islamic movements. While this may
be true in certain instances, such as the Islamic
revolutionary movement led by Ayatollah rUhol-
lah khomeini (d. 1989) and some groups inspired
by Wahhabi doctrines in Saudi-funded madrasas,
it is probably not as widespread as some have
proposed. Other factors are likely to be more
important in the proliferation of such movements.
On the other hand, it can be argued that modern
education has also improved the quality of life for
many, stimulated democratic forces, and fostered a
cosmopolitan, pluralistic outlook in many Muslim
countries.
See also aligarh; aUthority; books and book-
making; deoband; literacy; mUFti; murid; shiism.Further reading: Jonathan P. Berkey, The Transmission of
Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History of Islamic
Education (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
1992); Noura Durkee, “Recited from the Heart.” Saudi
Aramco World 51 (May/June 2000): 32–35; George
Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in
Islam and the West (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh
Press, 1981); Roy Mottahedeh, Mantle of the Prophet
(New York: Random House, 1985); Charles Michael
Stanton, Higher Learning in Islam: The Classical Period,
a.d. 700–1300 (Savage, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield,
1990); Gregory Starrett, Putting Islam to Work: Educa-
tion, Politics, and Religious Transformation in Egypt
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998).Egypt (Official name: Arab Republic
of Egypt)
Today’s Arab Republic of Egypt is the most popu-
lous country in the Arab world at 81.7 million
residents (2008 est.), of whom probably 90 to 94
percent are Sunni Muslims, with the remaining 6
to 10 percent Christians, mainly Orthodox Copts.
It has an area of 386,258 square miles, whichGirls’ school in Upper Egypt ( Juan E. Campo)
K 210 Egypt