Madrasa

Bukhara, known across the Islamic world as Bukhara-i-Sharif (Noble Bukhara), was among the most important cities of Islamic civilization. Capital of the Samanid dynasty and a major Silk Road center, it produced scholars such as Imam al-Bukhari and Ibn Sina.

Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary founded in northern India in 1866 or 1867 and the origin of the Deobandi school of thought. Its innovation was institutional: it carried the traditional religious sciences in the form of a modern school funded by public subscription.

Nur al-Din Zengi (1118-1174) united Muslim Syria under a single authority, made the recovery of Jerusalem a stated public purpose, and built the network of madrasas and institutions that carried the Sunni revival. His intervention in Egypt brought Saladin to power there.

Samarkand, one of Central Asia's oldest cities, was a major Silk Road hub, a center of early Islamic learning, and the capital of Timur's empire. Under the Timurid ruler Ulugh Beg it became a scientific capital, home to an observatory that produced the era's finest star catalog.

A school of Sunni thought and practice that grew from the seminary founded at Deoband in northern India in 1866 or 1867. Its scholars combined the roles of jurist and Sufi guide, built a madrasa funded by public subscription, and made hadith the centre of religious education.