Maktab as an Institution of Elementary Islamic Education in Novi Pazar – A historical aspect

Abstract

An untruth has been established among a large number of researchers, historians, orientalists, etc., that the causes of illiteracy and ignorance of the members of Islam should be sought in the faith of Islam, that is, in the centuries-old rule of Ottoman Turkey in our region, which, allegedly, did not, adequately, take into account the education of the population. That these claims are not true, we want to show and prove through a brief overview of the historical development and functioning of the institution of maktab, as the primary institution of basic Islamic education in Novi Pazar,a city which was part of the Ottoman Turkey until 1912, when it was attached to the state of Serbia. From its founding in 1461 until today this town was populated by a predominantly Muslim population. In the conclusion of the paper we will present the result of the research. The aim of this research is to confirm the initial hypothesis that is-that during the Turkish rule in this area there was a solid education of the population which, with certain deficiencies, was in accordance with, at that time, level of the state and society development and that the causes of Muslim backwardness in these areas cannot be sought in the guilt of Ottoman Turkey, which left these areas 110 years ago.