Mir-i-Arab madrasah

Mir Arab madrasah — Bukhara madrasah.

The construction of the madrasah is associated with the Uzbek ruler Ubaydullakhon and his spiritual guide Mir Arab.

The period of study is 4 years. The daytime department of the dormitory admits people aged 15 to 35 with secondary and incomplete secondary education. Religious subjects as well as general education subjects are taught. Students are also taught Arabic, English, Russian and Persian languages. Lessons are conducted in Uzbek and Arabic.

History

Mir Arab's real name was Sayyid Abdulloh; at the age of 22 he came to Samarkand and became a disciple of Khoja Ahror. In the Sabron (Savron) of Turkestan he dug two koriz (underground channels), brought water out, built a fortress building, and developed many places in Shofirkon, Vobkent, and G‘ijduvan (the Mir Arab fortress is still preserved in Shofirkon).

He made a great contribution to the development of the Naqshbandi order. He could not complete the construction of the madrasah; at the beginning of 1536 Mir Arab died and, according to his will, his son-in-law Shaykh Zakariyo completed the construction.

The calligrapher Mirali Fathobadi-Bukhari wrote on the madrasah gate in Persian: “Mir Arab, pride of the Persians, has built this — the great madrasah is a marvel. This marvel is such that its history is: the great madrasah of Mir Arab.”

Soviet period

In the 1920–1930s all madrasas were closed in the USSR. In 1945 the mufti of the Central Asian Muslim Religious Administration (SADUM) achieved the restoration of Islamic education in Central Asia after long negotiations with state bodies. In the post‑war period the revival of the madrasah in the USSR began with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated 10 October 1945, No. 14808 “On the establishment of madrasas in Bukhara and Tashkent”. Based on this decree, the Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR issued on 29 November 1945 decree No. 1879‑212s “On granting permission to open two religious schools to the Central Asian and Kazakh Religious Administration”. In 1946 the Mir‑Arab madrasah was opened in the Uzbek SSR. According to information from I. V. Polyansky as of 1 June 1947, Mir‑Arab had 26 students and 3 teachers. The madrasah is referred to by various names in scientific literature. However, according to the certificate of completion No. 67 issued to Rifqat Rafiqov in 1989, the madrasah was called “Mir‑Arab”.

Historical sources indicate that the madrasa consists of 111 rooms. However, current authors report the number of rooms as 114 according to the Quranic chapters.

The overall dimensions of the madrasa are 68.5 × 51.8 m, the courtyard 35.4 × 31.3 m, the classroom 8 × 8 m. The courtyard is rectangular, surrounded by a front fence and 114 rooms with two entrances. The classroom with a 4‑meter high portal between the sides raises the ayvan courtyard space. In terms of structure, the original form of the ornate southern portal has been preserved, and star‑shaped ornaments appear among its decorative elements. From some preserved fragments of the decorations it can be seen that the patterns are extremely delicate and fine.

According to legends, the foundation of the madrasa was dug deep and reinforced with mountain stones, and gutters were installed to drain snow and rainwater, through which water is discharged outside the city fortress.

On the occasion of Bukhara's 2500th anniversary, the spilled koshinkori patterns and inscriptions on the madrasa portal and domes were restored.