Encyclopedia of Islam

Khomeini, Ruhollah

---

Further reading: Ruhallah Khomeini, Islam and Revo-

lution: Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini.

Translated by Hamid Algar (Berkeley, Calif.: Mizan 

Press, 1981); Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts 

within Islam Will Shape the Future (New York: W.W. 

Norton, 2007); Ali Rahnema, “Khomeini’s Search for 

Perfection: Theory and Reality.” In Pioneers of Islamic 

Revival, edited by Ali Rahnema, 64–97 (London: Zed 

Books, 2005).

khums 

See s

hiism

.

khutba

  See 

sermon

.

Koran

  See q

uran

.

kufr

  See 

kafir

.

kuttab

 

(Arabic: writing school)

A traditional Islamic q

Uran

 school providing 

elementary levels of 

edUcation

, the kuttab is also 

sometimes known as a maktab, though occasion-

ally the two had separate functions. The kuttab

curriculum consisted primarily of memorizing the 

Quran and learning the fundamentals of Islamic 

belief and practice. But it could also include study 

of Arabic grammar, Arabic or Persian classical 

poetry, and basic arithmetic. Instruction was cen-

tered on memorization through dictation, writ-

ing, and recitation, with little or no teaching time 

devoted to the meaning of the texts.

In the Middle Ages only a minority of boys 

from the ages of about four to 10 were given the 

opportunity to study at a kuttab. In most regions 

and periods, girls were excluded from attending, 

but this situation changed in the 19th and 20th 

centuries. Upper-class and elite families usually 

hired tutors to teach their children at home, but 

kuttabs were, by the early modern period, almost 

universally available to educate the poor and 

middle classes. A kuttab was often established as 

a charitable trust (waqf). The kuttab education 

could lead to further studies in the Islamic educa-

tion system of jami halqas, or 

mosqUe

 teaching 

circles, and 

madrasa

s, or institutions of higher 

learning for students who proved their ability. 

But most students probably ended their education 

after the kuttab and were left with little more than 

the ability to recite portions of complex literary 

Arabic they were unlikely to comprehend, in the 

case of Arabic and non-Arabic speakers alike. 

However, they would have been well prepared to 

perform their ritual duties as Muslims.

This institution developed very early in the 

Islamic period and spread widely in the wake 

of the Arab-Islamic conquests. It was important 

in all Islamicate lands, serving as the initial 

introduction to education as well as playing an 

important role in Islamization. The kuttab was 

a key feature of Islamicate civilization for many 

centuries; however, educational reforms from 

the mid-19th century to the present day have 

increasingly led to its decline. The functions of 

the  kuttab were largely taken over by public, 

state-funded educational systems. In states where 

primary education was not universally provided 

until late in the 20th century, such as l

ibya

, s

aUdi

a

rabia

, and y

emen

, the kuttab remained the only 

source of education available in rural areas. The 

kuttab has been revived in some regions where 

the educational system has been completely 

secularized, for example, by Indian Muslims after 

partition (1947) and in a

lgeria

 during the 1930s. 

In some states, such as e

gypt

 and m

orocco

,

the  kuttab was modified and integrated into the 

national school system or it remains as an impor-

tant alternative to the Islamic education provided 

in the public schools.

See also 

literacy

.

Shauna Huffaker