THE DYNAMICS OF OTTOMAN EDUCATION: An Analysis of Systems and Structure

The Ottoman Empire education was originally a legacy of the Bani Saljuk education system which was not so well established. There is not much description about the ins and outs of education at that time and many leave a variety of interesting questions for further study. This paper, using a historical approach, examines how the chronology of dynamic system and structure of the Ottoman scientific foundation so that it can sustain the progress of civilization to the point of its decline. This paper concludes that the thought and structure of Ottoman education has combined Islamic education with general science. Education encompasses general and military education in which basic subjects must include the guidance of monotheism, the Qur’an, fiqh, tafsir, morals and Sufism. The Ottoman has shaped the personality of its leader and society towards progress in accordance with regional and economic development. However, the hegemony of Western Europe and the crisis of leadership have brought the Ottoman Empire to stagnate and eventually lag behind other major countries.