] The history of the ulamas is part of the history of Najaf. Here, a photo exhibition held in 2012.
These subjects were complemented by the study of literature and poetry, moral values and the etiquette between students and teachers. Later came philosophy. These subjects are still taught in Najaf today as part of the|traditional system of education. Until the beginning of the fourteenth/twentieth century, when students did not follow any system of education apart from that dispensed by the religious schools, they also had to study basic mathematics and sometimes the natural sciences, subjects which today are taught in government schools. However, even a student who was a university graduate – above all if he came from a non-Arabic-speaking country – had to take classes in Arabic at the hawza, using texts that were often difƂcult to understand and that had been written in the traditional manner by the ulamas. Class sessions consisted of reading texts line by line under the direction of a teacher, who would give the kind of detailed explanations that he had received from his own teachers. The classes lasted for around three-quarters of an hour, and generally took place in the mornings. The students then worked in pairs, each explaining the material to the other in order to make sure that each had fully understood it. This method, still in use in Najaf today, is a characteristic feature of the hawza and a source of pride among the clerics. It creates strong bonds among the students that they are able to build upon later in their careers, and these bonds are useful whether the students later work in Najaf or elsewhere in the world. Some of the legal works that are studied in the hawza are in several volumes, and it takes three or four years to read them. While there is no strictly deƂned course of study in the institution even today, there are conventions regarding the order in which the books are to be studied, even if this order is not obligatory. Since the students at the hawza are free to choose their own classes and there is no selection on entry, it is possible to skip some parts of the curriculum, though this can cause
One course that is very popular with the advanced students is that of Shaykh Muhammad Baqir al-Irawani, one of Najaf’s leading great masters, who teaches in the Al-Gharawiyya School in the shrine of Imam ‘Ali.
difƂculties later. However, the system is still much more elitist than it can appear, since to master the material necessary to graduate a student needs to comprehend its rules, which are sometimes explicitly and sometimes only implicitly stated, and demonstrate perseverance and humility.
¡ ¥ In the past, life in Najaf was often difƂcult for the young clerics, and many of them had to leave their families and begin a long journey into the unknown in order to study in the city with its famous teachers. As an example, Muhsin al-Amin, a scholar from Jabal ‘Amil (today in South Lebanon), wrote in his autobiography that in 1891 it took a month to reach the holy city by sea, on foot or by riding on a donkey.20 For those coming from the Indian subcontinent, there were other dangers that had to be faced before arriving in the city, including sickness, robbery, fatigue and often considerable deprivation. Once they had arrived in Najaf, the most fortunate students were able to rent a room, Ƃnd a place in a madrasa, or settle with relatives already living there. Clerical families who regularly sent their sons to Najaf to study often acquired a house in the city especially for this purpose. Having found a place to live, the students had to get used to the harsh climate of the city, including the bitter cold of winter and the furnace-like heat of summer. There were also poverty, sickness, and scorpions and other insects to contend with, and there was a lack of water, something that Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya, another Lebanese cleric who lived in Najaf in the 1920s, mentions in his memoirs.21 In order to survive, the students earned money copying manuscripts, did various part-time jobs, or recited the Qur’an at religious ceremonies. This supplementary work added to the already ascetic character of their
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