A kuttab or maktab is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the kuttab was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, and Islamic studies, such as memorizing and reciting the Qur'an, other practical and theoretical subjects were also often taught. The kuttāb represents an old-fashioned method of education in Muslim majority countries, in which a sheikh teaches a group of students who sit in front of him on the ground. Until the 20th century, when modern schools developed, kuttabs were the prevalent means of mass education in much of the Islamic world.
Interior of a 19th-century kuttab in Cairo, Egypt
Scholars and Students in an Ottoman Maktab.
A kuttab (above) and a sabil (below) at the Funerary complex of al-Ghuri in Cairo, Egypt
Mektep building at the Süleymaniye complex in Istanbul, Turkey
Madrasa, sometimes transliterated as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious, whether for elementary education or higher learning. In countries outside the Arab world, the word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the religion of Islam, though this may not be the only subject studied.
The three madrasas at the Registan of Samarkand, built during the Timurid Renaissance
View of the Qarawiyyin Mosque (marked by the green roofs and the white minaret) on the skyline of historic Fes
The Madrasa al-Mustansiriyya in Baghdad, established in 1227, one of the only Abbasid-era madrasas remaining today
Courtyard of the Nur al-Din Madrasa in Damascus, originally built in 1167 by Nur al-Din