The Story of The Sawlatiyya, The First Regular School in Saudi Arabia
Ismail Al-Maymani, the legal superintendent of the al-Sawlatiyya school, narrated the story of establishing the al-Sawlatiyyah school, which is the oldest regular school in the Arabian Peninsula, and the reason for its name for more than 100 years ago.
Dr. Al-Maymani said that the idea of establishing the school began with the arrival of Sheikh Muhammad al-Hindi to Makkah, who escaped from his country to protect his religion, to the Kingdom, and he worked as a teacher in the Great Mosque of Makkah, indicating that Sheikh Muhammad met a woman called Sawlat Al-Nisa, who came from India for the purpose of Hajj
In a video clip published by Darat King Abdul Aziz, he added that Sawlat Al-Nisa asked Sheikh Muhammad to make an endowment for students in the Great Mosque of Makkah. Still, he suggested that she make the endowment a school for teaching Islamic knowledge, so she agreed to the idea.
He added that she had bought a house in the Al-Shabika area and set it up as a school for students in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, at the end of 1291 AH, indicating that Sheikh Muhammad called it “Al-Sawlatiyya” referring to Sawlat Al-Nisa.
Al-Maymani added that King Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him, visited the Sawlatiyya School in 1344 AH and provided it with support.
It is noticeable to point out that the school graduated a large number of science students and scholars, some of whom worked as an imam and muezzin in the Grand Mosque, indicating that some of its graduates opened many educational schools in the region.
Al-Maymani pointed out that if al-Sawlatiyyah graduates travel to Egypt to seek knowledge, they will join Al-Azhar University directly, and within the Kingdom they will join Umm Al-Qura University, Islamic University, and other various numbers of universities, indicating that their degrees are equivalent to a higher diploma when they graduate from it.
