[5] Offering free education,[6] Ibn Tumart, founder of the Berber Almohad dynasty, reputedly attended the school and studied under Al-Kiya al-Harrasi.
[10] In the 1170s, statesman Beha ud-Din taught at the nezamiyeh, before he moved on to teach in Mosul, while Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani studied there in the late 12th century.
He was also among those who witnessed first-hand accounts of its destruction by Mongol Ilkhanate invaders led by Hulagu during the Sack of Baghdad in 1258.
He recalls clearly his days of studies at the al-Nizamiyya in Baghdad "A fellow-student at Nizamiah displayed malevolence towards me, and I informed my tutor, saying 'Whenever I give more proper answers than he the envious fellow becomes offended.'
'"[page needed] The curriculum initially focused on religious studies, Islamic law, Arabic literature, and arithmetic, and later extended to history, mathematics, the physical sciences, and music.