List of Islamic seminaries

This is a list of Islamic seminaries throughout history, including the operational, historical, defunct or converted ones.

It also includes sectarian or regional variants which have distinct characteristics and traditions, though serves the identical purposes as seminary, namely Hawza of Shi'a Islam, Nezamiyeh in the medieval Persia, Darul Uloom which has roots in South Asia, Qawmi in Bangladesh, pesantren in Indonesia, and pondok in Malaysia and Southern Thailand.

In the 1950s, Al-Azhar underwent significant change, with new regulations and reform resulting in an expanded role.

Baghdad, Iraq It is currently a part of the Al-Mustansiriya University, and is located on the left bank of the Tigris River.

This seat of learning...regained all its activity—Sunnī from now on—during the reign of Sultan Baybars...Al-Azhar at the beginning of the 19th century could well have been called a religious university; what it was not was a complete university giving instruction in those modern disciplines essential to the awakening of the country.Al-Azhar, the historic centre of higher Islamic learning in Cairo, has undergone significant change since the late 19th century, with new regulations and reforms resulting in an expanded role for the university.