Al-Mustansiriyya Madrasa (Arabic: المدرسة المستنصرية) was a medieval-era scholarly complex in Baghdad, Iraq, that provided a universal system of higher education.

The Madrasa taught many different subjects, including medicine, math, literature, grammar, philosophy, and Islamic religious studies.

[1] Madrasas during the Abbasid period were used as the predominant instrument to foster the spread of Islamic and scientific thought as well as a way to extend the founder's pious ideals.

The scholarly university provided students from all over Iraq with academic education, lodgings, clothes, food, and monthly allowances.

Teachers usually consisted of senior Sheikhs and Imams from Iraq, the Levant and Egypt who were known for their deep research and study.

[5] In 1235, an early monumental water-powered alarm clock that announced the appointed hours of prayer and the time both by day and by night was completed in the entrance hall of al-Mustansiriyya Madrasa in Baghdad.

The divisions included the Dar al-Hadith, in which a high level sheikh and a Qur'an Qāriʾ would recite hadiths every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday to a class of ten.

Despite the fact that Muslim jurists taught in the scholarly complex and its institutions, evidence in Ibn al-Athir's The Complete History suggests that none-Muslims were not forbidden from also teaching.

[7] Al-Mustansiriya Madrasa included a variety of buildings such as a hammam, public hospital, pharmacy, food storage site, and kitchen.

The Madrasa's library has also lost thousands of books and a large number of its scholars left Baghdad to Egypt, the Levant, and other Islamic countries at the time.

[13] In 1534, the Ottoman Turks seized control, maintaining a stable reign until the British accession in the early 20th century.

During the late 18th to early 20th century, al-Mustansiriyya Madrasa was used largely for military purposes such as serving as a place of rest and resource as well as a storage house for soldier uniforms.

This multipurpose building also became known as the Khan al-Muwasilah in the 18th century specifically, which served as a caravanserai for traders passing through Baghdad.

[14] The layout of the Madrasa is a basic four-iwan plan fit into a two-story rectangular building with a large courtyard.

The main entrance is made up of three conical archways, star and polygon figures, and an inscription describing the patron of the building, Al-Mustansir.

[6][17] Furthermore, the clock was mentioned with great detail in aI-Hawadith al-Jami'a Wal-Tajarub al-Nafi'a Fi al-Mi'a al-Sabi'a by Ibn al-Fuwati which dealt with the period of Iraq before the Mongol invasion.

It is safe to assume that since Ibn al-Fuwati was a native of Baghdad, the following description he gave on the clock was either his eyewitness account or one that he heard firsthand from another person.

The [strength of the] light emitting from the discs of the planets [grows gradually and] reaches its fullest intensity on the completion of a full hour.

Recently, the modern businesses surrounding the Madrasa have been demolished with the intention of restoring the original perimeters of the complex.