Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
...Isfahan, Mashhad, Ghom, Damascus, Cairo, and the Alhambra (Granada), became centres of learning for students from all over the Muslim world. Each mosque usually contained several study circles (ḥalqah), so named because the teacher was, as a rule, seated on a dais or cushion with the pupils gathered in a semicircle before him. The more advanced a student, the closer he was...
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