History of Madrasa Development
Formal Islamic education only emerged in the period that followed, namely with the rise of Madrasas. Traditionally historians of Islamic education, such as Munir ud-Din Ahmed, George Makdis, Ahmad Syalabi, and Michael Stanton consider, that the first Madrasa was founded by Wazir Nizham al-Mulk in 1064, this Madrasa came to be known as the Madrasah Nizham al-Mulk.
But recent research, carried out by Richard Bullet, revealed the existence of older Madrasas in the Nishapu region, Iran, around 400, and in 1009 there were Madrasas in the Persian region, which developed before the Madrasah Nizhamiyyah. Furthermore, Richard's research revealed that during the sultan Mahmud al-Ghaznawi who was in power in 998-1030 there was also a Madrasa Sa'idiyah.
In the opinion of Stanton, Azra cited that madrasas are "the institution of higher learning" - higher education institutions. In the tradition of Islamic education, institutions or institutions of higher education are al-Azhar in Cairo, Zaituna in Tunis, and Qarawiyyin in Fez. The author of the history of Indonesian Islamic education generally informs us that the tradition of Islamic education in Indonesia, the emergence and development of madrasas is related to the Islamic reform movement in the Middle East, spearheaded by Jalamuddin al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh.
The growth and development of madrassas in Indonesia was influenced quite strongly by the madrasa traditions in the modern Middle East which had taught religious and general science, because before the 20th century, the Islamic education tradition was not familiar with the term madrasa, except the Koran recitation, mosque, pesantren, surau, langgar, or musholla. The term madrasa only became a phenomenon at the beginning of the 20th century when several regions, especially in Java and Sumatra, established madrasas.
Throughout the history of Islam during the colonial period, the development of Madrasas in Indonesia, received less attention since the Dutch government, because this institution was suspected, restrained, and its teaching had to have the permission of the Governor-General. The existence of Madrasas was not given any recognition, the ulamas carried out non-cooperative politics and resisted the invaders.
Among the scholars who contributed to the development of madrasa in Indonesia, namely Sheikh Amrullah Ahmad (1907) in Padang, K.H. Ahmad Dahlan (1912) in Yogyakarta, K.H.Wahab Hasbullah with K.H. Mansyur (1914) in Surabaya, and K.H. Hasyim Asy'ari (1919) founded the Salafiyah Madrasah in Tebuireng Jombang.
In line with developments and demands for progress, Islamic education manages a variety of formal education units, such as Madrasah Ibtidaiyah, Madrasah Tsanawiyah, Madrasah Aliyah, and Higher Education. Strategic steps in order to develop policies so that madrasas in turn become public schools, can be realized after the enactment of Law No. 2 of 1989 concerning the National Education system.
Then confirmed in Minister of Education and Culture Decree No. 0489 / U / 1992 concerning Senior High Schools in article 1 paragraph 6 stated, that Madrasah Aliyah is a high school characterized by the Islamic religion which is organized by the Department of Religion.